2016 Nats
by Bob Hunt
robinhunt@rcn.com
The Control Line (CL) Precision Aerobatics (Stunt) portion of the AMA Nats began on July 17, 2016, in Muncie, Indiana, and ran one full week. It was a hot week …
Weather conditions are always a favorite topic of discussion for CL Stunt fliers, and this Nats gave them plenty to talk about. It was hot—very hot. It was also calm most of the time, although there were a few windy rounds flown, and some pilots experienced thermal activity. In short, it was a challenging set of conditions in which to perform perfect aerobatic patterns.
The week kicked off on Sunday with the Beginner and Intermediate events, which were contested on the well-manicured grass circles. The AMA maintenance staff did a great job with the grass circles this year, and the pilots who competed or practiced at that venue certainly appreciated their efforts.
The winner in the Junior Beginner class was Nats first-timer Joseph Daly. Joe’s brother, Steven, also a first-time competitor, placed a close second. In Open Beginner, the winner was another Nats first-timer, Ross Roberts. Richard Imhoff placed second, and Carl Wiener was third. The event director, Mike Stinson, and his crew again did an outstanding job of running the Beginner events.
Two circles to the east, the Intermediate event was contested with Gary Alspaugh, Tim Redelman, and Leroy Polk Jr. finishing in first, second, and third respectively. Another veteran event director, Bob Brookins, along with his crew, also did an outstanding job. These event directors and their crews are all volunteers. The next time you see them, thank them for their service!
The big event on Monday of CL Nats week is the appearance point judging at the Oneighty building, north of Muncie. The models that are entered in the Advanced, Junior, Senior, and Open classes must be presented for the official weigh-in and appearance point assignment.
While the models were being evaluated for workmanship and finish by Jim Lynch, Charlie Reeves, and Bob Storick (three gifted builders/finishers in their own right), the CL Aerobatics event director, Dennis Adamisin, and the assistant event director, Curt Nixon, conducted a thorough pilots’ meeting in an adjacent room. After the meeting, pilots rushed to see how many appearance points their models received.
The front-row models this year each were given 19 out of a possible 20 points. Those models belonged to Frank McMillan, Kaz Minato, Rich Oliver, Howard Rush, Kenny Stevens, and Paul Walker. Each year, the overall quality of the models continues to improve.
On Tuesday, the Old-Time Stunt and Classic events were contested on the L-Pad at Site 1. These two events continue to attract an impressive number of competitors each year, and the possibility of making them official Nats events in the future was discussed.
In Old-Time Stunt, the winner was “that party looking for a place to happen,” Dan Banjock. Dan flew his fabulous rendition of Harold “Red” Reinhardt’s Galloping Comedian. Dan’s aircraft featured a hand-spun, polished aluminum cowling and hand-formed aluminum wheel pants! John Wright placed second, flying a Naccarato-
designed Big Job. Dennis Adamisin captured third, flying his Big Wing, which was designed in the early 1950s by his father, Big Art Adamisin.
In Classic, the old master himself, Bill Werwage, successfully defended his win from last year, flying his original-design Vulcan. One-half point behind in second place was Tom Dixon, who flew a Jim Van Loo-designed Chipmunk. Joe Gilbert flew a Ringmaster into third place!
Things became serious on Wednesday and Thursday with the qualifying rounds. The Open entry was split into four groups and they each flew two flights on an assigned circle on Wednesday and two flights on another circle on Thursday. The top scores from each day were added together for a final qualifying total. The top five Open pilots from each of the four circles advanced to the Friday finals.
The Advanced fliers were seeded onto only three of the circles and they flew in order with the Open fliers on their circles, with the scores separated on the scoreboard. Because of the low number of entries in Advanced, only three fliers from each circle moved into the finals for that group on Friday.
A sad note was the loss of Kenny Stevens’ gorgeous SV-22 during his first-round qualifying flight. Kenny’s airplane hit its own wake turbulence and was destroyed when it crashed onto the asphalt at the L-Pad. Kenny didn’t know it at the time, but his SV-22 was voted the Concours winner by his fellow competitors.
Another model that was awarded 19 appearance points, Rich Oliver’s Maverick, went in in a similar manner to Kenny’s SV-22 during one of Rich’s practice flights on Friday morning. I know that both Kenny and Rich will return next year with equally stunning models.
On Friday, the Open fliers flew two flights—one on each of the official circles—and the scores were totaled to yield the final placings for places six through 20. There are no throwaway flights on Friday.
The top five pilots from Friday would compete in Saturday’s flyoff. The pilots who transferred to the big show were Derek Barry, David Fitzgerald, Orestes Hernandez, Kaz Minato, and Paul Walker.
In Advanced, the final placings were Mike Waldron in first, flying his SV-11; first-time Nats participant Joe Daly in second, flying his original-design High Voltage; and John Paris in third, flying his ’Bout Time original design.
On Saturday, the Junior and Senior champions were determined. Samantha Hines flew to an uncontested first place in Senior with her new Banshee. In Junior, Ben Mills flew his Twister to first place, with William Dirks placing second. Ben has improved dramatically during the past year!
The stage was set for the big show. Although it wasn’t as hot as it had been during the qualifying and finals rounds, it was calm, and clean flying was difficult because of wake turbulence. Each of the five pilots had some issues with turbulence, but in the end, it was David Fitzgerald who flew best and won his ninth national championship with his original ThunderGazer aircraft.
A close second was the defending 2015 champion, Paul Walker, flying his Predator. The current world champion, Orestes Hernandez, placed third flying his Yatsenko kit Shark. Derek Barry took fourth with his Randy Smith-designed Dreadnought XL, and Kaz Minato captured fifth with his F6F Hellcat.
David also won the Walker Trophy
flyoff, with Samantha Hines placing second, and Ben Mills in third.
Summarizing the Stunt program at this Nats is easy: it was hot and mostly calm. The event ran without a hitch because of great management and judging. The level of building and flying proficiency continues to rise in all classes. And CL Stunt is healthy on the national scene.
Please make plans to join the fun next year in Muncie. It will be a week you’ll never forget. One thing: bring sunscreen!
Sources:
Precision Aerobatics Model Pilots Association (PAMPA)
www.pampacl.org
2016 Nats
nats.modelaircraft.org
