Top Gun 2016
Chris Mulcahy
cspaced@gmail.com
A few Model Aviation issues ago, I discussed Top Gun 2016, and the fact that this year’s event would have a Scale helicopter contest. Top Gun has traditionally been a competition for the best-of-the-best Scale airplane modelers, and is a perfect venue for introducing a Scale helicopter contest.
At this year’s Joe Nall Week, held May 7-14, at the Triple Tree Aerodrome in Woodruff, South Carolina, I sat down with Scale helicopter master and the man behind the helicopter portion of Top Gun, Darrell Sprayberry. We chatted about Top Gun, Scale helis, and sidelined into FPV boats. For the sake of this column, I have included the highlights from Top Gun, which was held Wednesday, April 27, through Sunday, May 1, at Paradise Field, in Lakeland, Florida.
There were 15 entries in the competition. The contest had three classes. The Masters class follows the same rules as AMA event #518. The rules are available on the AMA website in the AMA Competition Regulations.
Team Scale also follows the same rules as AMA #518, except that in this class, the pilot doesn’t have to be the
one who actually built the model. This allows pilots to purchase aircraft and use them in the competition. Sport Scale is for those who have purchased premade fuselages, or who painted their models in color schemes that don’t match any full-scale aircraft.
The weather was good, with low wind and temperatures in the mid-90s. The first day, Wednesday, was practice. Thursday morning was static judging, with one flying round held on Thursday afternoon. The pilots flew two rounds on Friday, with two more on Saturday.
For static judging, contestants must bring what is known as declaration documentation. This is information for the judges that details all of the work the builder has done on a model helicopter. This list can include everything from custom upholstery to added rivets.
A helicopter is graded in several categories including fuselage, landing gear, rotor head, finish markings, and craftsmanship.
In the Masters class, a builder tries to make his or her model match a full-scale helicopter as closely as possible by using hundreds of reference photos. This can even include the number of rivets around the landing gear. The more photos that a modeler has of a subject that he or she is modeling, the more accurate the reproduction of a full-scale aircraft can be. Each category is worth 50 points, and no one ever gets a perfect score!
There are two parts to the flying contest: mandatory maneuvers and freestyle. With freestyle, a pilot can pick a set of maneuvers that best fits his or her model’s full-scale counterpart.
The three judges were Mark Allen, Gordie Meade, and Dave Sellers. All are experienced at judging contests, including the Nats and various F3C
World Championships. The helicopter flightline was separate from the airplane flightline, and the helicopter crowd was well received by the airplane crowd.
Peter Wales’ Sea Sprite won the Masters class; second place went to Mark Smith (Bell Model 206 JetRanger); and third place went to Richard Schultz (Sikorsky S-62/US Coast Guard HH-52). The Sport class was won by Edward Sanchez (Eurocopter EC145); second place went to Donnie Roberts (Bell Model 412); and third place went to Peter Wales (Starwood Lama).
In Team Scale, first place went to Richard Gibson (Bell Model 407); second place was won by Emile Sheriff and Jim Spice (Bell Model 407); and third place was won by Barry Speavy and Stan Kopreski (Bell Model 47).
There was also a Critics’ Choice award that went to Peter Wales for his amazing Sea Sprite.
Joe Nall 2016
Joe Nall Week is predominantly an airplane event, but there are separate flightlines for helicopters, and this year, for FPV multirotors, too. While roughly a dozen die-hard helicopter pilots were at the flightline, most of the action was taking place at the FPV flightline. Tim King Jr. and crew did a great job on the racecourse, and everything ran smoothly.
You never know whom you will bump into at an event such as this, and I was happy to see Nick Maxwell and Bert Kammerer there. Both were enjoying being slightly more incognito than they are at an event that is solely for helicopters, yet they were equally gracious and hung out and talked with the few helicopter pilots who were there. Kyle Dahl was also there, putting on great helicopter demonstrations during noon shows at the main flightline. Don’t forget to attend the 2016 Heli Extravaganza, scheduled for September 22-25 at the Triple Tree Aerodrome, to see some awesome helicopter action!
SOURCES:
International Radio Controlled Helicopter Association (IRCHA)
www.ircha.org
Top Gun
www.franktiano.com/TopGunFrameset.htm
Joe Nall Week
www.tripletreeaerodrome.com/joe-nall-week.php
Triple Tree Aerodrome
www.tripletreeaerodrome.com
2016 Heli Extravaganza
www.tripletreeaerodrome.com/heli-extravaganza.php
AMA Competitions Regulations
www.modelaircraft.org/events/compreg.aspx
