RADIO CONTROL: JETS
Delmar Ellis — 8877 Meadowview Drive, West Chester, OH 45069
AMA NATS
There isn't a separate jet event at the AMA Nationals, and perhaps there should be. However, jets do participate with the wide range of aircraft in the Nats Scale events, and this year there were two jet competitors.
Dave Ribbe finally got his MiG-15 back (it had been held up for months in the United Arab Emirates after the international meet there). He did not have an adequate opportunity to check out and fine-tune his equipment prior to competition, but the model still looked very scale in the air.
Terry Nitsch flew his F-80 for the second year. His and Dave's aircraft were JPX turbine-powered. An added feature on Terry's model was a smoke trail. Smoke oil can be discharged into the tailpipe, well aft of the engine (Dave Brown, AMA president, approved this system as safe and acceptable); the result is a beautiful smoke trail and very scale to jets. The smoke doesn't blossom until several feet behind the aircraft, just like full-scale exhaust plumes. The judges must have liked it—Terry placed second in Expert Scale.
I can't leave the Scale topic without acknowledging the performance of the first-place winner, Charlie Chambers. His P-61 Black Widow is truly magnificent and the flights were outstanding. It may not be a jet, but it still deserves recognition. Besides, we still claim Charlie as being among the jet jockey ranks anyway.
Cincinnati Fan Fly
This year the Cincinnati Fan Fly was moved to a new location at a full-scale airport at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), and the facility and accommodations were great. The Hawks Club is an outstanding host. The atmosphere was very casual; this is one of those meets held for the pilots.
Approaches are wide open at the airport, as is the entire overfly area, and the trees are well outside normal flying range—although one pilot managed to hit them (he was totally preoccupied with a sick-engine problem). Many flights were put in and the pilots seemed to satisfy their flying urges.
There were 28 pilots this year, and next year, when the word gets out, there will probably be a stronger turnout. The facility is capable of handling large numbers of participants, so there should be no problems. Manufacturer sponsors who attended the event included:
- Century Jet Models
- AMT Turbines
Sophia Turbines
In my last column I reported on the latest status of many turbines now available, including the new Crow Aviation, Inc. (CAI) ECU control integrated with the Sophia engine. AMA now recognizes the Sophia J450P/CAI ECU, sold as a new combination package. The CAI ECU was also applied to the original J450 and J450S.
Now Sophia is offering its own automated ECU electronic control system for the J450/J450S engines. The system uses a magnetic pickup speed readout, monitors exhaust temperature, and provides built-in safety features. AMA recognition is pending final system data submittals.
Additional big news: Sophia will be introducing a new engine, the J850S. It is similar in size to the J450 package, includes a new compressor and turbine, and features a version of the new ECU control system. Speed pickup via light probe/counter comparison is used. Compared to the J450, the J850 is lighter, has higher thrust, and is lower priced.
Specifications (anticipated):
- Thrust: 18.8 pounds
- Weight: 3.0 pounds
- Max rpm: 130,000
- Engine diameter: 4 inches
- Fuel: kerosene / white gas
The price is anticipated to be much lower than $3,000. Production engines were expected to become available sometime in October. Sophia will be applying for AMA recognition shortly.
Large Turbines
This fall the AMA Safety Committee may consider recommending to the Executive Council at its October meeting an increase in the allowable thrust level for single-turbine engines. Thrust higher than the current single-engine limit of 22 pounds can already be achieved under AMA regulations by using multiple engines. Although AMA decisions are yet to be made, many manufacturers are developing high-thrust engines in anticipation.
AMT has displayed and flown its 40-pound-thrust Olympus engine. The AMA Turbine Committee members have all had the opportunity to operate and fly this engine in the F-18; it proved to be a very manageable system.
A new Golden West / Turbomin T1000 was displayed at the Weak Signals RC Expo in Toledo, Ohio. This engine can produce 34 pounds of thrust. I anticipate one or two more manufacturers announcing large engines at the appropriate time. Besides modeling use, the larger engines have potential application in the military. This would not only benefit the manufacturer, but should help hold prices down for the modeler.
Any go-ahead would be based largely on the jet fliers' excellent track record to date and their conservative, safety-oriented approach. Keep up the good work and safe attitude; it should really make a difference.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
