2012
BUILDING CONTEST By Joe Raimondo
On May 6, 2012 the Mercer County Radio Control
Club held their Annual Building Contest in conjunction with Opening Day at the club
field. Member participation was good. There were 8 people who entered the
contest this year. Two classes were represented with (4) airplanes in scale and
(4) in non-scale. The turn- out was better than what I expected, considering
that we eliminated the A.R.F. class. I thought the workmanship on Tom Dyl’s
P-51 (in the scale class) was superb. I was glad to see a fairly new member, Brian
Hoffman, with his Lew Andrews, Aeromaster bi-plane. I have known Brain for over
thirty-five years and he started to build this airplane over twenty years ago.
Bill
Malinski did a great job on his Pitts. Bill had full documentation for his
airplane with the actual photos of Jason Flood’s full size Pitts. We also had
two other members entered for the first time, Haakon Aurdal and Richard
Stryeski. Welcome to the contest!
Of the
eight entries, only six qualified as contestants. Unfortunately Carl Gubkin
lost his Pete ‘n Poke in a crash because of an electrical problem and due to
technical problems with the receiver, Haakon Aurdal never got to fly his
Nieuport.
We had great flying weather with over 1/3
third of the membership turning out for this annual event. We provided hot dogs
and refreshments to help make this opening day a success.
You should have been
there! |
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| Richard Stryeski
ready to photograph his kit-built Great Planes Super Sportster, powered
by a Magnum .70 with Nobu Iwasawa at the controls. Rich spent
approximately 5 months on the kit and is waiting for the decals.
(non-scale) | The Super Sportster ready for take-off. |
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| Brian Hoffman with
his Andrews Aeromaster bi-plane. Brian decided to build this plane from
a kit he purchased in 1974 and covered it in a custom scheme. It is
powered by a Super Tiger .61 (non-scale) | Bill
Malinowski with his Pitts Special S-1C Bi-Wing. Bill built this very
detailed plane from a Royal kit over a period of 2 ½ years. It has a 51
3/16 inch wingspan, is covered in Coverite painted fabric and powered
by an O.S. 55AX engine. (scale) |
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| Carl Gubkin poses
with his kit-built “modified” Pete ‘n Poke. Unfortunately, due to an
electrical malfunction, Carl lost control and his plane crashed.
In accordance with contest rules, Carl’s entry had to be disqualified.
(non-scale) | Pete n’ Poke, Crashed n’ Broke |
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| Tom Dyl with his
nicely detailed P-51D with retracts built from a Top Flite kit. Tom’s
P-51 is powered by a Super Tiger .90 engine (scale) | Brian
Bunda poses with his 1/3 scale Fly Baby bi-plane built from a Balsa USA
kit. The plane is powered by a G-62 with jump start and finished with a
custom paint scheme. Very Nice! (scale) |
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| Even though
Brian lost a wheel taxiing back after his flight, the judges ruled that
he had completed the required landing in conformance with contest rules. | Seth
Hunter with his RCM Trainer that he built from a kit in 1983. He has
four flights on the trainer that is powered by an O.S. 46AX (non-scale) |
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| Haakon
Aurdal with his Balsa USA kit-built Nieuport 17 bi-plane powered by a
Fuji 43 engine. The partially pre- built kit took him approximately 150
hours to complete and is covered in Solartex with Krylon Paint.
Unfortunately, due to technical problems, the plane did not fly and in
accordance with contest rules, was disqualified.(scale) |
