RC Aerobatics

RC Aerobatics

Ron Van Putte and Paul Verger

Overview and Participation

Led by Ivan Kristensen, Canadians took first, third, and fifth in the FAI event. A total of 212 contestants competed in Pattern at the 1990 Nats, distributed as follows:

• Sportsman — 47
• Advanced — 38
• Expert Turnaround — 25
• Master — 18
• FAI — 84

Note the extremely large entry in FAI (84), which created significant scheduling problems.

Site and Scheduling

The Mid-American Air Center provided a mile-long runway used fully for RC Pattern. Three sites were set up (one in the center, one near each end of the runway), with nearly a half-mile between adjacent sites. Each site had two flight lines, giving six RC Pattern lines in total. Despite the spacing, there was some overflying between sites.

The contest schedule:

• Days 1–3: Sportsman and Expert Turnaround (T/A)
• Days 4–6: Advanced, Master, and FAI

Because of the heavy FAI entry, the FAI event was split: Greg Frohreich decided to handle about 50 FAI contestants during the first three days and the remainder during the last three days. This resulted in roughly 140 flyers during the first three days and 72 during the last three days.

Scoring normalization was done after completion of rounds three and six.

No-Show/Trophy Issue

There was a high no-show rate, particularly in Sportsman (nearly 50% no-shows in some reports). Trophies were purchased based on pre-registration, causing problems when entrants did not appear. The organizers suggested considering a no-refund policy to discourage no-shows and ensure Nats has entry funds available.

Weather

After a brief shower on the first day (just before RC Pylon Racing relinquished the runway to Pattern), weather was mostly cooperative. RC Pylon flew in the mornings and Pattern in the afternoons. Nearly three rounds were completed on Sunday; five rounds were completed by Monday afternoon, and an easy final round on Tuesday completed the first three days.

Late in the last round a violent thunderstorm struck with the final two FAI fliers on the line; tents and poles were buffeted, but the storm subsided quickly and the last two flights were completed in nearly calm air.

Competition Summaries

Sportsman

• Entrants: 47
• Winner: Ronnie “Roscoe” Segura (New Iberia, LA) — won three of six rounds; margin of victory 33 points
• 2nd: Ben Hall (Henderson, TX)
• 3rd: Everette Carpenter (Franklin, TN) — survived a midair finish and finished seven points back
• Notes: Depth of field was strong — Brad Lang (Dallas, TX) and Chad Christopher (Fenton, MI) each won a round but finished 12th overall. Cohn Campbell’s Nova design (also flown by Canadian Rich Bergeron) was seen in competition.

Expert Turnaround (first showing at the Nats)

• Entrants: 25
• Winner: Luke Christian (Rohnert Park, CA) — won three rounds; comfortable 76-point victory
• 2nd: Shane Gray (Chireno, TX)
• Other round winners: Dave Lockhart (Absecon, NJ), Roger Kramer (El Centro, CA), Sid Hurst (Denver, PA)

Advanced

• Entrants: 38
• Winner: Barry Brunson (Florence, SC)
• 2nd: Jason Shulman (Piscataway, NJ) — finished 2nd Advanced; noted for wearing a new outfit one day
• Other: Chris Atwood (Denver, CO), a junior, won the fourth round and finished 7th

Master

• Entrants: 18
• Winner: Jim McMaster (Texarkana, TX) — edged out Tony Stillman and Wayne Apostolico without winning a round (consistent high finishes)
• Other round winners: Tony Stillman (Pensacola, FL), Wayne Apostolico (Arlington, TX), Rich Bergeron (Fullerton, CA), Larry Oakley (Oklahoma City, OK)
• Note: Wayne Apostolico suffered a midair with Chip Hyde and lost his own airplane, but he was loaned an LA-1 airframe and an electronics module and continued to compete successfully.

FAI

• Entrants: 84 (93 had pre-entered)
• Format adjusted to four qualifying flights and two finals; splitting the entry among lines helped manage the load.
• Top qualifiers included Chip Hyde (qualified 1st), Ivan Kristensen, Bill Cunningham, and David von Linsowe.
• Finals result:

1. Ivan Kristensen (Canada)
2. Bill Cunningham
3. Greg Marsden (Canada)
4. Chip Hyde
5. Colin Campbell (Canada)
6. John Britt

• Notes and incidents:
• Chip Hyde suffered a first-round midair collision with Wayne Apostolico that destroyed both aircraft. He borrowed an aircraft to finish the round; a protest later resulted in a zero for Chip’s first round. Chip then used his backup aircraft and won a qualifying round.
• In the finals, Chip had a wheel fall off during landing one round (automatic zero for the flight under FAI rules), and in another final he performed an Inverted Three Turn Spin with four turns; per FAI judging and downgrade rules the maneuver received a zero, which resulted in Chip slipping to fourth overall.
• Despite concerns about crowding and cross-class mixing (FAI pilots often prefer not to share sites with other FAI pilots), only one midair was reported on the line that had FAI and Advanced/Master together.
• Engine note: Ivan Kristensen won running a YS two-cycle. Only seven four-cycle engines were in the top 20 and two in the top 10; there was no clear advantage based on engine type.

Judging and Flight Conditions

• The wind was often crosswind or quartering and quite strong, separating marginal pilots from the good ones. Judges emphasized track over attitude but watched spin entry and position carefully, especially distance out (150–175 meters) and a clear stall before spin entry.
• The flying quality in FAI was very high; the top 20 was tightly bunched.

Notable Models, Incidents, and Volunteers

• Several contestants survived midairs with minor damage and quick repairs (e.g., Susan Carpenter survived a midair in Sportsman class and finished third after temporary tape repairs).
• Chad Christopher’s model was noted: an OS pumper, Aurora finish-painted fuselage, MonoKote wings.
• Scorer/Tabulator Mike Lauman and his wife Vicki were central to scoring operations. Mike's scoring program is widely used. Mike became ill with abdominal pain (hernia), was hospitalized and operated on; Vicki Lauman, Suzi Stream, and Betty Stream took over and completed the scoring duties. The editors extend thanks and wishes for Mike’s recovery.

NSRCA Meeting and Rules Proposals

The NSRCA held a membership meeting Tuesday night where awards were presented and rules proposals for 1992 were introduced. A brief synopsis of the major proposals:

• Rewrite the rule book to align more closely with the FAI Sporting Code and reduce conflicts between AMA and FAI guidelines (definitions, contest procedures, etc.).
• Class structure proposed for 1992 (five Pattern classes):

1. Novice (no changes)
2. Sportsman (no changes)
3. Advanced (all Turnaround)
4. Master (all Turnaround, using the current FAI sequence)
5. FAI (sequence will change in 1992)

• Expert Turnaround would be eliminated (it had been viewed as temporary).
• No mandatory advancement out of Master class; a flier must qualify to enter FAI. A current FAI flier may move back into Master but would have to re-qualify to return to FAI.
• The 98-dB noise proposal will be resubmitted as before; it will include a clause allowing any form of silencer to be legal in Novice (including tuned pipes).
• K-factors will be used in all classes (system tested in the Southeast with success).
• The NSRCA Rules Committee appointed a committee to study the Contest Board; these proposals will bypass the preliminary Initial Vote and go directly to the Contest Board's Final Vote.

Membership reminder:

• If you are a Pattern flier and not a member of NSRCA, dues are $20 per year (includes the K-Factor Newsletter). Send dues to:

R. S. Bezio 3723 Snowden Ave. Long Beach, CA 90808

Final Notes and Results from the Authors

• Paul Verger (FAI competitor) finished 17th in FAI and was proud of that result. Ron Van Putte finished 17th in Master.
• The organizers had not decided on the location of the next Nats at the time of writing, but they hope to see competitors there.

(Continued thanks to all volunteers, judges, tabulators, and contestants who made the event possible.)

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.