U.S. Indoor Championships
Most events were well contested even though the site this year was different and not of ideal height. Best of all, the good feelings from friendly competition and association with others of similar interests was at a high level. — Melody and Richard Doig
Organizing the 1984 event
Organizing the 1984 event was a real scramble. By April, suitable arrangements could not be made with the new owner of the West Baden building, so the decision was made to go to an alternate site. Because rumors all winter long had the West Baden site alternating between available and unavailable, indoor modelers had been checking the availability of other sites. By April a half dozen alternates were available.
The State Fair Coliseum in Detroit, MI was chosen — a proven contest site with stable conditions and within reasonable travel distance for many past participants. This choice was made despite a high rental fee of $400.00 per day plus lights (half the normal rate).
Site and ceiling
The State Fair Coliseum is an arena-style building with a girdered roof and grandstands surrounding a large floor area. The building fits into AMA Ceiling Cat. III (15–30 meters; approx. 49–98 ft.), but at only 66 ft. height it does not provide conditions suitable for setting the many records that the West Baden atrium did. With this in mind, the schedule was for the Third U.S. Indoor Championships to be Monday, June 18 through Wednesday, June 20, and the Fifth World Peanut Grand Prix on Thursday, June 21 (no Record Trials this year).
Setup and test flying
On Sunday morning the setup crew found some of the roads on the fairgrounds under construction, including the road next to the coliseum. Direction signs were quickly posted to guide contestants and spectators. A plastic sheeting shroud was also hung around a rack of speakers about 15 ft. below the girders, eliminating a real hazard to models (at a previous contest several models were destroyed by the open speakers).
Test flying started Sunday at noon. Many indoor modelers arrived to test models. Notables included:
- Ron Ganser (Pittsburgh) — testing new microfilm models after last year's losses
- Jerry Skrjanc — set up a Micro-X shop
- Walt Van Gorder (Cincinnati) — frequent flier
- Paul Tryon (Hazelwood, MO) — arrived exhausted and sought sleep
By contest start, entrants had arrived from both coasts and two foreign countries: Larry Cailliau flew in from California; Doug Barber drove from New Jersey (bringing Mike Colling from England). The Canadian group included Ken Groves, Louis Leifer, and Jack McGillivray. Walt Everson, "Doc" Martin, and Millard Wells of the MIAMI Club of Florida also attended.
Families and attendance
There may be problems with a lack of juniors in model aviation, but one of the better showings of families at a major contest happened this time. Five families attended:
- The Loukacs (Willoughby, OH)
- The Skrjancs (Lorain, OH)
- The Fulmers (Mishawaka, IN)
- The Pivitts (Detroit, MI)
- The LaClaves (Lake Orion, MI) — new to indoor modeling
By the time chief Contest Director Tony Italiano arrived in the late afternoon, the contest looked well attended and worthy of being called the U.S. Indoor Championships.
Contest Directors and organizers
Contest Directors and key helpers included:
- Tony Italiano (Chief Contest Director)
- Hardy Brodersen
- Charlie Sotch
- Gordon Wisniewski
Site preparations were assisted by Bill and Paul Shailor. Thanks also to Richard and Melody Doig for securing the contest site.
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Monday
Hand‑Launched Glider (morning)
Most contestants had traditional gliders. Bryan Fulmer was the only Senior and won by default with 96.4 sec (this would have placed him third in Open). Bernie Boehm of South Bend, IN and Paul Shailor (local glider king) battled for first place.
Winners:
- 1st: Bernie Boehm — 114.8 sec (best two flights of nine) — new HL Glider All-Wood record
- 2nd: Paul Shailor — 113.6 sec
- 3rd: Wally Simmers (Chicago) — 80.4 sec
Junior results:
- 1st: Paul Loucka — 78.6 sec
- 2nd: Mike Pivitt — 48.2 sec
- 3rd: Jim Pivitt — 27.8 sec
AMA Stick (D Stick) / FAI Indoor (microfilm) (afternoon)
AMA Stick (three rounds of FAI Indoor (F1D) rules) was flown. By vote of the FAI Indoor Team Selection Program participants, this contest had been made an at-large Regional Contest to count 100 points toward the 1986 Indoor Team Selection Program.
Notable performances:
- Larry Cailliau — first flight 24:22; second-round 30:14 (highest time in the contest)
- Jim Richmond — testing a new design; recorded a winning time of 30:02 (second-highest time in the contest)
- Bill Hulbert (Akron, OH) — 23:19, and later 25:10 / 25:42 in other rounds
- Ron Ganser — suffered heavy losses when his model hung up and he destroyed remaining models trying to get more flights
- Richard Doig — built a large AMA Stick model (296 sq. in.), took second at 22:33 (model destroyed on second flight)
- Paul Tryon — 22:12 (close third)
- Juniors: Paul Loucka (15:55, 1st), Bob Skrjanc (15:28, 2nd)
Notes on events:
- F1D models: max wingspan 65 cm (25.59 in.), min weight 1 gram
- AMA Stick: wing area less than 300 sq. in.
A thunderstorm interrupted Round Three about 20 minutes after it started. A leaking window line allowed rain drops to damage several airborne models, but flying resumed within 15 minutes.
Ornithopters (evening)
Winners:
- 1st: Walt Erbach (Lincoln, NE) — 3:48
- 2nd: Roy White (Catawissa, MO) — 3:33
- 3rd: Frank Kieser — 2:51
Rubber Speed (north end course)
A Rubber Speed course with two pylons (lines from helium balloons) 20 ft. apart was set up. John Voorhees (Sidney, OH) was the only entrant to complete the required two laps: 17.34 sec.
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Tuesday
Pennylane, Novice Pennylane, Manhattan Cabin, Bostonian (morning)
Walt Erbach served as Contest Director for Pennylane, Novice Pennylane, Manhattan, and Bostonian. Several other CDs had models to fly.
Pennylane (Open):
- 1st: Gordon Wisniewski — 12:01
- 2nd: Walt Van Gorder — 11:01
- 3rd: Wally Simmers — 8:47
- Tony Italiano placed 6th.
Novice Pennylane:
- 1st: Wally Simmers — 9:20
- 2nd: Jerry Nolin (Fairborn, OH) — 9:15
- 3rd: Doug Barber — 9:09
Junior Pennylane / Novice results:
- Paul Loucka — 1st in both (Novice Pennyplane 6:41; Pennylane 8:08)
- Bob Skrjanc — 2nd in Pennylane — 8:07
- Tim LaClave — newcomer; 3rd in Pennylane (7:39) and 2nd in Novice Pennylane
Manhattan Cabin (now an official AMA event as of 1984):
- 1st: Ron Ganser — 8:03
- 2nd: Walt Ganser (Manhattan Cabin record holder) — 8:00
- 3rd: Hardy Brodersen — 6:38
Bostonian (unofficial; uses a "Charisma Factor" for realism/eye appeal; score = best two flights added × Charisma Factor):
- 1st: Jack McGillivray (Toronto) — 438.00 points
- 2nd: Joe Kubina (Detroit area)
- 3rd: Bill Shailor (Detroit area) — flew a "Boston Beanie" design by Bob Breinstein
Note: Bostonian attracted many outdoor free-flighters; six of the 11 entrants flew more outdoor than indoor events.
R.O.G. Cabin and FAI Indoor (afternoon into later rounds)
R.O.G. Cabin (rubber-motor, microfilm-covered cabin event):
- 1st: Richard Doig — 19:38
- 2nd: Ron Ganser — 19:17
- 3rd: Dan Belieff — 18:53
FAI Indoor (final rounds):
- Round 4 best: Bill Hulbert — 25:10; Paul Tryon — 23:42
- Round 5 best: Paul Tryon — 23:17
- Round 6: Bill Hulbert — 25:42; Larry Cailliau won overall
Final FAI placings and Indoor Team Finals qualification (75+ points):
- 1st: Larry Cailliau
- 2nd: Bill Hulbert
- 3rd: Paul Tryon
- 4th: Jim Richmond
These four were the only fliers at this event able to earn sufficient points (75 or more) to qualify for the Indoor Team Finals to be held over Labor Day weekend in 1985.
Dramatic finish: Richard Doig's last FAI model hung on a string near the end of flying; after several attempts he destroyed the model trying to free it, then popped a balloon to explode the remains and free the string from the girders.
Banquet (Tuesday evening)
At the banquet, NFFS President Tony Italiano spoke about the meet's success and the need to secure a site for next year. Hardy Brodersen highlighted contestants' moments and good points of the meet. In his capacity as AMA District VII vice-president, he presented a Superior Service Award to a surprised Richard and Melody Doig for their work in cleaning up the indoor records. Guest speaker Bob Dial, a WWII fighter pilot and recently retired corporate pilot for General Motors, shared his wartime experiences in Europe, North Africa, and China.
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Wednesday
Paper Stick and Easy B (morning)
Easy B (most popular event, 23 participants) Junior Easy B:
- 1st: Paul Loucka — 10:34
- 2nd: Bob Skrjanc — 8:49
Open Easy B (21 fliers; many took all five official flights):
- 1st: Walt Van Gorder — 14:43
- 2nd: Richard Doig — 13:18
- 3rd: Ken Groves — 12:18
Paper Stick:
- 1st: Ron Ganser — 18:09
- 2nd: Larry Loucka — 17:24
- 3rd: Richard Doig — 17:06
Scale events (afternoon) and schedule change
Due to a lack of entrants in Scale events (especially for the World Peanut Grand Prix), "Doc" Martin and Tony Italiano modified the schedule and held Thursday's events concurrently with Wednesday's Scale events. Organizers were disappointed with poor attendance in Scale entries. Thanks to Wally Hartung and Jim Jones for judging Scale.
Scale results:
- Peanut Scale (best flight in seconds noted):
- 1st: Jack McGillivray (Lacey M-10) — best flight 169 sec.
- 2nd: Ken Groves
- Canadians Jack McGillivray and Ken Groves took first and second in both Scale events.
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Conclusion and acknowledgments
The Third U.S. Indoor Championships ran smoothly due to the excellent work of the Contest Directors Tony Italiano, Hardy Brodersen, Charlie Sotch, and Gordon Wisniewski. Thanks also to Richard and Melody Doig for securing the contest site and to Bill and Paul Shailor for their help in site preparation.
Final tally: 55 contestants entered. Weather was excellent overall — not too hot and only one thunderstorm interrupted flying. Most important, this year's meet proved that the camaraderie of the U.S. Indoor Championships is not tied to West Baden; the good effect comes from the fliers and spectators who attend. We look forward to next year's U.S. Indoor Championships wherever it may be.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
