A Retrospective
By Jerry Smartt & Frank Korman
There are many classy electric meets around the country, but only one National Championship. The 1993 Nats was a gas — a bunch of guys missed out by not attending.
Flood waters and July temperatures contributed to some terrifically hot days at the electric sites. Contest Director Frank Korman — taskmaster that he is — kept fliers moving. Half the fliers gave him a hard time and the other half made his life miserable. Fortunately, he had a super crew in Mike Ettel and his dad Cal.
Site and atmosphere
The site of the Nats — Vincennes, Indiana's Lincoln High School — is in the "heart of the heart of the country," and as such seemed to induce a nostalgia for older, simpler times when the pace of life was slower and people took more time to be together. Evidence of this abounded at the electric soaring events.
Although the site is a modern facility with all the amenities, it is home to the Fighting Alices and pays homage to a brave heroine of the successful effort to free the Northwest Territories from the French and their Indian allies, as Jerry Smartt of Missouri pointed out. Who says that RC modelers are culturally illiterate?
Competitors
Electric soaring brought folks together from:
- Illinois
- Louisiana
- Missouri
- New Jersey
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
There were free flighters, RC sailplaners, Old-Timer enthusiasts, and relative newcomers to aeromodeling. Technical and flying skills varied, although skills were generally of a high order. Fliers varied in age, though not gender; except for wives and other friendly women who provided invaluable help, it was an all-male event.
Some were seasoned competitors, while others were flying in their first contests. Fliers shared knowledge, enthusiasm, and occasionally equipment in a free and easy way. They were modest in victory and gracious in defeat.
Event format and turnout
Although it was a little disappointing, the low turnout had its upside. Setting up flight groups was made easier by having only one frequency conflict, and at least four rounds could be flown in each event. Scores were normalized by group, except for Old-Timer limited motor run, as the five entrants in that event flew in one group.
The low round score of each contestant was not included in determining final standings. A 100 x 100-foot landing area provided an inviting target for those wishing to pick up a few 25-point landings.
Most flight groups consisted of three or four pilots and were initially based on the alphabetical sequence of the fliers’ last names. Thereafter, groupings were based on cumulative points so that the first three or four high scorers were placed in the same group, etc. Throughout the two days of flying the composition of the groups in each event did not change much — the standings remained generally consistent across rounds.
One suggestion for the '94 Electric events director is to drop the grouping of fliers and the resultant normalized scoring in favor of a time window for each event during which contestants may put in flights whenever they wish.
Equipment and models
I believe everyone flew Astro cobalt motors — some geared, some straight drive. Freudenthaler, Graupner, and Sonic-Tronics folding props were popular, and most contestants used Sanyo 1000 mA cells. On/off motor switches, either servo activated or electronic, were common, though a few proportional speed controllers were used. Most models used traditional built-up construction with special attention given to light weight. A few composite construction craft were flown. The winners flew built-up models.
The same models flew in the seven-cell and over-seven-cell limited motor run sailplane events. Pilots simply increased the cell count by up to three for the over-seven-cell class. Ben Mathews of Louisiana and Bill Jenkins of Tennessee seemed to have the fastest-climbing models in both events. Coincidentally, both flew Astro Challengers.
Ben’s was equipped with a geared Astro FAI 05 lightened and tuned up by Kirk Massey of New Creations R/C (Box 496, Willis, TX 77378). Ben also had the fastest-climbing Old-Timer with a similar power set-up. Jerry Smartt flew an Astro Viking Old-Timer in all three events. The Viking placed second in Old-Timer, but was at a disadvantage competing with contemporary sailplanes, even though its landing gear was removed.
Old-Timer and other event results
Three Vikings, a Leisure Playboy, and a Buzzard Bombshell flew in the Old-Timer event. The Playboy finished first, followed by two Vikings, one of which had just been built by Glen Poole. The Viking belonging to Bill Jenkins crashed; the cause was a cloudburst-dampened transmitter. Bill completed the competition flying a Leisure Lanzo Bomber equipped with a non-FAI 05 geared cobalt motor.
The competition was very close among the top finishers in all the events. For example, Ben Mathews traded first for third place by missing one landing in the unlimited-cell sailplane event. However, he squeaked by Bill Jenkins as his high-point pilot for the meet and was awarded a Sonic-Tronics folding prop by the event director in recognition of his achievement.
Crashes and incidents
Three other crashes occurred:
- One due to a pooped-out 110 mA receiver battery.
- Another caused by radio interference of unknown origin.
- A third resulting from Texan Gary Warner’s sailplane losing the first three or four inches of its fuselage shortly after launch. One of the prop blades broke free, causing the motor and front end to twist off. Gary threw the round away, and competing with a backup model, finished a very close second in seven-cell sailplane.
We also had a midair about ten feet off the ground when Ben Mathews’ and Bill Jenkins’ Astro Challengers collided on approach to the landing spot. Both just barely missed a more serious crash and, with minor repair, successfully returned to the competition.
We were treated to a display of flying virtuosity by Joe Wurtz on Sunday. Joe flew a very slick, made-in-France, 60-inch rocket for the first time in preparation for Monday’s F5 competition. The model was provided by Ed Slegers of New Jersey. Joe landed the model at his feet after doing a marvelous job of wringing it out on the Indiana sky.
The events went smoothly except for a Sunday afternoon cloudburst that drove everyone into their cars for about 30 minutes.
Organization and support
A major key to our success was the computerized scoring provided by Ettel and Ettel. Scores for each round and cumulative scores were posted within a few minutes after the completion of each round.
In addition, Bill Clark and Dick Hinckle pitched in wherever they were needed. These guys love electrics; they made the trip just to enjoy the flying as spectators and to help out by bringing ice water, working the stopwatch, providing shade, etc. Their motel was about 50 miles from the contest.
Dale House and his wife Thel (pronounced like the "th" in "thin") attend many meets. He flies a beautiful model called the Eliminator. Thel does much watching, stopping and starting.
Howard Chevalier is from Texas and was a professor of aerospace engineering at Texas A&M. Howard definitely isn't a song-and-dance man (he may not even be related to that Chevalier). Howard is an airplane man and author of Model Airplane Design and Performance for the Modeler. Between the Nats and the premier electric meet in Dallas last October, Howard designed and built his first electric-powered model. That's plenty of progress for such a short amount of time. Nice going, Howard.
Glen Poole of Illinois did some nice flying, and he is a most gracious guy. He is the type who is quiet and dedicated, but whose killer instinct is revealed in competition.
Reflections and closing
Given how well things went, the low turnout remains somewhat of a mystery. Maybe the sluggish economy or the not-so-sluggish midwestern rivers were factors. It could be the nature of the events and/or that many electric power fliers also compete in sailplane events. Since many who fly electrics competitively also fly sailplanes, the Nats sailplane events and the League of Silent Flight tourney in August may have been distractions.
Some suggest we need a special interest group. Perhaps the National Soaring Society can provide the organizational and financial assistance and the motivational skills to rally the troops.
The fact is that all who do compete come away winners in the true sense of the word. Perhaps the electric soaring events at the '94 Nats will prove a larger draw than was the case this year. Plan on attending the Nats in 1994. It's always a great showcase with something for everyone. Think Lubbock — there's electricity in the air.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
