PHOTOS: ALLEN COHEN
Pres Bruning launches his sleek Lockheed Constellation(above) in the Jumbo Scale entry. Note the fixture in his hands that holds the four propellers while launching. Thermal hunting (at right), John Stott readies his veteran Skokie for ROG.
models, totaling nearly 15 feet of wingspan, circled together overhead in the sky! Alas, your writer missed the spectacle as he was out in the potato field on a fruitless search for his lost Bebe Jodel peanut scale model. Happily, we all can experience the moment by simply Googling “FAC Non Nats Golden Hour” and watching the super videos Tom Hallman managed to capture. Thanks, Tom!
Contest day three
Saturday, the last day of the 2013 FAC Non-Nats competition, arrived damp and cloudy and substantially cooler. Friday evening’s thunderstorms had finally broken the heat and humidity, but not before the
running of the popular Bee Line Unlimited Race, or BLUR event.
The BLUR, a straightaway shoulder to shoulder speed event, was ably run by past winner, Peter Kaiteris, and scheduled to start after official flights for the day had closed. A fresh crop of speedsters jockeyed to the front of the pack at this meet with Dallas Cornelius’ Mr. Smoothie and John Houck’s F-86 Sabre besting Luc Martin’s ever fast, Kellner-Bechereau.
Not long after the BLUR was run, the sky darkened and the wind whipped as light- ning flashed in the distance. The scene was dramatic as flyers scurried to take down canopies as the airfield’s storm warning siren wailed in the background.
On Saturday morning, the Greve Race mass launch event was flown in light winds and a cloudy sky. Mr. Smoothies finished one, two and three, with the top spot taken by Wally Farrell’s high flying model built from Dave Rees plans. This was not before a valiant challenge by Paul Stott’s sleek, low- winged Haines Mystery Ship.
Outflying most others in the first two mass launch heats, the H-3 had developed a slight stall that Paul was looking to tame by adding a bit more clay to the model’s nose. But what to do? Paul had no extra clay on hand. “No worries”, faithful mechanic Ed Novak said as he produced a small stone. Quickly, the stone was pressed into the Haines’ nose just before the launch of the third and final heat.
PHOTO: ALLEN COHEN
Erika Escalante flew her “Red Tail” Mustang (above left) in the WWII Mass Launch. Maria Kondrat (above right) placed eighth with her Freshman in the
FLYING MODELS
highly competitive Embryo Endurance event. Her three official flights averaged over 70 seconds. Dad, Gerry, assists as Benedict Dion looks on.
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