RADIO CONTROL SCALE
Jeff Troy 19 East Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Ambler, PA 19002
Event overview
The National Aeromodeling Championships' Radio Control Scale competition was conducted under the guidance of RC Director Wayne Yeager and Contest Director Dale Arvin. Static judging took place Friday, July 11, at the Horizon Convention Center in Muncie. The convention center sits opposite the Radisson Hotel Roberts, where many officials and competitors stayed.
The flying portion was held Saturday and Sunday, July 12–13, at the AMA International Aeromodeling Center primary runway. AMA president Dave Brown directed the two flight lines. The weekend featured excellent weather and runway conditions — winds were essentially down the runway, a boon to pilots.
Classes
Four AMA RC Scale classes were offered:
- Fun Scale
- Sportsman
- Expert
- Designer
International-class competition (FAI F4C) was also available.
Class descriptions
- Fun Scale: Primarily a flying event. Static judging is informal — models that generally resemble their full-scale counterpart receive a five-point static score. Flight rules follow the same criteria as the other AMA Scale classes.
- Sportsman and Expert: Identical in static and flight judging criteria. The dividing line is a competitor’s contest-performance record. Newcomers typically enter Sportsman; after outperforming a set number of Sportsman competitors, a pilot is advanced to Expert.
- Designer Scale: For scratch-builders who not only construct but also design their models from the ground up. Entering Designer Scale is voluntary; a designer may opt to enter any of the other classes instead.
Static judging
Competitors submitted documentation packages showing the full-scale aircraft’s outline, color, and markings. Models are expected to replicate the documentation in consistent proportion (for example, a 1/4-scale model should have dimensions exactly one-quarter of the full-scale aircraft). Judges compared models to the provided documents and graded appearance and accuracy accordingly.
Five entrants participated in Fun Scale; each was awarded the five-point static score. Sportsman had seven static entries, with top static points going to Gary Parenti for his Piper J-3 Cub. Expert static judging had 17 entries; Kim Foster’s Sopwith Pup led static with 93 points. Designer Scale top static honors went to Charles (Charlie) Nelson, who earned 98 points for his meticulous WACO Cabin/WACO biplane.
Flying: format and scoring
- Four rounds were available to each contestant: two rounds on Saturday and two rounds on Sunday.
- A static score is not posted or counted until a model has scored at least one flight point.
- As each model completes its first flight, its static score is posted along with its flight score.
- Of the four flight rounds, the best two flight rounds for each model are added and averaged to establish the pilot’s total flight score.
- The static score is then added to the averaged flight score to give the contestant’s final score.
Saturday highlights
At the close of Saturday’s two rounds, contests remained wide open in each class. Notable incidents:
- Mike Barbee’s B-29 had a minor landing-gear problem during Expert Round One but was repaired for a skillful Round Two score of 90.5.
- Bob Benson and Al Kretz missed their first-round opportunities in Expert.
- Jack Dorman missed Round Two of Fun Scale.
- Hank Kiel experienced engine problems in his Sportsman rounds.
Results
Fun Scale
- Joseph Lewis (Girard, Ohio) — CAP 232 (Zenoah G-45-powered, MonoKote finish). Final score: 90 points.
- Jack Dorman (Ft. Walton Beach, Florida)
- Wayne Jenkins (Brazil, Indiana)
Sportsman
- Gary Parenti (Westchester, Illinois) — Piper J-3 Cub
- John Wood (Worcester, Massachusetts) — Spacewalker (Sig kit)
- Randy Smithisler (Edgewood, Washington) — Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser (AstroFlight-geared, .90 cobalt-powered)
Expert
- Greg Hahn (Knightstown, Indiana) — B-25 (Ziroli, +20%)
- Garland Hamilton (Winter Springs, Florida) — Lockheed Shooting Star (turbo-powered)
- Terry Nitsch (Columbus, Ohio) — F-86 Minute Man (turbo-powered BVM Sabre Jet) — final score: 184.00
Placings in Expert were decided by very small fractional-point margins.
Designer Scale
- Charlie Nelson (Berlin, Massachusetts) — Seidel radial–powered WACO biplane
- Hal Parenti — B-25 Mitchell twin
- Mike Gretz (Montezuma, Iowa) — 1/3-scale J-3 Cub (Sig kit prototype; designer)
Designer Scale top static honors: Charles Nelson — 98 points.
Closing remarks
The 1997 RC Scale events combined kind weather, high-quality aircraft, strong flight skills, impartial judging, and excellent field conditions. Over a demanding static-judging day and four competitive flight rounds across two days, competition remained friendly and professional — no tempers flared and no models were destroyed. It was an event to be proud of.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
