PAMPA Turns 50
PAMPA Turns 50
Control Line Aerobatics
By | [email protected]
As seen in the April 2023 issue of Model Aviation.
THIS YEAR MARKS a milestone for the Control Line (CL) Precision Aerobatics (Stunt) event, and it’s also a milestone for AMA. The Precision Aerobatics Model Pilots Association (PAMPA) turns 50 years old in August 2023, and the AMA Nats celebrates its 100th year this coming July. This year’s Nats will be a special event for sure.
Al Rabe won the 1973 Nats in Oshkosh WI, with his Sea Fury. This is where the first PAMPA meeting took place. Photo by Bob Hunt.
For those who do not know, PAMPA is an AMA-recognized Special Interest Group (SIG) that works with AMA to advocate for CL Precision Aerobatics issues. PAMPA was formed in 1973 at the Nats in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where its first general meeting took place and its first officers were elected. It was created shortly after the U.S. Navy ceased sponsoring the Nats.
t that point, the future of our event was unclear. Many felt that they didn’t have a voice or influence to make this event better. Wynn Paul and Keith Trostle should be credited with the thought of a national organization, and they put in substantial work that was required to bring PAMPA into being for the betterment of CL Precision Aerobatics.
In the first Prop Wash newsletter, they outlined what this organization might be able to do for CL Precision Aerobatics. They had four objectives in mind:
- To create an organization composed of CL Stunt pilots to make competition better, to get the event up to date, to influence rule changes, and to look out for the event.
- To establish a member newsletter for ideas, articles, proposals, and polls.
- To establish mail voting on issues concerning CL Precision Aerobatics.
- The fourth objective (one that was in the first newsletter and a "biggie") was to select the event directors to administer the CL Precision Aerobatics Nats program.
The first PAMPA Prop Wash newsletter, Volume 1, No. 1, from July 1973. The next issue in August 1973 was renamed Stunt News because the SIG felt it would be a more appropriate title for the sport. Photo provided by PAMPA.
Keith Trostle served as PAMPA’s first president for 8 years. He is shown with his Focke-Wulf Ta 152 at the 1970 Nats in Glenview IL, where he won the Open CL Stunt event and the Walker Trophy Fly-Off. Photo by Wynn Paul.
Since its inception and throughout the years, PAMPA has been able to achieve those four objectives. A few examples are the creation of the PAMPA skill classes, helping to make competition better (and it has!), and the establishment of a newsletter, which was renamed Stunt News in August 1973 and continued monthly until mid-1978, when it became a bimonthly publication.
Stunt News recently changed to a quarterly publication because production and distribution costs have become too much to pass on to the members. In its history, it went from a simple newsletter of only a few mimeographed pages to a 100-plus-page, professionally produced newsletter.
This column cannot do justice to what PAMPA has afforded CL Precision Aerobatics, and if you truly wish to read about PAMPA history, become a PAMPA member and gain access to the rich library of past Stunt News publications that are archived and available to members on the PAMPA website.
I spoke with current PAMPA president Mark Weiss and he outlined his plan to commemorate PAMPA’s historic 50th anniversary. There will be an awards and recognition banquet that will take place in the early part of the CL Precision Aerobatics Nats week in Muncie, Indiana, at the International Aeromodeling Center, on July 9-14, 2023.
In addition to the opportunity to be together for a sit-down dinner and celebration, the banquet will feature the founding PAMPA members from 1973 and other highly influential individuals from PAMPA’s first 50 years. The 2023 CL Precision Aerobatics Hall of Fame inductees will also be presented with their Hall of Fame awards! Here, in one room, for one memorable evening, will be past and current champions, as well as those who have made tremendous contributions to the great sport of CL Precision Aerobatics.
The idea to form PAMPA came from Wynn Paul and Keith. Wynn (L) is shown at the 1979 FAI F2B Team Trials, where he made the team to represent the US at the 1980 World Championships. Shown with Wynn are Bob Gieseke (R) and Les McDonald. Wynn served as the PAMPA secretary and newsletter editor for 10 years! Photo provided by Paul.
PAMPA’s first vice president, Les, is a threetime F2B world champion. He is shown here after winning his first gold medal in Holland in 1976. Les flew his legendary Stiletto 660, which is on display in the National Model Aviation Museum in Muncie IN. Photo provided by Paul.
Stunt News went from a simple newsletter of only a few mimeographed pages to a 100-pluspage, professionally produced newsletter. This is the November/December 2017 issue of Stunt News. Join PAMPA and you will be able to read the tribute to Wynn. Photo provided by PAMPA.
Whether or not you have ever attended a Nats in Muncie, this is a must-be-there year and event. If you are interested in attending, contact Mark to see whether banquet tickets are still available. His email is listed in "Sources."
In an effort to continue to make competition better, PAMPA is launching cosponsored regional Stunt championships throughout the country in 2023. These are existing and well-known Stunt contests that have agreed to partner with PAMPA to attract more pilots through additional marketing and event advertising, as well as assistance with the awards. These partnerships are designed to enable more pilots to compete at higher levels of competition and to encourage more fliers to compete at the Nats and US Team Trials.
SOURCES:
PAMPA
Mark Weiss
2023 AMA Nats
This Month's Issue
Join the AMA
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