District X—Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah
Lawrence Tougas
Vice President
ama.district10@gmail.com
Box 276, Fairfield CA 94533
Tel.: (707) 480-2053; www.ama10.org
Sad news from Arizona. Bernard (Bernie) Frank, owner of Frank’s Hobby House in Phoenix, has passed away. Bernie was originally from Syracuse, New York, and was a lifetime model aviation enthusiast. He opened his hobby shop in 1990. He was well known in the Phoenix RC community, and was a member of the Sun Valley Fliers. Our thoughts are with Bernie’s family.
Bernie Frank (L) of Frank’s Hobby House in Phoenix with Don Roberts.
Our Phoenix-area associate vice president, Jim Mohan, visited the Gunsmoke Scale competition recently. This event is put on by the One Eighth Air Force, which is a top-notch group of modelers dedicated to depicting models as close as humanly possible to their full-scale counterparts. I’ve been fortunate to attend the club’s events in the past. If the chance presents itself, I recommend that you go. You’ll have a great time.
Please enjoy Jim’s report.
One of the more popular aspects of model aviation is Scale modeling. Scale competitions include static and flight judging. In advanced categories, models are compared with a full-scale aircraft that the builder has chosen to model. Panel lines, rivets, pinking, and cockpit switches are all fair game when scoring a model’s fidelity to its exemplar.
The One Eighth Air Force hosted a U.S. Scale Masters qualifying event at the Superstition Airpark near Apache Junction, Arizona. Named Gunsmoke, this was the 25th year for this gathering, held March 24-26, 2017.
Friday’s events included static judging for the more than 30 registered pilots and some practice flying. Saturday and Sunday were primarily devoted to flight scoring for the participants. Participants flew three scored flights. Those who scored high enough, earned the right to compete in the U.S. Scale Masters Championship.
One Eighth Air Force commander John Geyer and contest director (CD) Paul Goldsmith ensured that everything ran smoothly. Even the Arizona weather cooperated with high clouds, low wind, and pleasant temperatures after a hot and stormy start to the week.
Participants included several longtime Scale competitors, as well as a handful of first-time participants from throughout the Southwest. Aircraft spanned a range of classes and categories. Beautiful airplanes from World War I, the Golden Age of Flight, World War II, and modern civil aircraft filled the flightline.
Static judging varied by class. Pro-Am class participants got a static score for providing artwork or photos showing that their model represented an actual full-scale aircraft. Higher classes required more extensive documentation showing the details of the modeled aircraft.
Flight judging included several mandatory maneuvers plus five pilot-selected optional maneuvers. Maneuvers varied from pilot to pilot and model to model based on what that category of aircraft would be expected to do using its full-scale parameters—no snap rolls for a twin-engine bomber!
Scale competition is frequently assumed to mean kit- or plan-built aircraft. That is not the case. Rules for this competition allowed for ARFs as well as kit models. In fact, there was even a handful of foam ARFs.
If you’ve got a bug for competition, but aren’t into extreme aerobatics, Scale competitions are something you should seriously consider.
(L-R) CD Paul Goldsmith, AMA President Rich Hanson, and One Eighth Air Force Commander John Geyer pause for a photo during Gunsmoke 2017.
First-time competitor Keith Hoffman with his L-4.
Brad Osborne and his PT-19.
Until next month, I wish you all happy landings.
Associate Vice Presidents: Tim Attaway, Chula Vista CA; (619) 427-6392; trattaway@cox.net; Forrest Barton, Woodland CA; (530) 383-9019; cbarton328@aol.com; Richard Bonnardel, Kailua HI; (808) 261-7046; rebbff@hawaii.rr.com; Kurtis Chandler, Phoenix AZ; (602) 647-8342; azpm@cox.net; Alan Friedman, Eloy AZ; (520) 876-0232; pooralan@aol.com. Dan Johnson, St. George UT; (435) 619-3112; dkjohnson@gmail.com; Kevin Houser, Oro Valley AZ; (520) 490-7657; khouser@rocketfarmers.com; Tim Johnson, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA; (562) 965-4288; timothy@johnson.us.com; Mike Lee, Redlands CA; (909) 792-8424; mlee8249@msn.com; Scott Malta, Merced CA; (209) 723-4202; scottmalta@comcast.net; Jim Mohan, Phoenix AZ; (623) 434-1351; jmohan351@cox.net; Todd Sheridan, Pleasant Grove UT; (801) 358-8345; sheridan.todd@gmail.com; Greg Stone, Laguna Niguel, CA; (949) 413-0920; gstone4@cox.net; Gil Terzo, Las Vegas NV; (702) 523-9897; gterzo@aol.com. Peter Vogel, Santa Clara CA; (408) 569-7067; vogel.peter@gmail.com; Roger Willis, Murrieta CA; (951) 249-9688; willisasoc@aol.com. Event Sanction Coordinators: Tim Attaway, Chula Vista CA; (619) 427-6392; trattaway@cox.net; Forrest Barton, Woodland CA; (530) 383-9019; cbarton328@aol.com; Kurtis Chandler (Arizona and Utah), Peoria AZ; (602) 647-3842; azpm@cox.net; Christopher Sullivan, Waipahu HI; (808) 853-8863; rccombat808@yahoo.com.
