May 29 Indoor Free Flight Inside today s issue... Today s Events HL Stick Bostonian *FAC Peanut *Mod Civ Prod *A-Rog (ROG Stick) *High Wing Mono Tomorrow s Events Easy B F1 Mini Stick Peanut Scale FAC Peanut *Dime Scale *A-6 *Science Olympiad *FAC Scale *Indoor Towline Glider *Unofficial Events Tim Lavender's Smyrna group show their FAC spirit. Day 1 had its bumps. Attendance is down about 35%, with many of those missing citing gas prices and other economic issues as the culprit. The building fans turned on in the evening, generating a couple of hours of bad air. Torrential downpours and the associated drop in temperature caused air to flow back through exhaust vents, causing even more drift problems. Hand-off/communication problems left us without NFFS trophies, but modelers are a hearty bunch, and those present were determined to overcome. One of our co-event Directors, Rob Romash, was among those absent because his work situation changed at the last minute, but lots of people have stepped up to fill the gaps and make this contest a success. Abram Van Dover spent many hours at the table processing models, recording scores, and creating scorecards (even though he claimed he was only going to fly this time). JP Kish manned the computerized scoring spreadsheet, successfully coaxing the required information out of those entrenched in traditional paper methods. NFFS Prez Phil Sullivan tirelessly processed models all day. Mary Jane Barber and Walt Van Gorder ran the morning s Glider events. Mary Jane had a picture on the scoring table in memory of Doug Barber who loved coming to USIC. And Ray Harlan generously volunteered to handle the NFFS trophy problem by ordering and mailing out awards after the event. It s teamwork like this that makes USIC great. Early morning history was made in Hand Launched Glider (HLG). Stan Buddenbohm is like the horse whisperer of model Thursday Partly cloudy, 77 Friday Partly cloudy, 85 Saturday 40% chance of precipitation, thunderstorms, 85 Weather Sunday 30% chance of precipitation, thunderstorms, 79 Academy of Model Aeronautics International Aeromodeling Center, Muncie IN Web site: www.modelaircraft.org E-mail: nats@modelaircraft.org Copyright Academy of Model Aeronautics 2008
airplanes call him the Glider Whisperer. He has a deft touch for coaxing out top performance from his models, and now he is the first person to win the Indoor HLG National Championship with a tip-launched ship. Stan worked his way through a stack of models, losing most to collisions with the bleachers or the scoreboard, but in the end he racked up an 80-second backup with an 86-second stunner to top the field and take the win. He even had one last flight that is going to be the subject of many what if discussions. Glider fliers have been pursuing Ron Whittman s epic 90- second flight for more than 30 years, and Stan had one today that looked like it might have been the one. After his 86- second performance he hurled up a flight that rolled out even minimal crowd, despite my admonitions that it was absolutely mandatory. Still, there was five bucks in the pot and that at least buys a sandwich for lunch. Stan topped off a spectacular day with an upset win over Standard Glider champion Krempetz and pocketed his hard-earned cash. Way to go, Stan! The other mass launch of the day was P-24. John Diebolt was determined to avoid the collisions with the ceiling or other obstacles that plagued him in previous years. He backed off about 2000 (down from roughly 7000) and, unfortunately, not only missed the ceiling but he climbed only about 60% of the way up. Stan Buddenbohm could be called the Glider Whisperer higher, but was about 5 feet further to the side. Instead of clearing the inside of the speaker bundle near the ceiling like the previous flights, this one smacked square in the top of the stack. The model crashed to the floor leaving only speculation on what it might have been. I have a feeling that Stan is going to be hot on the trail of the Glider record now that he s proven conclusively that tiplaunched gliders can make the grade. Jim Lewis and Kurt Krempetz took second and third in HLG with their own tip-launched models. Above: : Some of the Glider Whisperer s fleet. Left: Stan Buddenbohm with his historic tip-launched indoor glider. Below: The Mini-Dome is the scene of this year s USIS event. Jim Lewis led Unlimited Catapult Glider for most of the day, flying an unusual built-up-wing model and leaving Krempetz a bit stressed out by the chase. But Jim reminded him, Kurt, I always start out ahead but you always end up winning anyway! Sure enough, Kurt posted a late 93.6 to back up his earlier 94.5 and edge Jim out by a mere 1.1 seconds! Stan Buddenbohm locked in third. Kurt also ran away with Standard Catapult, finishing almost 4 seconds ahead of Stan. Bill Schlarb was close behind in third. The Shoot-for-the-Loot Catapult mass launch drew a 2
Larry Cailliau's F1D setup. Jim Richmond works on his F1D. Left: Author John Kagan watches his F1D land. Right: Brett Sanborn contemplates F1D. Fortunately, so did everyone else. John s unlikely strategy paid off as he eked out 6-second win over Jack McGillivray to take home the prestigious trophy. F1D saw many test flights, but almost no officials. Jim Richmond put up an underwhelming 20:50 that pretty much confirmed the air problems we were experiencing. Expect to see much more action during Day 2 of the F1D event on Thursday. Despite the conditions, Tom Sova logged a very respectable 35:03 in Intermediate Stick early in the day. He flew a model with a much higher aspect ratio than normal (remember that Intermediate Stick is limited to 100 square inches of area). The model looked great in the air, and the time held on for the win. Fred Tellier and Larry Loucka closed out second and third place. Ray Harlan prevailed in 35 cm, edging out Sova by approximately 2 minutes. Chet Wrzos took third. Day 1 wraps up with some exciting flying and the promise of even better things to come. Stay tuned to NatsNews for all the action! John Kagan 3
HLG Name AMA # Flight 1 Flight 2 Flight 3 Flight 4 Flight 5 Flight 6 Flight 7 Flight 8 Flight 9 Best 2nd Be st Total Place Buddenbohm, Stan 189385 65.7 74.3 5.0 80.7 78.5 78.6 78.7 86.5 13.286.5 80.7 167.2 1 Lewis, Jim 119 52.9 56.7 57.3 60.0 63.9 70.1 70.1 63.9 134.0 2 Krempetz, Kurt 69866 56.9 15.0 64.4 65.6 63.8 66.6 66.6 65.6 132.2 3 Boehm, Bernard A. 92567 55.2 61.8 59.9 61.8 59.9 121.7 4 Ray, Ralph 5007 40.2 40.5 41.0 42.2 43.0 44.0 44.6 47.0 43.647.0 44.6 91.6 5 Peterson, Richard 151145 24.0 23.0 42.0 30.0 12.0 6.0 44.4 45.3 39.045.3 44.4 89.7 6 Krempetz, Kenneth 11951 29.2 12.5 10.6 29.2 12.5 41.7 7 Standard Catapult Name AMA # Flight 1 Flight 2 Flight 3 Flight 4 Flight 5 Flight 6 Flight 7 Flight 8 Flight 9 Best 2nd Be st Total Place Krempetz, Kurt 69866 82.6 83.1 82.9 83.3 82.1 83.3 83.1 166.4 1 Buddenbohm, Stan 189385 14.0 80.3 27.0 75.2 79.2 81.1 70.5 81.5 80.2 81.5 81.1 162.6 2 Schlarb, Bill 14425 79.9 78.8 6.0 67.0 59.0 71.0 79.9 78.8 158.7 3 Warmann, Robert C. 187 52.7 53.8 74.1 72.0 66.7 76.6 76.6 74.1 150.7 4 Ray, Ralph 5007 73.9 73.8 67.7 62.8 71.1 73.8 67.3 60.8 55.6 73.9 73.8 147.7 5 Johnson, Tem E. 16707 69.7 71.4 66.9 73.1 73.0 71.6 70.6 73.1 73.0 146.1 6 Marett, John F. m651l 52.7 57.7 37.4 68.6 70.6 65.1 70.1 35.0 72.6 72.6 70.6 143.2 7 Peterson, Richard 151145 67.8 48.5 53.8 30.9 5.0 65.0 3.0 67.8 65.0 132.8 8 Krempetz, Kenneth 11951 63.6 67.6 67.6 63.6 131.2 9 Batte, Tom 17842 57.0 62.9 59.8 60.8 60.1 65.3 65.3 62.9 128.2 10 Miller, Richard 179518 48.4 52.0 52.6 24.7 6.1 13.4 52.6 52.0 104.6 11 Unl Catapult Name AMA # Flight 1 Flight 2 Flight 3 Flight 4 Flight 5 Flight 6 Flight 7 Flight 8 Flight 9 Best 2nd Be st Total Place Krempetz, Kurt 69866 90.8 94.5 84.9 83.3 91.0 92.7 93.6 94.5 93.6 188.1 1 Lewis, Jim 119 24.8 82.8 81.8 91.0 93.0 94.0 92.9 7.0 94.0 93.0 187.0 2 Buddenbohm, Stan 189385 73.0 73.2 3.0 44.0 84.2 28.0 91.4 89.2 87.4 91.4 89.2 180.6 3 Schlarb, Bill 14425 80.9 76.5 79.8 80.9 79.8 160.7 4 Krempetz, Kenneth 11951 73.6 73.2 75.4 73.4 3.0 75.4 73.6 149.0 5 Marett, John F. m651l 61.1 59.7 61.8 59.6 55.6 62.9 67.6 74.0 73.9 74.0 73.9 147.9 6 Johnson, Tem E. 16707 72.6 71.9 66.9 63.3 66.4 8.1 63.1 72.6 71.9 144.5 7 Ray, Ralph 5007 68.0 66.0 44.0 68.0 66.0 134.0 8 Batte, Tom 17842 58.2 59.6 64.5 61.5 62.6 61.8 62.9 64.5 62.9 127.4 9 Peterson, Richard 151145 67.8 48.5 53.8 67.8 53.8 121.6 10 Achee, Ken 5001 32.0 30.0 32.0 32.0 32.0 64.0 11 RTR Name AMA # Flight 1 Flight 2 Flight 3 Flight 4 Flight 5 Flight 6 Flight 7 Flight 8 Flight 9 Best Place Harlan, Ray 131 7.00 8.40 6.20 6.20 1 Peterson, Richard 151145 20.30 20.30 2 Rash, Fred H. 63458 33.20 33.20 3 SLS Sova, Tom 473169 1.34 1.15 1.09 1.09 1 Diebolt, John 5286 1.89 1.89 2 RTP Diebolt, John 5286 4.10 3.80 3.80 1 Italiano, Anthony J. 2386 5.05 5.05 2 Int Stick Sova, Tom 473169 33:25 35:03 22:43 35:03 1 Tellier, Fred m9125 26:39 31:00 31:30 31:30 2 Loucka, Larry 1210 29:45 27:43 29:45 3 Harlan, Ray 131 4:20 27:06 12:51 27:43 27:43 4 Hood, Jeffrey 824593 9:38 27:12 4:42 27:24 27:26 27:26 5 4
35cm Harlan, Ray 131 26:32 26:32 1 Sova, Tom 473169 18:47 24:08 15:23 22:50 24:08 2 Wrzos, Chester 20454 8:18 8:18 3 F1D (Day 1) Name AMA # Flight 1 Flight 2 Flight 3 Flight 4 Flight 5 Flight 6 Best 2nd Be st Total Place Richmond, Jim 4936 20:50 20:50 20:50 1 Cailliau, Larry 79985 DNF Hood, Jeffrey 824593 DNF Ray, Nicholas A. 770974 DNF Sova, Tom 473169 DNF Sanborn, Brett 748651 DNF Tellier, Fred m9125 DNF Wrzos, Chester 20454 DNF Zaluska, Max L774565 DNF Right: Tom Sova works on his 35 cm. Inset: One of Tom's model boxes. 5
Jim Lewis's quiver. Above: Bob Warman ready to launch his Standard Catapult. Right: Max Zaluska's F1D. Dick Peterson discussed race-to-the-roof with Jim Lewis 6