1985 NATS: RC Helicopters
Larry Jolly II
Overview
The National Helicopter Championships were held July 31 through August 2 at Chicopee, Massachusetts. Horace Hagen served as event director and, with the help of his crew of East Coast volunteers, ran a well-organized contest. Despite a rough field and variable weather, four rounds of competition were completed.
Site and Weather
The contest site was located some distance from contest headquarters and at times resembled an antenna farm for the Air Force when it wasn't being used as a helipad. Although adequate, the field was unprepared, rough, and surrounded by trees on all sides.
Weather was variable throughout the event. Monday and Tuesday brought moderate temperatures with afternoon wind. Wednesday dawned cloudy and turned to rain by noon, ending the day early. Thursday was cloudless but featured high winds (the wind having pushed the clouds into Canada). The inclement weather on Wednesday and Thursday affected final scores—most competitors posted their highest scores on the first two days, and many pilots scheduled to fly during the worst weather were disadvantaged. The wind on Thursday was severe enough that many fliers passed on their fourth-round flights.
Entries
Total entries: 71
- Novice: 10
- Intermediate: 22
- Expert: 15
- FAI: 16
- Scale: 8
Foreign competitors included Vago Nordigan and Len Mount from Great Britain.
Equipment and Radios
The majority of competitors flew GMP Competitors, Cobras, or Schluter Superiors. Several Heims were entered in Scale. Most pilots used JR or Futaba radios. Enya and O.S. were the preferred engines.
Results
Novice
- 1st: Pike Noyes — flying a Schluter Superior (won by about 500 points)
- 2nd: Christopher Cheyer — GMP Competitor
- 3rd: Richard Lynch — GMP Competitor
Intermediate
- 1st: Tom Dooley — Schluter Superior
- 2nd: Jack Dunkle — GMP Competitor
- 3rd: Randy King — Cobra
Expert
- 1st: Robert Gorham — Cobra Jet Ranger, Enya 60FX, JR PCM nine-channel radio (fresh off a fifth-place finish at the World Championships)
- 2nd: Ralph Dalusio — GMP Competitor
- 3rd: Curtis Youngblood — GMP Competitor
- 4th: Bill Curtis — notable for coaching and helping others despite attending contests rarely
FAI
- 1st: Tom Dalusio — GMP Competitor (U.S. team member)
- 2nd: Robert Gorham — Cobra
- 3rd: Curtis Youngblood — GMP Competitor
- 4th: Vago Nordigan — Heim Ranger
- 5th: Len Mount — Schluter Superior
Scale
Scale is judged in two parts: static (scale fidelity) and flight points.
- Static winner: Ted Schoonard — BK 117 (new Schluter offering featuring Champion mechanics and a full four-bladed rotor head)
- Note: Bad luck prevented Ted's BK 117 from achieving a flight score high enough to place.
- 1st (Scale overall): Jack Dunkle — Airwolf (based on a Heim Bell 222 kit)
- 2nd: Len Mount — Bolkow MBB 105 in German gunship colors (very true to scale with scale rocket tubes and a scale four-bladed rotor head believed to be of Schluter origin featuring Champion/Superior mechanics)
- 3rd: Mike Robins — Mil Mi-24 Hind (D-model based fuselage equipped with Heim mechanics)
Acknowledgments
Congratulations to the winners and to Horace Hagen and his crew of volunteers. Without the volunteers who run the Nationals, there would be no contest. Thanks to everyone for a job well done. See you next year at Lake Charles.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
