1984 CL World Championships

By Charlie Johnson Attendance of fliers from 22 countries around the world helped make this one of the most successful and enjoyable World Championships ever held in the US As seen in the January 1985 issue of Model Aviation. The United States hosted its first-ever Control Line World Championships September 17-22, 1984, at Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee, Massachusetts. The USA teams sported spiffy new uniforms, but by the end of competition, many felt like they were all dressed up with no place go go—except back to the drawing boards. The USA Aerobatics team still retained its championship status, but the individual champions in Combat and Aerobatics lost their crowns. Even though some of the USA team members were disappointed with their performance, it was a capably planned, well-run, and thoroughly enjoyable meeting of the best in competitive modeling.

Left: Jim Duncan was a real hit with the foreigners, especially his black-powder revolver (the Old West, etc.) used to start the Team Race heats (and then to quiet the crowd at the banquet so the speeches could get started). Right: Beautiful Boeing 747 made from ice was one of the decorations at the banquet on Saturday night. Socializing at a World Championships is one of the most important aspects. The World Championships actually consist of four different types of flying. Speed flying is classified as F2A by the Fédération Aéronautic Internationale (FAI). Each competitor gets an official flight on each of the three days of competition. Speed is timed over 10 laps, which is one kilometer, and the results are calculated in kilometers per hour. F2B is actually Precision Aerobatics (Stunt) when it is translated from FAIese. The pattern is very similar to what most Americans are used to watching. FAI Team Race (F2C) is most like Class II Mouse Race, but it is incredibly more complex, sophisticated, and light years ahead in performance. The fourth event is F2D, which is the international class of Combat. Americans see it as .15-size Slow Combat. The AMA and FAI rules have been changed enough over the past eight years that FAI Combat is not so strange anymore. Left: The winning Hungarian Speed team. Sandor Szegedi (ctr) was first, Jozsef Molnar (L) was second, and Jozsef Mult (R) was third. Right: Carl Dodge (R), here assisted by Bob Hunt, did the best he could. He ran near 170 mph in practice, but broke his good tuned pipe. The contest site was the same as that used for the 1983 National Championships. There was an endless amount of nice, grassy practice area for the Combat fliers, and there was more than adequate practice room for the other events. At one point there were 27 separate circles in use, simultaneously! This didn’t count the “secret site” or the numerous practice fields on base and around the Chicopee area. The Speed and Racing circles even had nylon nets to keep out the Combat models! The extra safety margin afforded by the nets allowed spectators a close look at the Speed and Racing competitors that they’d not usually get. Left: Tony Borer was 12th with 253.8 kmh. He’s from Adilswil, Switzerland, used a Rossi with carbon-fiber prop of 6.8 dia. and 5.8 pitch. Right: Another shot of the victorious Hungarian team, but this time with their models. L-R: Szegedi, Molnar, and Mult—they finished in that order. The accommodations were also very good. The Quality Inn, as well as several other nearby hotels, was booked solidly with modelers. The contest headquarters was at the Quality Inn, but it was moved out to the flying site. The AMA people who were involved must be given credit for doing an outstanding job of planning for this meet and its execution. The entire support staff was on hand to make sure everything ran smoothly. Foreign competitors went home thoroughly impressed at the USA’s ability to run a proper contest. Canadian Paul Gibeault flew models of the design used by Ricci-Dual in the 1978 World Champs win. Had Rossi engine and single-blade prop of 3-3/16 inch R and 5.8 inch P. The video revolution made its impact on the after-hours lifestyle of the competitors and coaches. Thanks to several enterprising filmmakers, it was possible to watch video replays of the day’s action in Combat, Racing, and Aerobatics (with the sound track courtesy of the Speed circle). Even though the hotel was the meeting point for most modelers, it wasn’t where everyone stayed. The Dutch camped at the flying site. They had a choice of bringing a small team and staying in a hotel or a very much larger contingent and camping. They obviously were overjoyed with their decision because they took the team prize in Combat and Racing and the individual prize in Combat. The Chinese version of the Rossi engine, made in limited quantities. Author says that Gene Hempel obtained one in a swap deal. Many other competitors like the Dutch were not traveling first class. The German Combat team hitchhiked from Boston. A local Chicopee resident stopped and helped load their gear in and on top of the car. He told them it would be an “honor” to take the German team to the championships site. Teams started arriving a week before the first official competition. Since Westover is an active facility, they were treated to a lot of training missions flown by C-130s doing cargo drops, some mammoth C-5s, and an assortment of F-14s and Phantoms. The U.S. Aerobatics team retained its title. L-R standing: Jim Casale, Dave Elias (team manager), and Bob Hunt (assistant manager). Kneeling: Bob Baron and Bill Werwage. The weather was very cooperative with bright sunny days, although one day and the start of another turned out to be very windy and had a major effect on the outcome of the Aerobatics placings. Official flying was delayed on the second morning because of heavy fog, and there was even a little frost after a chilly evening. There were the usual opening ceremonies attended by brightly-dressed teams, officials, and dignitaries. The closing ceremonies were less solemn, and there was much rejoicing by the triumphant teams. There were several special functions in a tent at the Quality Inn, which included a wine and cheese tasting and a happy hour before the official banquet. The banquet facilities were jammed to the walls with a crowd that had to be quieted by a couple of shots fired from the black powder revolver used to start the Team Race heats. The management of the restaurant probably wish they been armed after the invasion by the Combat fliers on Thursday night. Left: Zhu Younan of P.R. China was the Individual World Champion. A graceful flier who looks and springs around like a gymnast, had smooth, easy-going patterns. He was fortunate in missing the worst weather when he flew. One of his teammates folded his model when flying in high wind. Right: Jim Casale with his beautiful Spectrum. Jim flew his model very well in the wind, finishing in fourth place. There was the usual trading of trinkets between the natives and the foreigners and the renewal of longtime friendships and the making of new ones. The local residents welcomed the visitors and they, in turn, got a glimpse of ordinary America. Not the Big Apple, the glitter or gaudiness, but simple working-class America was what they found.