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2008 MCRCS Building Contest

Two of the heaviest attended meetings of the year are the Static Judging for the Building Contest and the Awards meeting in December, when the winners of the Building Contest are announced. Is the draw the opportunity to see the fine workmanship displayed in the painstakingly detailed scale models? Is it the suspense over who is going to win? Or is it the fact that coffee and doughnuts are traditionally provided at each of those meetings? It’s anyone’s guess.

Contest Director Joe Raimondo

Whatever the reason, we managed for fill the large community room at the Lawrence Library with a combination of members and models. This year’s contest, conducted by contest director Joe Raimondo (show at left), attracted nine competitors. Three members competed in the prestigious Scale class this year. Mike Luciano’s entry, an Ohio Models AT-6, with blindingly brilliant yellow 101” wings, was probably the largest of the three. Powered by a G-62, it appeared poised to devour the skies. Tom Dyl’s Top-Flite Giant P-47, sporting 85” wings and Quadra 52 power was the second largest. Finished in typical Dyl detail, it was clear that the size factor didn’t influence its attitude toward command of the skies. Finally, Brian Bunda’s quarter-scale Balsa USA Nieuport 17, an entry from an earlier era, provided a pleasant balance to the other two entries, a reminder of a time when fighters were airplanes with guns rather than guns with wings.

Clearly the most popular category of the contest, with five entries, was the Almost Ready to Fly (ARF) class. Three of the five were scale: Jum Feszchak entered Hangar 9’s .60-sized version of the P-47. Although smaller than Tom’s scale entry, it was still a detailed rendition of the famed fighter. Dan Geerders’ J-3 Cub was an essential entry in the contest; no contest seems complete without at least one Cub. Irwin Keshner’s Pitts Special, the contest’s only electric entry, was the third of the ARF scale entries. Frank Figurelli entered a pattern model, named Jackie II, which appeared to be closely related to a Fliton Inspire 60; of course, powering it with a .90 gave it something of an attitude and warranted a new name. Finally, Paul Abati’s red and white 81” Kadet, powered by an OS .46, rounded out the ARF class.

Winners are not generally announced until December, but it would not be too much of a stretch to declare Dan Geerders the winner in the Non-Scale class with his OS .40 four-stroke-powered Uproar. (He was, of course, the only competitor in this class.)

The contest this year was judged by Jim Feszchak, Sal, Lucania, Joe Raimondo, and Keith Zimmerly. It is the points assigned by these judges that determine the winner of the contest.

Of course, the models have to fly and fate sometimes declares the losers. The fly-off took place as scheduled on Sunday, April 27th. There was some question regarding whether it would happen, though, as the ground was wet, the air was cold, and the sky was cloudy at 9:00 AM, the scheduled start of the fly-off. And the fact that none of the competitors had arrived also contributed to contest director Joe Raimondo’s reticence to announce it was a go. But by 10:00, the air had warmed, the ground had dried a bit, and competitors had arrived so Joe declared it a go.

Tom Dyl was first off with his P-47. With a team of assistants, Tom took his model to the flight line and easily fired it up. Then with practiced ease and aplomb, he taxied onto the runway, turned into the wind, and following a thunderous response to the throttle, was quickly in the air and demonstrating a fine scale flight and landing.

Dan Geerders was second into the air with his Cub, a somewhat peaceful interlude between thundering warbirds. Mike Luciano followed quickly on his tail, though, with the AT-6. Somewhat trickier in the air than a cub, it gave a slightly wobbly takeoff, an exciting flight, and a somewhat bumpy landing. It was an exciting flight to watch, though.

Paul Abati flew fourth with his Kadet. Having failed to qualify last year due to crash landing in the corn field, Paul showed no similar problems this year. An easy takeoff, followed by a few easy patterns and a flawless landing kept Paul firmly in the competition this year.

Keith Zimmerly took the controls for the first flight of Brian Bunda’s Nieuport 17 for a flawless performance including a few low passes. Brian took the controls for a later flight, after the pressure of qualifying was off.

Frank Figurelli would have been next up, except for the fact that the propeller left his plane prior to taxiing. Thus, Dan Geerders took Frank’s place in the lineup with his Uproar. Perhaps the name is overstated because the four-stroke OS .40 that powered this plane was so quiet that it was almost indistinguishable from the noise of the electric starter. Regardless of the relative silence, the model flew great.

A few turns of the wrench and Frank Figurelli was back on the flight line, easily qualifying his Jackie II with a quick flight. Jim Feszchak finished the flight tests with a flight of his P-47. A .60-sized model powered by a .90, his model took to the skies with a vengeance and, only through careful throttle management, was Jim able to tame the model for a landing. But he did and it was flawless.

The building rules are published below. Anyone with questions should contact Contest Director Joe Raimondo at (609) 587-9047.

Building Contest Rules

  1. Contestant is allowed only one entry in each class.A contestant must be a current member in good standing.A separate category will be provided for junior members (ages 12 to 17).
  2. Classes shall consist of scale, non-scale, old timers, almost ready to fly (ARF), and unorthodox.
  3. The model that places first, second, or third, may not be entered in future contests.
  4. The model, as flown, must meet all AMA and club rules.
  5. Model must be built and finished by the member entering model.
  6. The builder of model is not required to fly the model; a substitute pilot is acceptable.
  7. The contest committee and/or Contest Director will select judges.
  8. The judges may not have an entry in the class that they are judging.
  9. Static judging will be held on a regular meeting night as specified by the Contest Director.
  10. Model airworthiness will be judged at a later date as specified by the Contest Director.
  11. Weather conditions for flying will be determined on the field at 9:00 AM, on the day of flying.If weather conditions are unfavorable, flying will take place two weekends later, between the hours of 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM.
  12. Flying must be conducted between 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM with no exceptions; builder of model need not be present.
  13. Models presented for static judging must be demonstrated to be operational at the static judging.
  14. The flying portion will consist of a takeoff, a 360-degree turn, and a controlled landing as a minimum (hand or bungee launching is acceptable).
  15. If a score of zero is received for the flying portion, the model will be disqualified.
  16. An award will be given to each member entering a model. The top three (3) scores in each category will be recognized as first, second, and third.