By Don McClave
Sometime around 1980, the Garden State Circle Burners club in New Jersey
introduced an event called Old Time Stunt (OTS) for pre-1953 stunt designs.
It became a very popular addition to contests around the country and was
soon followed by the addition of Classic Stunt, an event for pre-1970 designs.
The popularity of these events resulted in the creation of
the Vintage Stunt Championships and the inclusion of OTS and Classic as
unofficial events at the Nats.
Both OTS and Classic Stunt were conceived to provide venues that promote the construction and flying of historic designs from bygone eras and their popularity has grown steadily since their inception. However, it became evident several years ago that there is growing interest in adding an event that would provide an opportunity for the inclusion of an additional group of historic designs. As a result, the PAMPA Executive Committee approved a new event in 2009 called Nostalgia 30 Stunt to complement OTS and Classic Stunt. It has since become very popular in the Midwest, East and the South.
Any design 30 years or older is eligible to compete in Nostalgia
Stunt. Otherwise, the rules are the same as those that apply to Classic
Stunt. Due to the lack of time, circles and manpower at weekend contests
the event is designed to run in conjunction with Classic, and administratively
separated for award purposes. Contestants with aircraft eligible for both
Classic and Nostalgia 30 must declare for one or the other, but not both.
At a few very large contests, such as the King Orange contest in Florida
or the annual Brodak contest in Pennsylvania, Classic and Nostalgia 30 are
flown as separate events, but that is the exception.
Nostalgia 30 Stunt will be part of the Northwest Regional Championships, the Jim Walker Memorial Contest, the Western Canada Championships, the Fall Follies and other Northwest contests beginning in 2011, so this early notice gives those who are interested a chance to get started building their favorite designs from the Nostalgia 30 era for next year's contests.
-- Don McClave, June 2, 2010
Photos: Planes from the past such as the Stilletto (top) and Genesis would become eligible for Nostalgia 30 competition.
This page was upated June 19, 2010