Reno 1984 Nats: FF Indoor Duration
Clarence Mather
Venue and conditions
The Reno Convention Center provided a large indoor area (about 150 x 200 ft.) adjacent to Nats Headquarters. Drift was minimal and temperature and humidity were comfortable. The room was convenient for visitors and many watched indoor flying for the first time.
The actual ceiling was about 40 ft., but lights, girders, catwalks, air-conditioning chambers, vents and speakers began about 30 ft. above the floor, effectively limiting safe flying to about 35 ft. Very few models cleared the maze overhead; most either hung in the rafters or stalled down and continued flying. Catwalk access made retrieval fairly easy. Reno’s altitude (over 4,000 ft.) produced thinner air, which many fliers felt reduced duration.
Thanks to Murry and Sandy Frank (father and son) and the volunteer timers for conducting the events.
Notable participants and remarks
- Joe Bilgri — longtime indoor stalwart, former 1961 Indoor World Champion; flew several events and re-covered a 17-year-old microfilm Cabin model. Commented the ceiling was the worst he’d seen for an Indoor Nationals.
- Frank Cummings — veteran helper and timer.
- Harlan Cole, Joe Foster, Brian Nelitz (provided pointers), and several others showed up with indoor models.
- Several highly skilled indoor fliers attended despite the low ceiling.
Events and results
#### Easy B
- Junior
- 1st: Scott Robbins (Los Gatos, CA) — 408 sec
- 2nd: Aaron Markos — 404 sec
- 3rd: Jimmy Primbs
- Senior
- 1st: Dan Primbs
- 2nd: Ken Fulmer
- Open
- Dick Baxter’s featherweight Old Ironsides won; Harvey Lantz had trouble with his Luton Minor; Charlie Roth did not record a score with his Bleriot.
Notes: Easy B had 22 entries (second in popularity to Hand-Launched Glider). Many Easy B models were of standard proportions (some a bit longer than past years). AMA rules require paper covering, but condenser tissue is no longer manufactured; a rule change to allow commercially available solid coverings (e.g., Microlite) has been proposed.
#### Peanut scale
- 1st: Clarence Mather — 1/3-oz Vee-Witt
- 2nd: Keith Fulmer — Lacey M-10
- 3rd: Chuck Conover — Cougar
- 4th: Dick Baxter — Letov Bumblebee
- 5th: Gossamer Condor (position noted)
- Also notable: Fred Anderson’s J-3 Cub; Sherman Gillespie’s Gadfly (Curtiss-Reid parasol); Carlo Godel’s SIA-76 biplane; Kopriva’s Bristol M1-B; Bill Ganson; White monoplanes by Don Block and Loran Armstrong.
#### Pennyplane
- Junior
- 1st: Aaron Markos (Chicago) — 378 sec
- 2nd: Melinda Anderson
- 3rd: Scott Robbins
- Senior
- 1st: Bryan Fulmer (Mishawaka, IN) — only entrant
- Open
- 1st: Hank Cole — 499 sec (biplane with boxed interplane gaps)
- 2nd: Cezar Banks — flew a Novice Pennyplane model with National Records
- 3rd: Darryl Stevens
#### Manhattan Cabin (Open)
- 1st: Charles Markos — 295 sec
- 2nd: Mark Lavoe
- 3rd: M. Witmore
Notes: Four fliers in Manhattan Cabin; only one entrant in Open microfilm Cabin. Given low participation, dropping microfilm Cabin in favor of Manhattan has been proposed.
#### Cabin (Senior)
- 1st: Bryan Fulmer — 187 sec
- 2nd: R. Mehmen — 125 sec
(No Junior Cabin entries.)
Joe Bilgri re-covered and flew one of his classic microfilm Cabin models successfully.
#### Paper Stick
- Junior
- 1st: Aaron Markos — only entrant
- Senior
- 1st: Bryan Fulmer — only entrant
- Open
- 1st: Stan Chilton — winning flight 12:18
- 2nd: Lew Gitlow — 11:24
- 3rd: Gordon Wisenolfski — 10:24
Notes: Paper covering is required by rule for Paper Stick; the same proposal to allow commercially available solid coverings has been made. The event’s original role (a stepping stone to microfilm using condenser tissue) has been largely superseded by Pennyplane and Easy B; the author suggests Paper Stick could be dropped.
#### AMA Stick and FAI Stick (microfilm Stick)
- Rules/format
- AMA Stick: limited to 300 sq. in. area; five flights, best one counts.
- FAI Stick: minimum weight 1 gram; wingspan limited to 65 cm (25.6 in.); best two flights of six count.
- Observations: Most microfilm builders concentrate on FAI models, so many AMA Stick entries were actually FAI-class models.
Results (microfilm/Stick classes):
- AMA Stick (best single flight)
- 1st: Cezar Banks — 21:18
- 2nd: Clarence Mather — 18:11
- 3rd: Joe Bilgri — 17:24
- Senior AMA Stick: Bryan Fulmer — only entrant
- FAI Stick (best two flights of six)
- 1st: Cezar Banks — 47:06
- 2nd: Clarence Mather — 42:30
- 3rd: Lew Gitlow — 40:06
Notes: Cezar Banks’ models flew very slowly with low-turning props and often hung at a high angle of attack. One model climbed about 36 m; Cezar’s longest single flight was nearly 25 minutes (lightly touched once), leading him to win both microfilm Stick events. Joe Foster and Stan Chilton also had notable slow-turning, stable designs. There were no Senior entries in FAI Stick and no Junior entries in either microfilm Stick event.
Summary and observations
- The meet suffered from a low effective ceiling (about 35 ft.) and lower-than-desired entry numbers in several events.
- Despite that, the contest attracted several highly skilled indoor fliers and produced some outstanding performances, notably by Cezar Banks in the Stick classes and Clarence Mather in Peanut.
- Proposed rule changes (allowing commercially available solid coverings in Easy B and Paper Stick) should address practical covering-material shortages and aging issues with condenser tissue.
- Given low participation in some classes (microfilm Cabin, Paper Stick), consolidation or dropping of events was proposed to streamline future meets.
Overall, it was a worthwhile Nationals; hopefully more fliers will take advantage next time and organizers can secure a higher-ceiling site.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
