Flying Lines: Jim Walker Memorial 2022

Chris Cox flies his Miggish in Expert Precision Aerobatics on the Delta Park circle, as judges Scott Riese (left) and Tim Wescott watch. Barbara White photo.

Competiton returns to Portland with 2022 Jim Walker Memorial

April 22-24, 2022, Jim Walker Memorial Control-Line Field, East Delta Park, Portland, Ore.

This year the Northwest Fireballs resumed their annual Jim Walker Memorial Spring Tune-up, which had been postponed twice because of the pandemic.

Magically, the weather held on Friday, the first day of competition. The contest directors were Dave Royer and Jim Cameron. The event directors were Doug Powers (Racing), Mike Hazel (Speed), Tim Wescott (Stunt), Gary Harris (Combat), and Mike Potter (Carrier)

Chris Cox drove all the way from British Columbia to compete. Twenty-four pilots registered for a total of 41 entries in the 18 events. The club’s resident chef, Robert Ladd, did an outstanding job at the BBQ grill as usual. Ken Burdick suffered a prop strike and had to leave the event Friday, but returned on Sunday. We’re hoping for a full recovery. Registration had two club members this year, Barbara White and first-timer Robin Gearn.

As always, this season-opening event was a success due to the combined efforts of a large number of Northwest Fireballs members and a few very welcome members of the larger Northwest flying community. Thanks to all of them. Finally, we acknowledge the work put in by everyone who helped get this report to press, including Steve Lindstedt and Don Curry (photos), Bill Lee (photo processing in Arizona!), and John Thompson (editing and posting).

Racing Report, by ED Doug Powers

The day started overcast, cool, and dewy. Five racers registered. Thank you Barbara and Robin for talking care of the registration.

The first race was Sportsman Clown with three entries: Leighton Mangels, Ron Howell and Mike Hazel. After three heats, Mike and Leighton were in the final race with Leighton and Jim Cameron piloting. Mike ended up winning with a score of 158 laps to Leighton's 150 laps; Ron came in third with a 71-lap heat.

Next we flew Northwest Sport, with four entries: Leighton Mangels, Gary Harris, Ken Burdick and Ron Howell. Leighton and Ken piloted their entries while Jim Cameron piloted for Ron and Gary. After four heats, Gary, with a 4:34 time, and Leighton, with a 4:40 time, were in the lead. Gary and Leighton decided not to fly a final. Gary ended up taking the win with Leighton second. Ron was third with a time of 5:09; Ken with a time of 5:15 was fourth.

Leighton Mangels was the only contestant entered in Flying Clown and Super Sport. He put up a flight of each plane to get his points.

Thanks to Darrin Bishop and Don Curry for doing all the lap counting and timing.

Speed Report, by ED Mike Hazel

Unfortunately there is not a lot to report on. Turnout was low and the activity was even less. Ken Burdick kicked off the day with a couple of flights with his Northwest B Proto ship. Steve Lindstedt then made an attempt with his F2D proto, but the lines caught on the circle surface and the plane came in and was damaged. Speaking of damage, Steve's pitman, Ken got a nasty cut helping to tune the engine. This put him out for the day. I was the only other contestant signed up, and decided to get lazy and not set up my plane. This was basically the end of the Speed contest. Even though activity was light we thank the Fireballs club for continuing to include Speed on their contest schedule.

Stunt Report, by ED Tim Wescott

We had a small but committed Stunt showing. After weeks of rain and discouraging weather reports, the weather cleared on Friday, and on Saturday and Sunday it was as close to perfect as I've seen at the Tune-Up. Attendees rose to the challenge and gave us excellent flying on both days.

On Saturday, Tim Wescott and Mike Haverly judged Old Time and Classic; Tim Wescott and Jim Cameron judged the Profile events. On Sunday, Tim Wescott and Chris Cox judged PA Beginner and Advanced; Tim Wescott and Scott Riese judged PA Expert.

Old Time Stunt was notable for having two familiar faces in the Northwest control line community, both flying Stunt for the first time in years. Jim Cameron has been a fixture at race meets, piloting in team race for various competitors. This year, he entered Old Time and won, with a Flying Clown. To round out the new/old Old Time field, David Baxter came in second, in his first Stunt endeavor in 20 years.

Jerry Eichten was the sole competitor for Classic. (I missed the airplane name!) He flew on an OS 40 FP that was prepped for stunt by the late Richard Entwhistle of the Fireballs.

Fred Underwood and Jerry Eichten duked it out for first place in Expert Profile, with just half a point separating their scores at the end of he day; Fred took first, Jerry second, and Mike Haverly came in third.

Rod Claus won Sportsman Profile. Randy Ling flew a truncated pattern to match his skills, did a good job, and came in second.

On Sunday, we had not one, but two beginners competing. Randy Ling flew to first place. Jim McCartney came over from the carrier circle and put in what would have been a good flight but which, unfortunately, ended in a crash.

Rod Claus was the sole competitor in Advanced.

In Expert, we saw world-class flying from Chris Cox and Howard Rush. Howard edged past Chris by one point; they were followed by Mike Haverly in third place.

Of note is the fixed double Gurney flap that both Chris and Howard used on their elevators. Chris's extended about 1/3 of the span of the elevator in the center, Howard's extended the entire span. Chris reports that the flap seems to aid in the airplane locking after a turn; Howard's assessment of the efficacy of the flap is "I'm still on the fence."

If you haven't seen it in person, Chris Cox's Miggish is absolutely fantastic, with beautiful workmanship and a paint job that features a tastefully sparse scattering of metallic flakes embedded in the red and white that give it a unique sparkle. Photographs don't do it justice.

Thanks go out to Jim Cameron, Mike Haverly, Chris Cox and Scott Riese for judging, Barbara White and Robin Gearn for tabulation, and Mike Denlis for coming up from Eugene (a two-hour drive) to be our pit boss.

Combat Report, by ED Gary Harris

I hope a great time was had by all! Watching CL combat matches as an observer is wonderful entertainment. Besides being entertained, I had the privilege and opportunity to be the combat Event Director.

Many huge thanks need to be shouted out to the Northwest Fireballs club for hosting this contest. We missed doing it for the last two years! Jim Cameron successfully contest directed his first contest. Dave Royer assisted in CD duties. Thank you, guys. Barbara White was helped by smiling Robin Gearn to head up signing in, scorekeeping, tabulating and coordinating all the officiating. A lot of hard work, time and commitment goes into putting something like this on. Thanks to Doug Powers for showing up early to set up the safety barrier between our Combat circle and the Ball Field One baseball players.

Saturday, Darrin Bishop and Don Curry helped officiate Combat by timing and counting cuts/kills. Sunday, Darrin was willing to come back and help along with Leighton Mangels, who filled in for Don. Volunteers cannot be taken for granted. Of course I'm saying something that you already know; if we don't have officials to run these model airplane get-togethers we won't have contests. Thank you again and again all who gave of their time, efforts, talent and monies to make these three days be a success. Also, we got lucky on the weather with it being mild and mostly sunny with NO rain.

Six combateers arrived Saturday morning to fight it out for bragging rights at NW 80mph Combat. Gene Pape took first place, followed by Greg Machen and Russell Hester. Tied for fourth place were Robert Smith and Buzz Wilson, and Jim Green was in sixth.

On sunny Sunday morning, we had five entrants to compete at NW .15 Fast Combat. Greg Machen took first place, followed by Russell Hester and Robert Smith. Jim Green and Gene Pape tied for fourth place.

We got to see some really good matches. All the pilots are very skilled at this sport/hobby. There were a few line tangles and mid-air collisions but not any more than one would expect at a contest like this. What a person can expect to see is something happening that is not covered by an explanation in the rule book. Things can happen in a match that make the officials scratch their heads in wonder.

Kudos to Robert Ladd who provided Bar-B-Q on both Saturday and Sunday.

Let's have a long flying season filled with fun for all.

Carrier Report, by ED Mike Potter

Boy what a beautiful day! We had four entries in Northwest Sport Carrier.

Mike Hazel flew his very nice P-51D Navy version. A very smooth flight was made with it. An arresting wire on the deck was broken on landing, but 100 points were awarded.

Next up was Kris Millard with his Square Cat. All was going well until a small gust of wind knocked the plane off balance. Kris had to run back to get lines tight, this is when the airplane eating tree of Delta Park attacked. The plane survived the initial impact but as the plane fell and hit the ground major damage was done. No more flying for Kris!

Next up was Jim McCartney with his Sterling YAK-9. A nice flight was put in, but his score was affected badly by 3 missed landing attempts, but he did finally get it on the deck.

Last was Mike Potter with his Vought Kingfisher. A good flight was put in and concluded with a perfect landing with the engine remaining running after the arrested landing

See y'all in Roseburg!

2022 Jim Walker Memorial Results

Compiled by Barbara White
(Pts. column indicates Northwest Standings points)

Click on chart for larger display

Jim Walker Memorial photo gallery

Combat participants get ready for an 80mph Combat match. On left, Gene Pape is ready to start his engine as Russ Hester holds the plane; they're watching Buzz Wilson prepare his plane as Robert Smith holds. Pilots start their own engines. Don Curry photo.

Gene Pape holds the trophy and the winning plane in 80mph Combat. Russ Hester photo.

Chris Cox's new Miggish electric Precision Aerobatics plane was the star of the pits with a sparkly finish that photos can't capture. Steve Lindstedt photo.

Teams get ready for the start of Sportsman Clown Race. Leighton Mangels' pit man Doug Powers watches as Mike Hazel prepares his plane for action. Steve Lindstedt photo.

Robin Gearn (left) and Barbara White handled tabulation and administrative duties. Don Curry photo.

The Jim Walker Memorial wouldn't be the same without the lunches provided by Robert Ladd (at work at left). Don Curry photo.

Chris Cox surveys the Delta Park asphalt circle alongside his Miggish. Don Curry photo.

Ron Howell returned to Racing action after a layoff. Here he get ready to start his Sportsman Clown. Steve Lindstedt photo.

Pit man Bruce Tunberg starts Ken Burdick's Northwest Sport Race entry. Steve Lindstedt photo.

Jim Cameron (right) piloted every Racing heat. Here he is at work against Ken Burdick. Steve Lindstedt photo.

Steve Lindstedt's F2D Proto Speed plane suffered a crash on takeoff. Steve Linstedt photo.

Robert Smith launches an 80mph Combat plane for Buzz Wilson; other pilot is Gene Pape. Steve Linstedt photo.

Jerry Eichten starts his Oriental for a Classic Stunt flight. Steve Linstedt photo.

Ken Burdick (left) and Gene Pape in the 15 Fast Combat pits. Ken has a bandaged finger after an encounter with a Speed plane's prop on Saturday. Steve Lindstedt photo.

Navy Carrier planes lead a hard life. Kris Millard's Square Cat had an encounter with a tree. Steve Lindstedt photo.

Mike Hazel pits the winning Sportsman Clown Race plane. Steve Lindstedt photo.

Airplane gallery

Two Clown Racers: Leighton Mangels' at left and Mike Hazel's at right. Steve Lindstedt photos.

Ron Howell's Clown Race plane on the left, Ken Burdick's F2D Proto Speed plane on the right. Steve Lindstedt photos.

Steve Lindstedt's an artist -- and his planes show it. Foreground is an F2D Proto, at top is B Proto. Steve Lindstedt photo.

Two Northwest Sport Race planes. Leighton Mangels' on the left, and Ron Howell's on the right. Steve Linstedt photos.

Ken Burdick's B Proto Speed plane on the left. (Can someone help us out with identifying the owner of the Ringmaster on the right?) Steve Linstedt photos.

Two profile Stunt planes: On the left is Fred Underwood's Genesis 2; at right, we think it's Rod Claus' Sakitumi (can someone confirm this?) Steve Lindstedt photos.

Mike Haverly's Kaizen on the left, Jerry Eichten's Profile Stunter on the right. Steve Lindstedt photos.

Mike Haverly's Profile Stunt plane on the left; Howard Rush's winning Precision Aerobatics plane, an Impact, on the right. Steve Lindstedt photo.

A .15 Fast Combat plane on the left; Jim McCartney's Northwest Sport 40 Carrier plane on the right. Steve Lindstedt photos.