Vintage CL Stunt Champs
IMAGINE, Control Line Stunt fans, sharing a circle with George Aldrich, Bob Palmer, Ed Southwick, Charles Mackey, and others from the Golden Era of Stunt. Include, if you will, present-day experts Ted Fancher, Tom Dixon, Kaz Minato, and Bob Whiteley, among others. Add to that the discovery that the judges include Paul Walker, Bart Klapinski, and Tom Warden, to name a few.
Sound like someone's fantasy? It's also a capsule sketch of one fun-packed weekend at Whittier Narrows (South El Monte), CA last February. The incredible gathering of luminaries that was the inaugural Vintage Stunt Championships is still fresh in my memory.
It had all begun innocently enough with some doodling on a scratch pad about a year earlier. Around 4:00 on a foggy morning, pencil in hand, I was tossing off a Zilch here, an Ares there, when inspiration suddenly seized. Why not round up all the former CL Stunt stars and have a sort of family reunion?
My imagination was fired. "What if," I wondered, "someone contacted the Stunt champs of the Forties, Fifties, and Sixties and invited them all to a combination contest/fun-fly sometime?" Within a few minutes, I'd worked up a fever pitch. The "What ifs?" were hatching like chickens in the springtime.
What if I could locate all those former stars, then include today's Top Guns, and finally contact all the magazines well in advance. It's sounding good. But, whoa! "What if (nobody attends?) (they all attend?)"
I decided to take my chances. My sweetheart and wife, JoAnn, volunteered to be the Contest Director. In no time at all we'd mailed out over 50 proposals to various parts of the country and several foreign locations. I shouldn't have worried. The response was immediate and overwhelming: "Yes! And be sure to invite so-and-so!" was typical. When it was apparent that the ol' family budget wouldn't stand for much of this, we sought a little help from our friends. Control Line Classics sponsored the postage costs for the hundreds of mailers and letters we issued in that year of planning.
We heard from George Aldrich ("Sure! When is it?"), Bob Palmer ("...health permitting"), Joe Wagner ("...wouldn't miss it!"), Claus Maikis in West Germany ("Can't get to the U.S.A. then, but wish you well."), and, in December 1988, future Nostalgia winner Bob Whiteley ("What contest?"). Bob lives 20 minutes away. Club members Dale Kirn and Bob Klapinski got on the phone with their many contacts. So did Bob Baron, Ted Fancher, Tom Dixon, Windy Urtnowski, and a host of others. They kept the phone barons busy.
"Irv Ohlsson can't make it; says 'hello' to all . . ." "Ed Southwick is coming. Maybe 'Madman' Yates, too . . ." "Heard from Palmer?" — "Yeah, he's a 'probable' . . ." "Somebody found Charlie Mackey!" "Duke Fox has a prior commitment but sends regards . . ." "Does Aldrich still fly clockwise?" — (Yep — MK) "Joe Wagner's driving out from Pennsylvania . . ."
Obviously, we were on, and this thing needed a name. After great deliberation (about 60 seconds), "Vintage Stunt Championships" was chosen. Though the ambience was to be low-keyed, more a reunion, or fly-in, than a contest, it was felt that actual competition would help to ensure participation from present-day Precision Aerobatics competitors. As neither Old-Timer nor the still-experimental Nostalgia is an official AMA rule book event, JoAnn applied for a Class "C" sanction — which was received quickly via the capable hands of AMA's Debbie Brown.
We followed the Old-Timer (OT) rules as established by the 1970 originators of the event, the Garden State Circle Burners, with generous help and advice from the chief OT proponent, John Miske. Briefly, OT is intended for Stunt models designed, kitted, and/or flown prior to January 1, 1953. Bonus points are given for ignition engines and wings without flaps. Flight sequence is according to the AMA 1951–52 rule book pattern. While no appearance points are awarded, the nature of the event is such that some very attractive models are seen.
Nostalgia, on the other hand, is a relatively new concept. In fact, as far as I'm aware the VSC was the first contest to showcase the event. Geared for designs 25 years and older (yes, Old-Timers are eligible), Nostalgia uses the current AMA pattern, with appearance points to a maximum of 20. Still in the provisional stage is an option of awarding minus (up to minus 10) appearance points for models which severely violate the spirit and intent of the event — e.g., a foam-winged Argus, or an All American Sr. with equal wing panels. (More on that subject later.) PAMPA members can see the complete, albeit provisional, Nostalgia rules in the March/April issue of Stunt News. Nonmembers desiring a copy of this issue may send a legal-sized SASE to the address at the end of this article.
This was the very minor (if you think that's tongue-in-cheek, you're right) detail of convincing potential sponsors we were serious.
People were generous. Twenty-five firms and individuals responded with first-class merchandise, discount certificates, and cash donations, while two additional sponsors came through at the time of the contest. Many of our sponsoring companies advertise in Model Aviation, and some are generally pigeonholed as Radio Control outfits. Plaques for the top three finishers in each event, courtesy of AJ's Free Flight Service, were obtained from Jennings Trophies in Tennessee. Jim and Mary Jennings did a superb job on these custom-logo beauties engraved with the Palmer Smoothie Stunt ship. I recommend their work highly.
Another task was finding qualified judges and a capable flight-line director/pit boss. These officials are crucial to the success of a contest, and we were fortunate in having some extremely capable volunteers. JoAnn and I are members of the Knights of the Round Circle, a rapidly growing all-events CL club based in southern California. We agreed not to host this as a club-sponsored contest—just in case it was a flop! (Sort of the reverse of incorporating to avoid personal liability.) At no time during the planning phase were club members obligated to help, yet they responded in force.
Virgil Wilbur, president of the Screaming Eagles MAC, arranged for the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department to mow the grass at the site's picnic area and also made sure the office received a copy of our Chartered Club insurance certificate.
Just two weeks prior to the contest, I was suddenly required to spend considerable time flying cross-country on business. This provoked a fit of mild panic. Expertly stepping in, however, to help JoAnn complete eleven-hour preparations were Bart Klapinski, Northrop Flying Tigers president and OT judge John Patwell, and our possible future son-in-law, Shawn Bannister.
Four days before the meet, it snowed in Malibu. Not only had the famed, benign southern California weather gone haywire, the entire country was soggy. Riley Wooten phoned to say that he and Marion might be grounded by fog and freezing rain—in Lubbock, TX!
All of which reinforces the dictum that you can't be too well prepared. During those hectic weeks of prelude and once the festivities began, we were mighty glad that we'd invested eleven months of planning into this effort.
Day One, February 18, dawned cold by So-Cal standards, but with clear skies. After Nostalgia appearance judging and a pilots' meeting, both completed on schedule, the first flights went up at 9:02 a.m.—two minutes after the advertised time.
About 200 people attended. A galaxy of Stunt ships filled the skies. Any readers remember these? Zilch, Madman, Fireball, Barnstormer, Super Clown, Ares, Thunderbird, All American, El Conquistador, Warrior? How about the Fierce Arrow, 1950 Plymouth Internats winner, Sportwing, Panther, Smoothie, Yates Dragon, Lark, Tempest, Olympic—and, of course, the ubiquitous Ringmaster? It was like a flying museum of vintage Stunt.
Twenty-five registered competitors filled 19 entries in Old-Timer and 17 in Nostalgia. Flying an exact replica of his original Noriler in both events, and forgoing a 20-point bonus for unflapped designs in OT, was San Antonio's George M. Aldrich. Ted Fancher came in the company of his then-new Ares, his much-traveled All American Sr., and Sharren herself. Tom Dixon, 1988 PAMPA president, flew in from Marietta, GA, with his detachable-wing Lark. New England Stunt Team member Richard Wolsey came out from North Reading, MA — and won the Long-Distance award in the process. If we'd had one, the Most Fun at a Contest award would have gone to DeForrest and Ruby Hill of Tulsa, OK.
Other attendees hailed from Oregon, Arizona, Washington State — even from Japan. Mr. Atae Yamasaki, member of his country's F2B Team and publisher of Model Sports, was on hand all weekend taking notes and photos for his magazine. (I had signed up to do this feature. Ted Fancher may cover some of the action in his column as well.) Other U.S. model magazines were represented by Bill Northrop and Keith Trostle (Model Builder), and Dick Sarpolous (Flying Models). For truly unbiased accounts of the contest, please read their articles, as I may find it a bit hard to remain objective in these pages.
Dale Kirn (yes, the Dale Kirn) showed up with a Monoline Thunderbird but was so busy renewing old acquaintances that he never managed to fly. Dale wasn't alone with that problem. On hand as observers were Bob Palmer, Roy Mayes, Ed Southwick, Joe Wagner, Charles Mackey, Ced Galloway, and Riley Wooten, among other shining exponents of the Golden Age of Stunt. Ed Southwick, there with his 28‑year‑old Skylark on display, flew a prototype of the new Challenger profile kit by the Galaxy Model Company — and was hooked again. Mrs. Southwick loved it! Look for Ed to compete next year (right, Ed?).
Meanwhile, reunions and first-time meetings were going on all around us. Some of the newer fliers got quite a boot out of being told, "You're up on Circle Two ... right" after Aldrich, or, "10 percent fuel? Yeah, Dixon's got some; go ask him." Worth mentioning is that Tom Dixon donated a case of Taffinder fuel for us by airline travelers. Likewise, Don Nix, an R/C flier and president of Powermaster Products, delivered five gallons of his custom-blend stunt fuel at 9:00 a.m.—even though he was moving his entire operation to new facilities that weekend!
If you needed any proof that this was a truly low-keyed, but high-spirited, gathering, one look at '78 Walker Cup winner Bob Whiteley's face when he read the gag score posted for him in Round Two would have done it. Ol' "R.J." fell victim to a practical joke by two of the judges. A very relaxed Paul Walker (two-time Nationals winner and fifth at the 1988 Kevil World Champs) and his accomplice, Tom ("Mr. Aero Gloss") Warden, sent dummy score sheets to the tabulators, who, along with the CD, were part of the act. You should've seen Bob's face when he read the "-382.00" posted for what was obviously a superior performance with his Panther. They let him suffer a bit before revealing the true score of 532.50. Yes, he won alright—and warned us "turkeys" that he'd be judging someday soon!
While we got boisterous alright, that didn't prevent our running this meet totally by the book. Now, I gotta be real careful here. Being married to the CD leaves me open to accusations of conflict of interest (or worse!). But I can vouch that AMA and common-sense safety rules were strictly enforced. Pit boss Randy Huydec kept a steady flow to both circles, and each round was completed at about 1:00 p.m. This left the remainder of the afternoons for socializing, demonstration flights, and just plain enjoyment. I happen to feel that JoAnn and her crew were priceless, but in the interest of fair play we'll let others be the judge of that.
In Round One of Nostalgia, Tulsa's Des Forrest Hill fired up his Netzeband-designed Fierce Arrow and, after signing for an official flight, proceeded to fly a "free-style" exhibition. This didn't phase Judges Karl Klapinski and Rick Loomis (Open and Senior winners, respectively, in the 1967 Nats), who went ahead and scored the takeoff, landing, and a couple of maneuvers that just happened to place the flight in the right sequence. It went like this:
“Hey, De—that was an official!” “I know.” (grinning from ear to ear) “But it was all out of sequence!” “I know,” (same big grin) “Well, you're sure having fun.” “Yeah, I know!” (Huge grin.)
Over at the OT circle, SAM member Floyd Carter of Los Altos, CA was wowing the crowd with his beautiful orange-and-white Madman, powered by an Orwick .64 on ignition. He used all three attempts to complete one official flight on Saturday. If we'd had a Sportsmanship award, it'd be in Los Altos today.
In addition to being the maker of jewel-like transistorized ignition systems (two of which he donated as prizes), Floyd creates wire sculptures of Stunt models. He is a master craftsman and very pleasant gentleman. Floyd handmade and donated our Contestor's Elegance award in Nostalgia, featuring a 9‑in.-span Smoothie as this year's logo. Mounted on a base of polished rosewood, the award is a work of art.
Around midmorning, two restored '57 Chevys rolled in behind the pit area. The handiwork of Expert category fliers Tom Lay and Bob Whiteley, the Chevys were flawless. They provided a nostalgic backdrop for hundreds of group and individual photos. As an added bonus, both these gents were dressed Fifties style—right down to the leather jackets.
Uncertain whether he could still recall the clockwise pattern sequence, George Aldrich asked me to call for him during an official flight. Although, just like most of us, he counts off the level laps between maneuvers out loud and talks his way through the pattern, George showed no memory lapse at all. My help was probably unnecessary.
Taken by several different folks at the meet, the photos show a representative sampling of models and action. Morrie Levandich, a partner in Control Line Classics, processed all the pictures. John Anderson, president of Galaxie Model Company, made those nice signs you see in some of the photos. They were used on the flight line and at each flying circle. Commemorative T-shirts featuring the Smoothie logo plus event and site data were available. They could well be future collector's items. A few are still left (in medium and large sizes). Anyone interested in purchasing one may contact me at the address at the end of this article.
A third circle was open all weekend for testing, tuning, and exhibition flying. A highlight there was Walter Hicks of Bishop, CA with his Biceps biplane Stunter. On Sunday, Klapinski flew this huge beauty through the complete AMA pattern. Back on Circle Two, Atae Yamasaki, Ted Fancher, and countless other fliers were turning out the prototype Challenger. Flying an airplane that was totally unfamiliar to him, Mr. Yamasaki showed why he's on Japan's FAI team. Was he impressive! "Hai!"
Meanwhile Don Hutchinson (Valencia, CA) was flying his original, scratch-built Scale Stearman through most of the pattern, just as he does at local Scale contests. Most impressive.
With absolutely no forecast of the turnout, we hadn't arranged a Saturday evening banquet or get-together—a definite mistake! (Next year will feature a "hop"—this is the Fifties, remember?—as well as a central headquarters motel.) Most folks remained on-site until late Saturday afternoon, feeding their memories. The old Navy Nats atmosphere was pervasive; but for the lack of a workshop hangar, you could easily imagine being back at Willow Grove or Glenview, circa 1953–56.
"So far, so good," my family said. Hoping for fair weather, we drew numbers for Sunday's flight order, and headed homeward.
Vintage Stunt / Keville
Continued from page 77
On Day Two we rose at 5:00 a.m.—and saw rain. (Of course, nomenclature there depends upon where you live. To John Thompson and Phil Granderson up on the drizzle circuit, it's just a "light mist.") Also, it was still cold. Fortunately, though, by 7:45 the skies had cleared enough that we could set up the tables—and once again the first flights went up on schedule.
By the luck of the draw, several of today's top national fliers happened to be bunched near the beginning of the flight order in Nostalgia. When the judges pulled the old "switcheroo" on Whiteley, things had to be hastily corrected. Of course, we were trying to keep the plaques, trophies, and merchandise dry at the same time.
Ted Fancher ran his All American through the sequence as if it had been on rails. He looked (and was, it turned out) unbeatable. Lou Crane, Kaz Minato, Tom Dixon, and Dick Wolsey also flew this popular Hal de Bolt design.
Something caught my eye: a 1947 Super C, a Jim Saftig design now being kitted by Galaxie. Its delightful open-framework fuselage and tissue covering struck me as conveying the true spirit and intent of the OT Stunt event. Jim Levell's rendition, powered by an R.J.L.-Forster .35, placed 14th and was awarded the Spirit of '52 trophy. Nearly equal in spirit was the gorgeous Rheinhardt-designed 1950 Plymouth Internats Winner entered by Nats OT Stunt Champ Lou Wolgast of Tucson, AZ.
Barry Baxter of Cypress, CA is, along with Russ Graves, one of the U.S.A.'s better Combat pilots. Baxter turned in a fine 282 with his Fox .35-powered Barnstormer, the Lou Andrews design formerly kitted by Guillows and today by the AJ Company. California's Dennis Lien and Bob Hazle suffered engine/airframe malfunctions which relegated them both to the status of spectators.
Nostalgia was shaping up into a battle between Tom Dixon's Lark and Bob Whiteley's Panther, with Kaz pushing them both hard. Chris McMillin, who, like Fancher and Passanante, works as an airline pilot, entered a Thompson Trophy version of an old Midwest P-63 profile which placed fifth. Chris's dad, Jerry, displayed both his Squaw dating from 1952 and a deBolt Continental. Joe Hill continued to free-style with his Fierce Arrow. He'd offered designer Netzeband a flight with it, but Bill declined, owing to his aches from prescription medication. Incidentally, the guy we used to call "Wild Bill" is a very kind and pleasant gentleman known today as "Mild Bill."
We looked everywhere for J. C. "Madman" Yates, to no avail. A friendly couple who are his RC-flying neighbors said they'd relay their observations to J. C. and try to persuade him to attend next year's meet. "Madman," if you're reading this, there were three very impressive versions of your design carrying the same name. You'd have loved it! See you next year!
Around midmorning, Tony Naccarato said, "Here comes Bob Palmer." This was like calling "Here comes George Michael"—to a crowd of teenagers! Instantly surrounded by the gang, Bob seemed happy to soak in the profusion of Thunderbirds, Smoothies, and CLC's Pow Wow kits. A terrific, missed photo opportunity (perhaps someone will send me one?) was when Bob stood in a group that included Ed Southwick, Charlie Mackey, and George Aldrich. Standing nearby were Dale Kirn, Roy Mayes, Cecil Mead, and, from the pages of Air Trails, well-known scale designer/competitor Cedric (Cecil) Galloway. All I could do was grin and shake hands all around. Photos? Forgot! Phooey!
A couple of guys who kept a clear head managed to get several of the legends in our midst to autograph their shirts and models. Mike Fox, one of the other Racing pilots in this area, had George autograph his Aldrich-designed Foxy. And Ted Fancher's Ares is now covered with signatures of the not-so-rich-but-famous.
Weatherwise, Sunday was pretty lucky. Although temperatures stayed chilly, the drizzle held off until the last couple of flights. Scurrying to set up a canopy, we managed to keep the scoresheets semidry but disrupted the tabulators in the process. No real harm was done, though a few scores were back on a lighter footing.
Over in Circle One, the OT fliers were putting on quite a show. Navy NCO Darrel Harvin, who's been flying Stunt for only four months, posted a 223 score with his Ringmaster. Not surprisingly, he recently won first in Beginner (full pattern) at Tucson's Southwest Regionals. Fellow club member Russ Graves, scheduled late in the order, waited for a chance to improve his fifth-place standing.
As on Saturday, official flying again ended by 1:00 p.m. Following a lunch break (barbecue courtesy of Rick Wisniewski and family), the awards and raffle began.
Why a raffle?
The amount and variety of quality merchandise supplied by our sponsors (including cash donations from Walter Hicks and District VI AVP Bill Zimmer) persuaded JoAnn and me that it would be inappropriate for us to decide who would get what. Instead, each contestant, judge, and official (other than our family) received a free raffle ticket, giving everyone an equal chance of taking home a nice prize. As far as we're concerned, in the OT and Nostalgia movements everyone's a winner.
Awards began with plaques for the top three finishers in each event. Using a two-flight total, the winners in Old-Timer were:
- Ted Fancher — 625.00
- Russ Graves — 570.00
- John Wright — 558.00
In Nostalgia, it was:
- Bob Whiteley — 1,048.50
- Tom Dixon — 1,013.00
- Kaz Minato — (for his beautiful All American Star)
(I believe we can pronounce the contest a success. There was one small exception. That was when the CD's hubby announced the wrong name during the Nostalgia awards. "Repeat after me," said CD to hubby after this gaffe. "Minato is not spelled W‑O‑L‑G‑A‑S‑T!")
In his "Plug Sparks" column for Model Builder magazine, John Pond frequently injects the word, "fun." That was definitely the operative word for the Inaugural Vintage Stunt Championships, both in intent and outcome. We never forgot that we were there basically to have a good time.
I invite you to be part of the Second Annual Stunt show, tentatively scheduled for February 24–25, 1990. Keep an eye on Ted Fancher's "Aerobatics" column and the "Sanctioned Events Calendar" in this magazine, and/or join PAMPA for updates and pre-entry information.
Then, hang a set of fuzzy dice from your rearview mirror, find a pack of Luckies to roll up in your sleeve, go buy some Brylcreem, and let the good times roll.
If Old-Timer Stunt is your primary modeling interest, why not go straight to the man. John Miske, Jr. has stockpiles of info and a plans list that are guaranteed to fire the imagination. Plans for OT and Nostalgia (as well as modern) Stunters are also available from Tom Dixon. For more information on Vintage Stunt or to inquire about joining the Precision Aerobatics Model Pilots Association (PAMPA), write to me or to JoAnn at:
6618 Dashwood St. Lakewood, CA 90713
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
