Radio Control: Sport and Aerobatics
Ron Van Putte
Nats in Lake Charles
Great! This year's Nats will be in Lake Charles, LA, and I think that's great, partly because I enjoyed the 1974, 1975 and 1978 Nats which were held there and partly because it's only 450 miles from where I live. The Lake Area Radio Kontrol Society (LARKS) has done more than its fair share on the 1985 Nats' tournament. That's why I was more than a little concerned when I got a long-distance telephone call from one of the prominent fliers in the LARKS club who took exception to the "monument" which is supposed to be erected at the '86 Nats.
"Erect-a-thon" Monument
Let me quote what is included in the 1986 Nats Notes contained on page 111 in the March issue of Model Aviation:
"ERECT-A-THON? At the Nats this year, because this is a special year, we are going to build an unusual monument. All week long, everyone is invited to bring a piece of their hobby (aircraft fragments) and glue it to what we believe will be the largest towering collection (pile?) monument to model aviation that was ever ... was ever, well, was ever erected."
My caller was upset that such a thing would be contemplated. His opinion is that it would project the wrong image of model aviation — that it would imply the activity is participated in by failures. He said he knows no sporting activity which erects a monument to failure and frustration. He mentioned that it was inconceivable to imagine the Indianapolis 500 having a monument composed of wrecked cars or a golf tournament with a monument of broken golf clubs and cut-up balls. He claimed that such a monument would be a focus of any media covering the Nats and that any nationwide coverage would be detrimental to the image we would like to project to the rest of the country. I agree with him. I think it's a bad idea.
Scale Project and Product Tip
I got a letter from Bud Wolfe (Scottsdale, AZ) who sent me some pictures of his latest scale project, a Blohm & Voss 141B. I'll send them along to Bob and Dolly Wiescher for the "RC Scale" column, since the powers that be at Model Aviation don't like mixed coverage in the columns. I don't blame them.
Bud also wrote that he recently "...bought a product made by Red Devil of Union, N.J. called 'One Time Spackling.' As far as I can tell, it is identical to [the brand name] and only costs $1.99. It comes in the same containers as [the brand name], except it has yellow, black, and blue lettering. At half the cost, you could afford to fill a lot of dings!"
We are all aware that many model products are repackaged commercial products. Apparently the Red Devil product is one of them. It sounds like a good buy.
Letter from Rene Grebe (edited)
Another letter I received was critical of my comments in the January issue about our showing at the 1985 RC Aerobatics World Championships. I think the letter deserves to be printed because it was written by Rene Grebe, who is a hard worker in support of aerobatic competition in this country and because he has some very good points. Rene's slightly edited letter follows.
"After reading your January column, I feel the need to ask you some questions—why do you need to apologize about the show that our team made at the World Championships?
When you say that the other fliers were used to flying in front of judges who did not pay much attention to the 'box,' can you tell me in what instance the flag poles are being used in this country? At the time of the team selection at Lake Charles, we didn't use any means to mark the 'box.' Further, that was not a choice that we judges had—the fliers didn't want them! Did you know that the altercation that ended up with disqualifications, etc., at the '84 Reno Nats started because fliers did not want poles already installed? The contest director (CD) and the chief judge were in favor of the poles. We judges on the West Coast like to have the markers, and some clubs have the markers at all contests.
Personally, what I would like to see is one person or judge designated to call all the 'outs.' When we can accomplish that, I feel that we will get away from some of the favoritism. Why do the fliers not like the flags? What are they afraid of? So, as you can see, I don't buy your argument; I think we were outflown at the World Championships.
I'm optimistic; the problem was compounded when the USPJA (United States Pattern Judges Association—RVP) was not contacted to provide the judges for team selection. It is sad that the powers that govern this event did not get help from the USPJA. Don't get me wrong; some fine people are helping with judging, but they were not as qualified as the judges that you can get from the USPJA membership. If you look back in those years when we did use USPJA judges, you will see that we were tops among world fliers. Just a coincidence? I do not think so.
What can we do to improve this situation?
- Get the fliers to comply with the rules. That is why we have rules to begin with.
- Leave to the USPJA the selection of judges who will work in the team selection.
- Get the NSRCA (National Society for Radio Controlled Aerobatics—RVP) involved in the contest team selection and get them interested in your opinion on these matters."
Needless to say, I don't agree with everything Rene wrote. He does make some good points.
My Views and Conclusions
First, I agree that team selection should be run by the NSRCA. Second, I also agree that judging for the U.S. team selection should be done by USPJA members. Third, I agree that flags should be used to indicate the limits of the box.
The NSRCA did run at least one team selection (1975), but I don't know how many more. I think it's a good idea to have the competition run by the people who understand top-level RC aerobatic competition, rather than by some well-meaning but inexperienced people. Virtually all the top RC fliers are members of the NSRCA—and for a good reason. The goal of the organization is to promote RC aerobatic competition. The NSRCA should be responsible for the U.S. team selection.
The USPJA does not have all the country's best judges. In fact, the USPJA has some bad judges. Heresy? I don't think so. The goals of the USPJA are to promote judging of RC aerobatic competition. The USPJA members know who the less-qualified judges are among their membership, and if they were given responsibility for selection of judges and the judging at the U.S. team selection, they would make sure the job was done right—even if it meant hurting the feelings of some of the lesser USPJA judges. The USPJA should be responsible for judging at the U.S. team selection.
The people who oppose the use of flags to mark the "box" are afraid that the enforcement of the box will overshadow the flying. The other side of the argument is that the absence of flags leads to ambiguity about where it is. Ron Chidgey claims that the maneuvers should be judged if they can be seen well enough to be judged. That's a good point, but many judges are reluctant to downgrade, even though they may not be able to see a maneuver as well as they'd like. The use of flags to indicate the limits of the box would encourage reluctant judges to downgrade maneuvers that are out of the box.
However, after the U.S. team selection is run by the NSRCA, judged by the USPJA, and flags are used, will we reclaim the World Team Championship? Who knows? If the rest of the world doesn't enforce the box, we will probably not fare any better than we did in 1985. Sounds grim, doesn't it? Nevertheless, I think we should fly and judge in accordance with the rules and take whatever comes.
Ron Van Putte 111 Sleepy Oaks Rd. Ft. Walton Beach, FL 32548
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
