RADIO CONTROL AEROBATICS
Ron Van Putte 111 Sleepy Oaks Road, Ft. Walton Beach, FL 32548
Emil Zutz: a prank revisited
As I mentioned in the May 1995 column, back in the 1960s and early 1970s Pattern contest reports throughout the Midwest often included descriptions of "Emil Zutz"' exploits. Emil was never reported as a winner, but his name appeared surprisingly often. It was especially amazing since Emil Zutz didn't exist — it was an elaborate prank perpetrated by contest reporters. Why did they do it? I don't know. Just for the heck of it, I guess.
So who posed for the picture of Emil Zutz in the May column? It was me, of course. Why? Just for the heck of it. I'm writing this column a month before the prank will appear in print, and I expect to receive a few notes and telephone calls asking what's going on. How many of you saw through the prank? Clues were in the picture and the short narrative — go back and take another look.
F3A Team Selection Finals (Masters tournament)
The F3A Team Selection Finals (Masters tournament) will be held in Memphis, TN, June 22–25. Mike Dunphy (Medford, OR), contest director for the 1993 event, will again be contest director. He will be assisted by Al Glenn (Memphis, TN).
- If registrations continue at their current rate, there will be fewer than thirty FAI fliers competing for the three United States team positions.
- In 1993 there were approximately 25 contestants; in 1991 there were 54, and we were hard pressed to get the competition completed in the allotted four days.
Fewer entrants this year should make running the event easier than in some previous competitions.
A brief history of the column
July 1975 was the cover date for the first issue of Model Aviation. Several years prior, the name had appeared on an AMA news publication, which was more of a newsletter sent directly to AMA members. Later, the AMA news was included as an insert in American Aircraft Modeler. Then AAM ceased publication and AMA decided to reincarnate Model Aviation as a magazine.
In that first issue, the column on "Radio Control Sport/Aerobatics" began: "This all began one evening when I was relaxing after arriving home from work. The telephone rang; it was Carl Wheeley calling from AMA Headquarters. Carl told me about the demise of American Aircraft Modeler. The AMA magazine would be published in its place. They dropped the bomb asking me to write a column." That was twenty years ago.
Passing the torch
Although I'm still enthusiastic about RC precision aerobatics, the pressure to produce a monthly column has finally gotten to me. During the past several years the weight of the monthly deadline has felt like a millstone around my neck. I've felt like giving up the column many times, and now I've run out of gas — I just don't want to do it anymore.
Rick Allison (Redmond, WA) previously expressed interest in taking over whenever I decided to quit. I contacted him and he agreed to take over the column, subject to the Model Aviation publisher's approval. Rick is well qualified:
- Editor of Model Builder and experienced meeting column deadlines.
- Recent past president of the National Society of Radio Control Aerobatics (NSRCA).
- Past NSRCA district vice president.
- FAI competitor familiar with the full spectrum of RC aerobatics competition.
- An entertaining writer with a great sense of humor.
In the future, you may still see my name atop coverage of major events like the Nats, N-PAC, Team Selection Finals, TOC, and even F3A World Championships if Rick is unable to attend and I'm available. I just won't be doing a monthly column.
The servo tester story
The servo tester was by far one of the most popular items I ever ran in the column. I originally saw it in a club newsletter reprint of an article by Hugh Shoemaker in the February 1976 DCRC newsletter (Washington, D.C.). I thought it was worth sharing.
The funny thing is that I wasn't even going to publish the article and schematic in my column. I made a copy and sent it to George Myers, who was the contributing editor to Model Aviation on "Radio Technique" for almost 19 years, thinking it would be more appropriate for his column. For whatever reason, George decided not to publish the information, so I put it in my column. Every time I mention it I get a flood of requests for a copy of the article and schematic.
This is my last chance to offer to send you a copy. No matter when in the future you read this, if you'd like a copy, send me a stamped, self-addressed envelope (SASE) and I'll get it to you.
Looking ahead
I have enjoyed the past twenty years — meeting and competing with fliers from all over and attending local, national, and world championship RC Aerobatics competitions. I plan to keep flying in RC Precision Aerobatics competitions because it's still fun. Look for me on the contest trail.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
