R/C_CD_Report_SAM

The R/C Contest Director's Report

By Steve Roselle

El Dorado dry lake is about 7 miles south of the Laughlin junction on hwy 95 and 18 miles from Sunset Hotel/Casino headquarters in Henderson, Nevada. R/C & F/F sites were initially located about a mile apart on the lake bed. As advertised, there was very little dust, even when the wind blew hard.

Rules hassles dominated the first day. I announced that extensively modified Ohlssons were OK for standard events but not for Ohlsson special events, feeling that the special events are there to honor the engine and designer as opposed to all-out competition. This appeared to satisfy both camps. In the Glow events, I back-peddled on dis-allowing tuned mufflers when at the last

Steve Roselle and Dave Lewis of SAM 21 Review scores prior to Fly-offs

moment I realized I had not put out the word in time. I was hammered by both sides and rightly so. In any case, this issue needs serious clarification to guide future C.D.s in rule book interpretation.

Tuesday temps ranged from 65 to 89 degrees. Dead calm at the pilots meeting; one half hour later winds suddenly blew from the north at 20 mph. After 11 am, winds died down to flyable levels and contestants began logging flights. All three events had fly-offs, including Spirit of Sam Electric. With marked disregard for the "Spirit of Sam" preamble, one flyer choose not to fly in the fly-off, but instead walked off the flight line and was not seen at the Champs again. In a 2 way fly-off, Eut Tileson won the S.O.S. Electric Perpetual trophy he had sponsored last year.

Wednesday was a bit warmer and calm most of the day; perfect flying weather. Don Bekins put up a 67 minute flight in Texaco to win that event, with several other respectable flights logged. Don was awarded the Ed Robards Perpetual trophy for the longest R/C Texaco flight. Antique experienced a 7 way fly-off. Rick Holman bested Don Bishop when Dons battery gave out and he crashed off the field. Electric LMR had a three way fly-off with Kip Merker winning that.

At the end of the day, high clouds moved in signaling the approach of Hurricane NORA. Overnighters on the lake were advised to be prepared to move off quickly. At 3:30 AM rains began and those still there beat a hasty retreat. This weather marked the first time a Hurricane has ever come ashore in the Southwestern United States, although it was downgraded to tropical depression soon after, according to TV reports I heard.

Tom Empey of SAM 49 Prepares to release his Class B Ignition "Brooklyn Dodger" while wife Patty Empey Times-- Note the small "lake" in the Background.

Thursday, with the help of several stalwarts, we recovered most of the fragile headquarters equipment. Rain continued through out the day and was falling at the 8 PM General meeting at the Sunset Station Hotel in Henderson. President Bill Booth and Contest Manager Larry Jenno were cautiously optimistic that the main storm had missed us and called for flying to begin again on Saturday, weather permitting. Flying was canceled for Friday due to the necessity of re-establishing the flying sites at new locations.

Friday dawned dry with clearing clouds and Sunshine. Larry Jenno & I surveyed the R/C site and determined that we could fly about 200 yards back towards the highway on the lake shore in an open area of desert. Again help was abundant in setting up the new site. Don Bekins, Pete Sanuelson, Tom Mellas, Frank and Gail Womack were especially diligent, in addition to a local modeler, Allan Z (?) who



		*Eut Tileston, SAM 51 stalwart and creator of the "Spirit of SAM" special event with his winning entry. Eut created the trophy for the event and won it in a fly-off!*



		*Sal Taibi Shows off the latest work on his Classic Chevy to a friend during a break in the flying.*

volunteered his 4 wheel ATV to rescue much of the tables, canopies and equipment still out in the lake. By 4 PM we were ready. The weather all afternoon was magnificent and would have provided excellent flying had we been ready. The Free Flight line was also reestablished about a quarter mile south of us.

Saturday, was clear and calm all day but with low lift. Many flyers had gone home for various reasons so turnout was low as evidenced in 1/2A Texaco when only 25 flew out of 56 registered. All seven of Thursday and Fridays events were flown on Saturday. Since the last electric event (Electric Texaco) had been delayed for two days, those who came for just the Electric events had left, and past Free Flight champion Carl Redlin had an easy win. Kudos to Carl for perseverance, as well as all the others who stayed over!

To facilitate flying more events, the closing time was extended to 5 PM and we changed to 4 attempts for 2 official flights in A & B Glow and Ignition (by consensus), instead of the normal 6 for 3. This worked but we had fly-offs in all four LER events. Lift was weaker in the late afternoon and the fly-offs were short. John McRae was declared the GLOW Champion with 22 points amassed. John is from Vacaville, Ca and flies his Weathers Westerners with skill and precision. John also won 1/2A Texaco with one of only 2 Maxes registered in that event.

Sunday was clear but repeated Tuesdays pattern of winds which reduced flying to a trickle until noon . Wind then reduced to flyable levels. Walt Geary won a 3 way fly-off in C LER Ignition, against Chuck Hutton and Don Bekins. Chuck's McCoy overran and Don's McCoy quit after 25 seconds. Walts O&R purred smoothly all the way up and it was NO



		*Ken Kullman of SAM 1, Colorado Springs with his "spirit of SAM" electric entry. Ken was for many years a member of SAM 51, including several as its president.*


	Two Guys from the north, SAM 30 perennial Contestants, Stan Lane and Jim Kincy watch the flight line. Kincy is known for his Hot-flying Kerswap LER machines and Stan for his oversized Anderson Pylon Texaco and Antique plane.


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contest. For this performance, Walt Geary was also awarded the Feather Merchant Perpetual Trophy (for the Best running Original Ignition engine). Don Bekins 2nd place was enough to clinch the IGNITION Championship. In Ohlsson 23, Walt also won the SAM 27 sponsored Perpetual trophy for his 1st place performance.

The Victory Banquet at the Sunset Station Hotel/Casino that evening was notable for its excellent and plentiful cuisine. Hall of Fame inductees, Bob Angel, Lee Freeman, Fiske Hanley, Pappy Debolt, and Barney Onofri were presented as well as the special awards mentioned. A bunch of people worked very hard to make this Champs a success, in spite of the weather. Manager Larry Jenno had the foresight and did the legwork to bring it into reality, and SAM President worked hard behind the scenes as well. SAM'ers owe them a big Thankyou! On the R/C side, in addition to the afore mentioned 'Mudders' who literally pulled this contest out of the muck, I like to say a big thanks to my wife, Janet for assistance before and during the meet, and to Miriam Schmidt. They ran the desk and the scoreboards. Bob Schleimer and Las Vegas modeler Dick Berg ran the transmitter impound diligently. Other notables were Dan Curtiss, George Joki, Gary Leopold, Henry Smith, and Frank Womack all of John Pond's club, SAM 21. Tom Empey, Ed & Mary Hamler, Kip Merker, and Loren Schmidt made significent contributions also. Thank you all, and to the others who I haven't named. The Champs would not have happened without you! snr

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