Memories With Dad

Indoor Free Flight

By Don Slusarczyk | [email protected]

As seen in the May 2023 issue of Model Aviation.

MY COLUMN in the September 2020 issue of Model Aviation was about the contest trips I had taken with my dad throughout the years and how much I had missed them because of the COVID shutdowns. On September 29, 2022, my dad, Chuck Slusarczyk, passed away. For 3 years, he was unable to travel to any contests because of his health condition, but we still managed to get in our modeling adventures. Given that he could not go to any model contests, I brought the contests to him.

At first, I built a small rubber-powered airplane to fly in his hospital room. He would wind the motor and I would launch the model. We always had a stopwatch ready and we kept upping our flight times. First 20 seconds, then 30 seconds, then 40 seconds. We flew all the time to the amazement of the nurses and doctors, who always asked if there was hidden remote control somewhere to make it fly.

Dad wanted to break 60 seconds—a feat that seemed almost impossible because our best flights were always about 10 seconds short. One day, John Kagan (former F1D Indoor world champion) stopped by the hospital to pay a visit, so we started flying the model in his room. We taped the air vents closed, tied up the curtains, and even rearranged the furniture to make more space.

John did his motor winding magic with a look on his face as though the World Championships were on the line. The model did a few diving laps from the extra torque then started to climb, bouncing off the ceiling, the walls, the light fixture—just about everything in that room—and landing at 60.85 seconds. One-minute goal achieved!

When the pandemic prevented my brother and me from going into the nursing home to see him, that still did not stop modeling activities. We stood outside the window of his room while my mother was inside, with our cellphones on speaker so that we could talk to each other. I would bring various airplanes that I had, and my brother and I would hold them and "fly" by his window and do an "air show" that was complete with an announcer to keep him entertained.

Eventually, we were able to come back in for visits, so flying models in the room resumed. I built a new model called the Scraps. It was an event we used to fly at our local Indoor contests back when I was a kid just getting started in Indoor Free Flight (FF). This airplane was much lighter than the first model I built for flying in his room, and the flight times were much better.

We went from 1 minute, to 2 minutes, then to 3 minutes easily. With the use of two soda straws taped together as a makeshift steering pole, we were then able to hit 4 minutes, and finally 5:04 with a lot of ceiling bumps in his room and some last-minute steering with the soda straws. The Scraps model always stayed in his room, along with a winder, motors, torque meter, and a stopwatch, so model flying was capable of happening at any given time.

When the modeling contests resumed after COVID restrictions were lifted, I would take a video camera and tape flights of models and the people at the contests and bring them back to show him in his room. I would bring in and read to him the latest issues of Model Aviation, Park Pilot, and the National Free Flight Society (NFFS) Digest. I also kept him updated on any modeling posts on Facebook and other modeling forums.

If I had any new airplane projects I was working on, I would bring them to him to look at and discuss, so our modeling adventures continued for as long as it was possible.

Those 3 years were like no other modeling trip we had ever been on before. Instead of a traditional "trip," we had one big modeling journey, and one I will always cherish and remember.

Thank you, Dad, for everything!

Chuck, with his winning Cassutt No-Cal racer, at the 1992 USIC.

Chuck Slusarczyk Memorial Trophy

In memory of my father, our longtime modeling friend, Vladimir Linardic, has graciously donated a new perpetual Indoor FF trophy. This trophy is to be presented to the winner of the US Indoor Championships (USIC) No-Cal Scale event.

The Chuck Slusarczyk Memorial Trophy for USIC No-Cal Scale has been donated by Vladimir and will be presented for the first time this year at the Kibbie Dome.

This was Dad’s favorite event to fly, and his red Cassutt racer was dominant for many years. I did a write-up on it in the September 2021 issue of Model Aviation.

This year, the USIC will be held at the Kibbie Dome on the campus of the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, concurrently with the AMA Indoor FF Nats.

(L-R): Vladimir Linardic and Chuck at the 2018 World Indoor Free Flight Championship. Their friendship goes back to when Vladimir was a teenager flying Indoor FF at the USIC in Johnson City TN.

For those who are not familiar with USIC No-Cal Scale, here are the rules:

1. A recognizable profile model of a fullscale aircraft, with a wingspan not exceeding 16 inches.
2. The weight of the model (excluding the rubber motor) shall be no less than 6.2 grams.
3. No fancy gadgets permitted. A plastic propeller is permitted. Balsa and Japanese tissue (or the equivalent) shall be the main construction materials. Use of hightech materials, such as carbon fiber, boron, or similar, are not permitted.
4. Model must contain control-surface outlines, window outline, and registration markings.
5. The winner is based on the best one of five flights (20-second minimum and two attempts/flight).
6. Fixed-gear models must have full landing gear as per the full-scale aircraft. No profile gear allowed. Models of aircraft with retractable gear may be depicted with the gear retracted.

If you are coming to the AMA Nats at the Kibbie Dome in June, build a USIC No-Cal and come fly in memory of Chuck!

SOURCES: