SAM CHAMPS '97
John Oldenkamp
When the 1997 SAM (Society of Antique Modelers) Champs was announced, the details were quite compelling: the site was to be the fabled El Dorado Dry Lake outside Henderson, Nevada, with Contest HQ slated at the brand-new upscale Sunset Station Hotel/Casino, an easy 15 minutes away. Another short drive would take us to the heart of the vast entertainment attractions of the "new" Las Vegas.
To the east, Henderson offered full shopping facilities, high-rated golf courses, plus many second-tier lodging spots for those who wished to be closer to the flying site. And lastly, those with spare time could make the short trek to view Hoover Dam and scout adjacent Lake Mead. Nevada's autumn weather is famous for balmy temps, brilliant skies, and calm winds. Altogether, SAM '97 was a terrific draw.
Many who had previously flown at the splendid El Dorado venue immediately set off on a frantic build/test/fly/repair program in anticipation, as well as hoarding our "spare" change for those inevitable close encounters of the slot-machine sort. Others did their revving up by arriving a week early to the area to compete in an AMA/FAI/America's Cup event put on by the modern free flighters of Las Vegas.
But the big SAM show was to begin on Monday, September 22, with test flying, informal get-acquainted sessions, and the traditional evening Bean Feed (a Hawaiian luau this time!), followed by the CD's briefing. When in Las Vegas (or Henderson), one must be ready to rumble, correct?
As the curtain went up early Tuesday morning, things were pretty much as advertised: El Dorado Dry Lake was at its smooth and scenic best; the weather bright, warm, and calm, with gentle lift available. The organizers had separated the Free Flight and RC venues by 1.25 miles to avoid incidents, so in fact two "villages" of sorts were created, each with several hundred entrants, officials, spectators, and vendors, along with tents, awnings, chase gear, and other wheel goods, ranging from million-dollar motor homes to Airstream trailers to vans, buses, trucks, big Caddies, and the lowly but now-revered VW bugs.
These big SAM contests are really works of art in progress — a continuous concours d'élégance of colorful vintage/antique aero gems, each unique and worthy of close inspection. They are, without question, the pinnacle of craftsmanship in a hobby that goes back to the 1920s and still cherishes the designs and materials of that period and the years following through 1942.
Who among us today would suffer the time, cost, and trauma of silking a ten-foot pipe-dream model with curved tips, multistringered fuselage, and the like? Let alone a fussy and complex stick-and-tissue rubber fuselage model, replete with landing gear? Only a dedicated old-time enthusiast and dues-paying SAM member.
Aesthetics and charisma aside, and despite the SAM By-Rules preamble, which states that flying of these subjects will be low-key and no records kept, competition does exist. It can become as intense as at any contest, and by definition there will be winners, if not champions listed in the results.
Those who got right down to it on the first day had the good lift, with most categories decided before 10:30, as strong drift and turbulence developed. Bob Oslan snagged two quick maxes plus 4:45 to capture C‑30‑Second Antique. Clarence Meyerscough was close with 11:44 before the zephyrs became too muscular for the lighter stuff, although Bob DeShields, flying both early and late (right up to the 3 p.m. closing time), posted an outstanding 18:00 in Small Rubber Stick with his Casano. Mik Mikkelson was second at 16:42, piloting a Ritz design.
Overall, it was a shortened day of flying. Several airplanes were lost off-site, and several others were damaged on landing as they tumbled in the breeze. RC activity was also forced to a lull for most of the session.
Hot enough (high 90s) to make shade and rest premium pursuits. Engine tuning and pilot skills were high priorities as well in events such as RC Texaco, where very few 14-minute maxes were eeked out — the big models were often down early. The doldrums did allow further test flying, long hangar sessions, and leisurely lunch gatherings in nearby Boulder City.
By midafternoon, very businesslike cumuli appeared on the horizon, adding to the weather anomalies already observed, making plain that the predictions that Hurricane Nora, then savagely pounding Acapulco and points south in Mexico, might veer off course northeast (another anomaly attributed to El Niño) and bring heavy rains to Arizona and Nevada, El Dorado, Henderson, Las Vegas, SAM and the rest of it — which unfortunately is exactly what happened.
While the results were not the frontranglers predicted, an inch-and-a-half of rain made El Dorado Dry Lake into El Dorado Wet Lake instantly, wiping out the Thursday and Friday schedules and forcing contest management into a difficult decision about whether to proceed, and when and how. Much was at stake, of course — four days of scheduled events, a closing banquet, SAM business and Hall of Fame activities, a Collector, and other committed events, all of which carried crucial financial parameters.
After sitting out 36 hours and then viewing the site early Friday, many of us were convinced that further flying was a hopeless cause, and beat retreats homeward — prematurely, as it turned out. But the toss-up was correct, as by noon Friday SAM management deemed Saturday/Sunday would be viable, especially along the gravelly edges of the "lake," otherwise a quagmire, so the remaining events were doubled up, the remaining entrants doing their best to finish up the schedule.
Weather Saturday was fine, according to SAM president Bill Booth Sr., but Sunday proved breezy, thus curtailing Texaco and the light Rubber events. The banquet went off as planned, albeit at a lower note in numbers and camaraderie, but no less an important close to the SAM '97 proceedings.
A rousing goodbye to El Niño, Ms. Nora the rainmaker, and uppermost a salute to next year's Champs at the AMA digs in Muncie (September 13-18), flanked by a unique Year of the Pioneer celebration. To me, a former Hoosier, the details are, well, compelling.
Photo captions
- SAM president Bill Booth Sr. (Fresno, CA) and Rambler 30‑Second Antique. Finish was silkspan, tissue, nitrate dope.
- Smooth, firm El Dorado dry lake was perfect for Terry Ellington (Bakersfield, CA). Brooklyn Dodger, E.D. Hunter diesel.
- Canadian Don Reid tunes the O.S. .15 ignition conversion in his A‑Pylon Goldberg Ranger with silkspan/dope finish.
- Tom Williams (L) flies as Jerome Asner uses a hastily devised glare reducer from Barb Supperstein's car as both assisted in timing the max flight.
- RC Fokker D.VIII was an Earl Stahl Scale event, typified by Bob Potter and his elegant and excellent‑flying O&R .23 version.
- Bob Champine (Newport News, VA) checks Forster .99‑powered Bassett RC Texaco. Australia's Robert Shoebridge helps.
Author
John Oldenkamp 1625 Fern St. San Diego, CA 92102
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
