CONTROL LINE SCALE
2021 AMA NATS
By Fred Cronenwett | clscale7@gmail.com
TO SAY THAT THE WEATHER was not on our side for the 2021 AMA Control Line (CL) Scale Nats, held June 17-19 at the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana, is an understatement. The weather for the static judging was fantastic, but the prediction for the next two days did not look good. The decision was made to go to the flying site after the completion of static judging to get in as many flights as we could.
We had to pack up all of the CL models then drive to the CL flying site, reassemble the models for the second time, and fly. We flew until 7:30 p.m. on the evening of June 17, finishing rounds one and two.
It is possible to fly rounds one and two after Static judging is done, but to do this, the Static judging needs to be done at the flying site. It’s much better when the flying portion is done during days two and three instead of trying to combine too much into one day.
Friday morning (June 18), all of the pilots met at the flying circle and decided not to fly rounds three and four, so we then headed to the AMA Headquarters building to award the final trophies.
The Scale banquet, where the CL top Static trophies were awarded, took place on Friday night. Steve Ashby, Ron Sears, Chris Brownhill, and Pete Klepsic were inducted into the CL Scale Hall of Fame. Congratulations to all of them. The location of the banquet was moved that evening because of weather, but the change in location was not communicated well among everyone who planned to attend the banquet.
In 1/2A Scale, Ron Duly had his Heinkel He 111Z. The model only has five 1/2A engines. It took a team of four or more people to fuel, start all five engines, and keep them running so that the model could take off under power.
Burt Brokaw had a Howard Pete that took top Static and first place in 1/2A Scale. Two years after Burt first flew his Macchi 202 in Profile Scale, he returned with the model trimmed out and took first place. Jeff Jensen placed second with his Helldiver.
Fun Scale is always a competitive event, with the flying score dominating the points. Joe Gilbert flew Ed Mason’s B-17 with a nearly perfect flight and took first place in that class.
CL Fun-Flys
CL fun-flys are some of the easiest events to host because there is only one formal rule that you have to follow if you decide to get a sanction. With the sanction, you have to check for AMA membership and have pilots sign the declaration form that you send to AMA. Your event will be advertised in the online AMA Event Calendar and in the Model Aviation “Sanctioned Event Calendar” for others to see, so the number of pilots who show up might increase.
The fun-fly allows for any CL model to be flown, so pilots will bring a wide variety of aircraft. Some of the models that are flown were never built with the intention of entering them in a contest. Pilots might bring lots of models and only get to fly a few of them, and that is okay. The atmosphere and schedule during a fun-fly is much more relaxed than a contest.
Lafayette Esquadrille Buder Park Fun-Fly
In 2020, the Lafayette Esquadrille held a fun-fly to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Buder Park, located in Valley Park, Missouri, becoming an official CL flying site. Our fully paved circle has been at that same location for 61 years and is still being used. In June 2021, we hosted the fun-fly again because we had a good response from the first one.
The 2022 Buder Park Fun-Fly will be held June 4-5.
Rocky Mountain Aeromodelers Fun-Fly
In August 2021, I attended the Rocky Mountain Aeromodelers fun-fly in Colorado. The club hosted the event on a private flying circle that just happens to have one of the best doughnut circles
from which I have ever flown.
Some attendees showed up without even bringing a model and were welcomed. The fun-fly attracted pilots from the club and from other clubs outside of the Denver area. On Saturday, it was too windy to fly, so everyone instead shared information about their models, ate lunch, and talked about what they had been doing recently.
Matt Curtis had purchased an RC model at a swap meet to try the 2.4 GHz setup for throttle control. He converted the aircraft to CL and flew it at the fun-fly. This model is a prime example of something that was never intended for competition but is perfect to be flown at a fun-fly.
Lee Boss flew his Green Jet that has been flying for more than 50 years. This model was scratch-built from his own plans and has elements of the B-47 and the B-52 bombers. Check out the video of the model being flown on my YouTube channel. The link is in “Sources.”
Local Contests
A local contest offers an opportunity to be judged and get feedback from the judges if you fly in competition. Without
local contests, larger competitions, such as the AMA Nats and others, would not happen. Pilots can build a competition model for a local contest then decide whether they would like to try a more challenging one, such as the Nats.
The contest director does a lot of work before, during, and after a contest. The larger the contest, the more manpower is needed for the judging, tabulating, and other jobs that need to be done. It’s worth doing, however, because it will inspire someone to build a new model based upon what he or she saw at the previous year’s contest. The clubs that host contests now should continue to host them so that pilots who fly competitively have a place to fly.
Contest Calendar
- John Brodak Memorial Fly-In: June 13-18, 2022; Carmichaels, Pennsylvania
- CL Scale Nats: July 15-17, 2022; Muncie, Indiana
- Broken Arrow CL Stunt & Scale Contest: September 17-18,2022; Buder Park, Valley Park, Missouri
- Midwest Regional CL Championships: September 3-4, 2022; Aurora, Illinois
SOURCES:
Lee Boss and the Green Jet CL model
https://youtu.be/SUUsA2VrhUU
Lafayette Escadrille CL Club
www.lafayetteescadrillecl.wordpress.com
Rocky Mountain Aeromodelers
www.rockymountainaeromodelers.com
National Association of Scale Aeromodelers (NASA)
www.nasascale.org
AMA Nats
https://amablog.modelaircraft.org/nats
AMA Event Calendar
www.modelaircraft.org/event-calendar
