Radio Control: Aerobatics
A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO my club (Eglin Aero Modellers) held its annual Pattern contest. Because I was a judge, I had a good chance to look at how fliers were doing on the Novice and Sportsman maneuver schedules. By the way, John Fuqua and I share Contest Director duties. When he is acting CD, I am on the line judging. Similarly, when I'm CD, he's judging. It works out well and provides an extra judge on the line. I observed the Novice and Sportsman fliers more critically than at other contests, because I'm usually more preoccupied with my own event (Master) or in helping John Fuqua (FAI) than I am in how the fliers in Novice or Sportsman are doing.
SPA: Contest
LET'S TURN BACK THE TIME. Several of us did just that. The Senior Pattern Association (SPA) held its first contest on October 12th and 13th, featuring Pattern aircraft from the 1960s. The event was the brainchild of long-time pattern flier Mickey Walker (Smyrna, Georgia). Mickey had written to me back in March 1991 to announce the formation of the SPA and its first contest. I published most of his letter in the August issue of Model Aviation and mentioned it again last month. The rules for the SPA are fairly simple. First, you must be older than 45 years. The current age groups are 45 to 54 and over 55. There are some older guys who want the senior group to start at 60.
Radio Control: Aerobatics
ATTENTION, all pattern contestants: I received a very interesting letter from Steve Campbell (Baton Rouge, Louisiana). What follows are excerpts from his letter: "Several of your remarks in the October '92 column have done more to reinforce my negative feelings toward pattern fliers than almost anything I have seen or heard to date. "At one time I was a national-level competitor in police combat shooting (PPC). Among my more notable accomplishments were winning Master Class at the 1986 Nationals in Des Moines and becoming the Louisiana State Champion in 1989. I relate this not to impress you, but simply to illustrate that I am no stranger to high-level competition.
Radio Control: Aerobatics
ALL RULES-CHANGE PROPOSALS for 1994-1995 have been processed, but there aren't very many. I received a complete set of the proposals from my district RC Aerobatics Contest Board member, John Fuqua, and was surprised. Not only were there few proposals, but several were even duplicates (or at least similar). Apparently the National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics (NSRCA) got their years mixed up or something, because there are no NSRCA-sponsored proposals in this (two-year) rules-change cycle. You may remember that the last rules-change cycle was dominated by the NSRCA rules-change proposals.
Radio Control: Sport and Aerobatics
GOOD NEWS! Back in the May column I asked modelers to assist Jed Mottola (Fairlawn, NJ) in getting his Saito .90 twin repaired. He had almost run out of ideas after contacting several potential sources. He then wrote to me for assistance. When my column reached the Model Aviation editorial offices, my editor remembered that another MA staffer had just gotten his Saito repaired at A&M Aircraft Supply (18015 Crest, Carrolton, TX 75006). He quickly wrote directly to Jed to tell him of the Saito repair source, but left the request for assistance in my June column just to see what would happen. The results are in. I got a letter and pictures from Jed a week ago. He has gotten his Saito repaired and reports that he got a lot of responses about where to get the repairs. Thanks. It's the nice things we do for each other that really make RC modeling a gratifying hobby.
