A Competition, and A Building Contest

Have you ever gone out to the flying field and bumped into a Piper Cub? And then as you carefully work your way around it, you almost step on another one? And you think, "For Pete's sake, doesn't anyone build anything else? We're surrounded by Cubs." As if that weren't enough, these guys from the Sunday Flyers want to have a Piper Cub-only flying competition! And what's more, if you don't have a Cub, they let you put a "sticky" on your plane so you can pretend it's a Cub. But I say, "What the heck! Live and let live." I packed my Cub in my Explorer, put on a Willie Nelson tape, and we're on our way to the great Piper Cub competition.

SUNDAY FLYERS HOLD PIPER CUB COMPETITION

The Great Piper Cub Fly-In

The Cub competition is one of many inhouse activities that the Sunday Flyers hold to encourage members to participate in field flying activities. It is good-natured and sparks a great deal of interest. They have hotdogs, sodas and flying, and commit themselves to a pleasant day out.

The competition was held May 6th at Bird Field. Did they get a surprise! It turned out to be a very blustery day. Ever fly a Cub on a windy day . it can be challenging. All pilots earned their paychecks that day.

CD George Stone Confers with Judge Darryl Ruppert

But George Stone, the Contest Director, had everything well-organized, and the whole day, with the exception of some very difficult landings, went very smoothly. It's supposed to be a Cub competition, but so as not to exclude anyone, as long as you had a high-wing aircraft you were allowed to participate. They divided the flying into three classes . instructors (they're the best), club flyers, and novices.

Ron Meyers

All pilots were required to do some standard maneuvers, like takeoff, Immelman turn, stall turn, flat turn, inverted flight and landing. They had two guys doing the judging. At the end of the flying, the scores were tallied and winners in each class were given prizes. Some good stuff . glow fuel, CA and other things.

Gary Rodriguez

The Cub competition was a good event and is one of many good ideas that the Sunday Flyers have to get their membership out to the field . worth copying.

(A post script . because all the Cubs were so good looking, my Cub felt so intimidated he never got out of the truck).

RADIO CONTROL MODELERS OF BALTIMORE (RCMB) HOLD ANNUAL BUILDING CONTEST
RCMB held its annual building contest on May 8th at the Loch Raven Academy in Baltimore in conjunction with their monthly meeting.

The Judges: Pete D'Anna, Jim Snyder and Jason Werner

Jim Parks, the Chairman, organized this affair for RCMB. Jim was able to gain the services of three top people who are very familiar with RC modeling and general aviation as judges for the contest. They are Jim Snyder of The Sunday Flyers and Harford County Miniature Aircraft Operators Association, Jason Werner of The Baltimore Area Soaring Society, and Pete D'Anna of The Antique Airplanes Association.

The Judges at Work

The participants in the competition were:

Milt Peacock and the Stinson

Some of the builders did some extreme things to try to confuse the judges and amaze the spectators. For example, Milt Peacock put a cabin light in his Stinson to show off the carefully detailed interior. Dale Johnston retaliated by putting a nearly functioning machine gun on his Sopwith Pup (it had sound and visual effects).

Jack Stites and Bernie's Eagle

But the judges were too smart for them, and these are their findings in the different categories:

Dale Johnston and the Sopwith Pup

While the contest was not that large, it was extremely well-organized and had facilities to easily accommodate many more airplanes. It would seem that a show like this with some additional outside support could be expanded to include participants from the general Maryland area. Perhaps a small participation fee could be used to offset expenses that might be incurred. I think that RCMB is on to something that could be used to significantly expand interest and participation in RC modeling. Kudos to you, RCMB.

TOP OF THE LINE PLANES FOR SALE
Milt Peacock has some airplanes for sale. Milt is one of our top builders (see the story above). Also, you can read about Milt's building background in our March column under the Archives.

Milt has:

Contact Milt at 1-410-833-3122.

FOR THE GOOD NEWS
If you have it, we'll announce it. Send it to me at axsilvestri@earthlink.net

NEXT MONTH
Getting near the end . we're running out of clubs.

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Courtesy Links Baltimore Area Soaring Society   District of Columbia Radio Control Club   Harford County Radio Control Modelers   Patuxent Aeromodelers   Prince Georges Radio Control Club   Radio Control Modelers of Baltimore   Sunday Flyers of Baltmore   Swan Harbor RC   Westminster Aeromodelers