NMPRA Championships
— Bill Hager
Welcome and venue
Welcome to Gainesville, TX (about 65 miles north of Dallas), the site of this year's NMPRA Formula One Championships. The meet was sponsored by the Dallas RC Club, with Scott Kalmus serving as Contest Director. The Dallas RC Club members are a very capable and dedicated group who have sponsored several earlier Formula One Championships and staffed Pylon Racing events for the AMA Nationals when in the area. I want to thank the members of the Dallas RC Club and the ROTC on behalf of all the fliers—we could not have held the event without them.
There were 52 entrants this year, a sizable increase over the past several years.
How to qualify
To qualify for participation in the Formula One Championships, a flier must meet one of these criteria:
- Finish in the top 20% of his NMPRA district.
- Finish in the top 10 at the AMA Nationals.
- Serve as an NMPRA officer.
- Be the past champion.
(As a long-time NMPRA officer, I can state with certainty it’s easier to qualify by winning races.)
Course, practice and handicap judging
The race course used a seldom‑used runway at Gainesville Municipal Airport. Friday, October 18, was practice day. The course was set up, flagmen were in place, pilots could get an idea of their speeds and make last‑minute adjustments, and planes were checked for safety and conformity to the rules.
Friday evening the airplanes were judged for scale fidelity, workmanship, and finish for handicap purposes. Although scale fidelity is not emphasized as much as it once was, judges still look at workmanship, finish quality, and the degree of difficulty of the paint/trim scheme. One‑ or two‑color schemes generally don’t score as well as multi‑color, pleasing patterns. Handicap judging matters: in Formula One racing, planes are flagged off one at a time as fast as the flagman can drop the flag. The best‑looking plane in each heat usually takes off first, and in a four‑plane heat that can put the fourth plane almost half a lap behind. Competition starts on the workbench—there’s a clear advantage to taking off first with the best‑looking airplane.
This year the best‑looking airplane was built by Bruce Richmond, an engineer at the Haggar Co. in Dallas. In his spare time Bruce has built planes for many top fliers; his work has often been judged No. 1, and this year he took the top spot himself.
Weather and Saturday competition
After handicap judging, pilots returned to their rooms to prepare for Saturday morning. Mother Nature, however, had other plans—she dumped about seven inches of rain in the area, and everyone wondered if the meet would be rained out. Fortunately, Saturday's weather delayed the start of racing by only about an hour. Heavy clouds remained, but there was no more rain.
Dave Shadel quickly let everyone know who the person to beat was. He won his Saturday races and posted the fast time of the meet at 1:10.85, recorded in a race he won over Mike Atzei by a nose. Richard Oliver also won all of his Saturday races, tying Dave for first after day one.
Close behind were:
- Dub Jett (down two points because of a bad engine run in his first race),
- Fred French,
- Brian Richmond and Scott Manning (three points out of first).
Saturday night the banquet and NMPRA season awards were held at the River Valley Country Club. The top 20 finishers in national points received super jackets; the season points champion received both a jacket and a clock. This year's season points champion was Dub Jett—his second consecutive season title.
An interesting sidelight mentioned at the banquet: the local police had clocked one of the planes at over 189 mph with radar; that particular plane was timed at 1:23 for a race. That gives some perspective on the speeds being achieved—Dave Shadel's 1:10.85 must have involved very high airspeeds.
Sunday: shifting winds and changing fortunes
The weatherman promised no rain for Sunday, and most competitors returned to their rooms to make last‑minute checks and repairs. The promise held, although the wind shifted 180° and the race course had to be changed.
Dave Shadel kept winning early on, but Richard Oliver suffered a fuel‑line mix‑up and received a big zero, ruining his chance at first place. Dub Jett continued to chip away, winning his heats despite his flawed first heat. Brian Richmond was consistently fast; he tried to beat Shadel's fast time but the best he could post was 1:15, and except for a one‑lap DNF when he cut a pylon, he never posted slower than 1:17.
In Round 8, Dave Shadel failed to get airborne because of a popped starting battery, which gave him a zero and dramatically changed the standings. Dub Jett, who had never let up after his early troubles, moved into the lead. Dub's persistence paid off—this year's meet champion was Dub Jett. In private life Dub is vice‑president in charge of research and development for Milchem in Houston. He has been modeling all his life and was a top CL Speed flier until about seven years ago.
One final race and the P‑51 prize
Before the trophy presentations, someone suggested Dub couldn't beat Dave head‑to‑head and even offered money to the winner. Dave and Dub agreed to one final race. It was a race‑start (both models launched at the flag drop). Dave led early and held a slight edge for most of the race, but on the seventh lap his engine went lean. Dub worked past and took the race—capping off a weekend in which he won virtually everything except Fast Time and Best Finish.
Dub's prize included an unusual and memorable award: Phil Bussell, 1985 NMPRA president, had arranged for the winner to fly in a P‑51 Mustang. Dub climbed into the rear seat for about a half‑hour flight and returned ecstatic. His comment: "Fantastic . . . Just super . . . This was one of the high points of my life."
Closing
While Dub Jett seemed to take most of the marbles, almost everyone enjoyed fantastic racing and went home looking forward to next year's NMPRA Championships. A rumor has it the 1986 event might be in Las Vegas. If you didn't make it this year, start planning for 1986.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
