Jim McCartney's GeeBee makes a flight in Sport Scale at the 2024 Northwest Control-Line Regionals at Roseburg Regional Airport. Powered by an O.S. .120, the GeeBee sounds like the full-scale version. Flying Lines photo.
If it's Memorial Day Weekend in the West, the control-line model
aviation action is at the Northwest Control-Line Regionals, which
returned to Roseburg this year as fliers from all over North
America converged once again on Oregon for three days of
competition and socializing in their common passion.
Weather was almost perfect for CL flying, with light winds most
of the time and partial overcast that kept temperatures cool.
Attendance was down slightly in all events, especially Speed, but
there was plenty of lively competition in all categories.
Forty-nine individuals accounted for 122 event entries. Around the
field, many contestants and crew members proudly displayed the
2024 T-shirt, which commemorated the late Phil Granderson, a
master model builder, multi-event competitor and friend who took
home many Regionals trophies over the years.
The work of putting on the Regionals was handled by the Eugene Prop Spinners, the Western Oregon Control-Line Flyers, the Northwest Fireballs, the Northwest Skyraiders, the Umpqua Valley Modelers, Roseburg area control-line fliers and many individuals who volunteered as event directors and workers.
Paul Walker bested a world-class field of 11 competitors in Expert Precision Aerobatics. Kestutis Dvarvydis took the Concours d'Elegance trophy for the most beautiful Stunt plane. Event grand champions were Dennis Nunes (Aerobatics), Lane Puckett (Combat), Jim Schneider (Navy Carrier), Leighton Mangels (Racing), Orin Humphries (Scale) and Ken Burdick (Speed).
Field setup and teardown was again under the direction of Eugene Prop Spinners' Gary Weems. Events were directed by Chris Cox (Aerobatics); Gene Pape (Combat); Kris Millard (Navy Carrier); Doug Powers (Racing); Walter Hicks (Scale); and Will Naemura (Speed). Registration and tabulation work was done by Robin Gearn and Barbara White.
Excellent lunches were provided by The Bun Stuffer food truck.
The contest offered trophy plaques through third place in all events, plus huge grand championship trophies in all events. An array of high-quality merchandise prizes was given away on a "door-prize" system, so every contestant came away with a good prize, win or lose.
The trophy and merchandise prizes were made possible in part by generous donations from Regionals contestants and supporters.
Trophy sponsors were: Don Chandler, Paul Gibeault, Orin
Humphries, Lanny Shorts, the Norm McFadden family, the Northwest
Fireballs and Alan Resinger. Merchandise or cash donations came
from Don Chandler, Kestuteis Dvarvydis, Jerry Eichten, Eugene Toy & Hobby,
Flying Lines, Dave Gardner, Russ Hester, Walter Hicks, Bruce Hunt,
John Knoppi, John Lickley, Randy Ling, the Norm McFadden family,
Alan Resinger, Gerald Schamp and Paul Walker.
Elsewhere on the Flying Lines website, see updated Northwest standings, Northwest records and Regionals records.
Kestutis Dvarvydis' Electra-2 was declared winner of the Concours d'Elegance award after a vote by the Aerobatics competitors. Flying Lines photo.
By Gene Pape
Another year of great Combat at the Northwest Regionals.
Field prep went quickly this year with help from Jim Corbett and
Mark Crouse.
We were back up to five events this year. We had a total of nine
entries this year across those 5 events with Andy Prior being the
only entrant flying all five events. Dave La Fever and Mark
Crouse handled the judging on Friday and Saturday. Terence Bardue
took Dave’s place, joining Mark for judging Fast on Sunday. While
I ran the matches for the ½-A, 80 mph, and 15 Fast events, Lane
Puckett stepped in and ran Vintage on Friday and Gary Harris ran
Fast on Sunday. I much appreciate everyone’s help.
We started things off at noon on Friday with ½-A. The weather started out cold and we went from heavy coats to T-shirts and back throughout the day. There were some truly outstanding matches with no midair collisions. Lane Puckett started out with a win and ended with no losses to finish first. This was Robert Smith’s best event of the contest as he came in second. Russ Hester was flying really well and came in third.
Vintage Combat was flown starting at 4 p.m. that afternoon.
Since there were only three entries, it was decided that the event
would be flown round-robin, giving the pilots two matches
each. The first match was John and Andy. Andy’s model
was damaged in that match, so John and Gene flew next while Andy
fixed his damaged Voodoo. The repaired Voodoo worked well enough
for Andy’s match with Gene that Andy won the event by a large
margin while John ended up second over Gene by a whopping 2
points. Final scores after two matches each, Andy 272, John
240, Gene 238.
80 mph started things off on Saturday morning. This
was the best-attended event of the contest with many very good
matches, a few of which ended up with midair collisions.
Lane Puckett, Russ Hester, and Andy Prior all flew extremely well
in this event and finished in that order. Slav Malovan is an
extremely talented newcomer to our area. It is a pleasure to
watch him fly. He finished this event in a tie with
Northwest regulars Jim Green and Gary Harris for fourth place.
Collisions are a part of Combat. This is the instant after impact between planes flown by Slav Malovan (left) and Gary Harris in an 80mph Combat match. Flying Lines photo.
After 80 mph was concluded and a lunch break, we flew 15 Fast.
To me, the worst thing that happened all weekend happened in this
event. Several of us flying Combat are now well into our
70s. While we can still fly Combat without much trouble,
flying level for long periods is a real chore. Something happened
at the beginning of one of Robert Smith’s matches and he had to
fly the entire five minutes level with a screaming 15 Fast model.
He was visibly worn out before the engine quit. Ah, to be young
again.
Slav Malovan is an accomplished F2D pilot, so this event suited
him. He finished second behind winner Andy Prior. The final match
ended with Andy killing Slav a split second before hitting the
pushrod on Slav's model ,causing it to do the tightest inside
loops you have ever seen until it hit the ground. Russ Hester took
home the third-place spot in this event.
Sunday’s only Combat event was Fast. As is usual, this was a great
event to watch as the Nelsons just simply started every time so
there were no matches where one person was flying while the other
was trying to start their engine. There were many good matches and
Lane claims Combat god Norm McFadden forced his model to crash and
plug up the needle valve assembly in his final match, which
resulted in my winning the event leaving him second. Russ Hester
flew well to round out the top three.
Congratulations to Lane Puckett as Regionals Combat Champion for the second year in a row after winning ½-A and 80mph then placing second in Fast.
Thanks again to everyone who participated.
By Kris Millard
Mark Schluter's Navy Carrier plane passes the deck in slow flight. Flying Lines photo.
Saturday started windy. And stayed windy. We had several dust devils of the 30’ Dia. size next to the circle causing havoc. Still, we got in quite a few nerve-wracking flights. It’s just not “Carrier” unless you’re living on the edge. We also discovered quite a few issues on different planes with linkages and engines. Sloppy bellcranks, engines that would run at high speed but not idle, some would idle but die at high speed. I even had a AMA profile MO-1 that was fine on the ground but had zero throttle control in the air. Eventually we called it a day.In events that had three entries or
fewer, we went straight to the final races, forgoing the heats.
First off was Northwest Sportsman Flying Clown Race. With rusty
pitman, the final got underway. The Leighton Mangels/ Doug Powers
team had the speed advantage and won with 155 laps over the
Nitroholics Team of John Thompson/ Mike Hazel with 140 laps. Mike
using an OS FP .15 engine.
Next up was the faster open Flying Clown Race. The Mangels/ Powers
team again placed first with 36 laps. The team of Bruce Tunberg/
Ken Burdick was second with a DNF. Bruce's black-head
Profi-powered model was noticeably faster but, with only six laps
per tank, was never in contention. In the final, Tunberg/ Burdick
had 1 lap when Mangels/ Powers had a run-in, resulting in a
high-speed taxi through the circle culminating in one of the
longest shaft runs this writer has heard in a long time. The RPM
kept climbing as the prop was slowly being ground down to a nub.
Being the sportsman he is, Bruce was not satisfied and allowed Leighton to pull out his second model and restart the final race. On the horn, Tunberg leapt into the air with Mangels right behind him. True to form, Tunberg's model came down on cue in six laps with Burdick landing 180 degrees from his pitman (upwind). Once Bruce finally got to his model, he quickly restarted and launched, but predictably his now-loose lined model came into the circle on takeoff, engine grinding its prop to a nub and finally stopping. This ended the second final with Mangels/Powers team taking first place with 36 laps and Tunberg/ Burdick team placing second with 6 laps. Those paying attention noted that all model run-ins were launched upwind, so they ran their models back to a safer pit location if they had to.
Racing Director Doug Powers got a chance to
participate
as a pit crew member for Leighton Mangels thanks to
Will Naemura's stepping in to officiate the races. Paul
Gibeault photo.
Dallas Sport Goodyear (160 laps and 3 pits) was up
next. First place was the California team of Doug Haas and Bill
Cave with a score of 160 laps. Second place was the Mangels/
Powers with the fastest model but tank problems had him pitting
too often with 107 laps. During the race pilot Leighton fell over
on a (very unlucky) sitting Ken Burdick 'squashing him like a bug
and tearing off his own landing gear in the process. Fortunately
there were no serious injuries. The Burdick/ Knoppi team retired
to come in third with 81 laps after Ken's model rolled in on
takeoff.
Northwest Sport Race had five entries. After the smoke had cleared
it was Mangels/ Powers in first with a 9:01 (4:47 heat) using
their ASP 25 with 6mm venturi-powered Brodak Super Fly model. The
Nitroholics Hazel/ Thompson team not far behind with a 9:17 (5:12
heat) with their OS .25 FP-powered entry. In third place was the
newly established Paul Gibeault/ Mark Schluter team with a 10:33
(5:34 heat) . Mark was right in there speedwise with his Fox .35
powered Ringmaster, but suffered from slower pit stops than the
more experienced teams. Tunberg/ Burdick team placed fouth with a
6:57 and Doug Haas/ Bill Cave team finished in fifth place with a
48 lap heat score.
Finally in Northwest Super Sport race the big guns came out. The
Mangels/ Powers team placed first with a 9:06. It was a close race
as the Nitroholics Team (Thompson/ Hazel) were leading and going
like a house on fire ... until their fire-belching K&B
.40-powered model caught fire, putting an end to their chances at
109 laps. With the lack of a shutoff slowing pit stops for the
Gibeault/Schluter team, pilot Leighton Mangels getting the plane
right to his pit man Doug Powers, and four one-flip engine starts,
Mangels/Powers stayed ahead of Gibeault/Schluter, which cruised to
a well-deserved second place with Mark's very strong-running
SuperTigre .40-powered entry with a 9:37.
Thus ended the 51st NW Regionals Racing. I would also like to
thank Will Naemura, who quickly stepped in to direct the racing in
order to let Doug Powers race. I would also like to thank all the
fliers and volunteers who helped time and count laps when not
flying themselves. We were at times really scratching for
manpower, but somehow collectively managed to pull it off.
By Walter Hicks
A very big thank you to Terry Mitchell for being a
co-event director this year in Scale. His help was very valuable
in making this event run smoothly and efficiently.
Once again Scale had a very well-prepared group with
high quality entries, very good Scale documentation and well done
airplanes.
There were two new first time entries for scale this
year, Tim Wescott with a profile Ercoupe which flew very well and
garnered him a first place in Profile Scale. The other first time
Scale entrant was Jim McCartney with a big, beautiful Gee Bee
powered by a large four-stroke engine. It flew well and placed
second in Sport Scale. This airplane drew a crowd wanting to watch
it fly.
Gary Dowler's PT-26 took first place in Sport Scale. Flying Lines photo.
Gary Dowler had a very nice PT-26 which got him first place in Sport scale. Pat Johnston flew a "Beetle Bomb" Bearcat to a second place finish in Profile Scale. Note there was only one point difference between first and second place in this event! Orin Humphries flew a nice Beechcraft Staggerwing bipe to a third-place finish in Profile Scale. Orin also flew a very well-detailed Stearman PT- 17 biplane in Authentic Scale to a first place finish.
Jeral Godfrey flew an L-19 Bird Dog, which was very
detailed, to a second place finish in Authentic Scale.
A big thank you to all the scale entries for being well prepared
and ready to go for the contest. A good time was had by all.
By Will Naemura
Pilot Mike Hazel guides Ken Burdick's C Speed plane after Ken's release, with starter operator John Knoppi watching. Flying Lines photo.
The Grand ChampionSpeed winner was Ken Burdick. A well-deserved victory as he won five of the six events that he entered. This is not an easy task to compete in six events in 1.5 day of competition! He was assisted by John Knoppi ,who also won one of the two events that he entered.By Chris Cox
Stunt continues to be one of the highest-entered events at the
Northwest Regionals. Of course, entries are no longer what they
used to be 20-30 years ago; however we did have at least three
new participants this year: Jim McCartney, Gary Weems and Scott
Danner. Thanks for coming, guys, and I look forward to seeing
you again next year!
Friday was Old Time Stunt with only three entries. There was a
time when we would expect to see a dozen entries or more. I do
know that several people who would have entered were unable to
attend due to other issues and/or commitments. When the event
wrapped up, Jim Aron was the winner with his 26-year-old
Ringmaster that still looks as though it is brand new.
Judges Joan Cox and Alan Resinger examine a plane during Precision Aerobatics appearance judging. Flying Lines photo.
Classic, Profile Sportsman and Profile Expert flew on Saturday.
Although weather forecasts called for clear skies and moderate
temperatures, an overcast sky and light to moderate winds made
for a very chilly day! So chilly, I had five layers of clothing
on! Could have been worse had it rained. Thankfully that
did not happen. Dennis Nunes won both Classic and Profile
Expert. Walter Hicks won Profile Sportsman, which was a very
cool. Way to go Walter!
Sunday was clear and verging on warm! But, the wind was “very”
light and variable. Judges often asked the contestant where to
stand, which was responded to by way of a shrug and a “Don’t
know…”. Jim McCartney won Beginner and Scott Danner won
Intermediate. Advanced saw six entries with the top three scores
going to Page Peterson, Walter Hicks and Rodney Claus. Expert
entry was down with 11 entries. Final top placings going to Paul
Walker, David Fitzgerald and Brett Buck.
Concours d' Elegance (Pilots' Choice) — Kestutis Dvarvydis with
his beautifully built Electra 2. Kestutis builds all his own
moulds and fabricated an amazing composite structure. His
craftsmanship is far beyond your standard stunt flyer.
Grand Champion Stunt — Dennis Nunes. Congratulations “again”
Dennis. Come on guys, let’s give Dennis a little competition
next year! LOL.
I know I will forget some names, but here it goes:
Tabulation — Barb White and Robin Gearn. It needs to be said
that working with Barb and Robin is an absolute delight. Their
organizational skills are second to none. Especially happy that
Barb was able to make it, despite medical issues that she is
dealing with. Always smiling and not one single complaint.
Pull Testers — Steve Helmick, Randy Ling, Jim McCartney.
Weighmaster — Mike Denlis.
Runners — Oh man, I’m not positive on this as many jumped in and
assisted where needed. That said, a big shout out to Ethan who
was at the Regionals (again!) keeping an eye on the “Old Man,”
Dave Royer. Thanks Ethan and all the others who pitched in.
Appearance Judges — Tim Just, Alan Resinger and Joan Cox.
Judges — Steve Helmick, Tim Wescott, Brett Buck, David
Fitzgerald, Tim Just, Alan Resinger, Gordan Delaney (thanks
Gord!), Joan Cox and myself. Oh, and Robin shadowed the judges
for experience. She did good!
I saved the judging lineup for last. We desperately need new
judges. We were able to recruit Tim Just to help judge Classic.
That was good. Also, as mentioned, Robin did a great job
shadowing and is ready to judge next year. I had a list of new
judges to train this year, but circumstances all but annihilated
this plan from happening through no fault of those who could not
attend. All this to say, WE DESPERATELY NEED JUDGES! Please, if
you have not judged, you really should. Not only does it help
keep the contest rolling, but it will actually help you in your
own flying as you begin to recognize correct geometry and
errors. We will not throw new judges to the wolves and force you
to judge Expert. We will start with the lower classes and work
you up as you gain experience. Easy Peasy.
A big shoutout to Joan Cox. She pretty much does it all other
than pull testing. She assists in tabulation, runs scores,
judges Appearance and Expert, and often offers timely advice.
Like Barb and Robin, things would be much tougher without her.
Though he originally planned to fly in Expert
Precision Aerobatics, Chris Cox dropped out of the competition
in order to judge. He did, however, get in some practice
flying his latest beautiful stunter. Randy Ling photo.
Paul Walker puts in the winning flight in Expert Precision Aerobatics. Flying Lines photo.
Walker's Predator in flight. Flying Lines photo.
Two AMA Fast Combat planes do battle. Flying Lines photos.
Will Naemura works to get his FAI Speed plane to come on the pipe. Flying Lines photo.
Scale planes in the pits after static judging and before official flights. Flying Lines photo.
AMA Fast Combat action: Bill Cave (left) and Jim
Green battle in the center while judges Gary Harris (center left)
and Mark Crouse (center right) watch for cuts and pit crewmen Russ
Hester (far left) and Lane Puckett (right) stand by. Flying
Lines photo.
Sunday morning's Reginals highlight is Precision
Aerobatics appearance judging. Flying Lines photo.
Expert PA second-place flier David Fitzgerald at the handle. Flying Lines photo.
Fitzgerald's Thunder Gazer III is new this year. Flying Lines photo.
Brett Buck at the handle in Expert Precision Aerobatics. Flying Lines photo.
Buck's Infinity. Flying Lines photo.
Kestutis Dvarvydis flies his Concours-winning
Electra 2 in Expert Precision Aerobatics. Flying Lines photo
Alan Resinger flies his Rare Bear in Expert
Precision Aerobatics. Flying Lines photo.
The detailed beauty of the Rare Bear is hard to
capture in a photo. Flying Lines photo.
Jim Aron flies his Systrema in Expert Precision
Aerobatics. Flying Lines photo.
Aron's Systema 2e was the 2022 Concours d'Elegance
winner. Flying Lines photo.
Marshall Palmer flies his Skipjack in Expert Precision Aerobatics. Flying Lines photo.
Palmer's Skipjack in flight. Flying Lines photo.
Dennis Nunes flies his Circulas 61e in Expert Precision Aerobatics. Flying Lines photo.
Nunes' Circulas 61e in flight. Flying Lines photo.
Carrier pits with a bevy of MO-1 variants. Flying Lines photo.
A Carrier plane hooks the wire. Flying Lines
photo.
Profile Stunt judges Tim Wescott (left), Robin Gearn and Steve Helmick at work as Jerry Eichten's Python passes. Flying Lines photo.
Jim Green (left) and Andy Prior go at it in 15 Fast Combat. Flying Lines photo.
15 Fast Combat action. Flying Lines photo.
Speed was lightly attended but contestants had fun. Paul Gibeault (left) and John Knoppi take a break for a Speed circle snapshot. Flying Lines photo.
Classic Stunt planes lined up for Saturday's appearance judging. Flying Lines photo
Jim Green (left) and Robert Smith battle in 1/2-A Combat. Hey, nobody's going to score a cut if you guys are that far apart! Flying Lines photos.
Pat Johnston flies his Shark 35 in Classic Stunt. Flying Lines photo.
Johnston's Shark 35 is several years old but still looks good in the air. Flying Lines photo.
Lane Puckett's 80mph Combat plane carries his opponent's streamer after a kill. Flying Lines photo.
Gary Harris (left) and Slav Malovan battle in 80mph Combat. Flying Lines photo.
Another Carrier plane bounces after catching the wire. Flying Lines photo.
AMA Fast Combat winner Gene Pape (left) and Andy Prior battle in a Fast match. Flying Lines photo.
Pat Johnston's Precision Aerobatics Bearcat in the air. Flying Lines photo.
John Leidle's Precision Aerobatics plane at work. Flying Lines photo.
More close action in AMA Fast Combat. Flying
Lines photo.
AMA Fast Combat top three. From right: Gene Pape,
Lane Puckett, Russ Hester.
Retiring Navy Carrier Event Director Mike Potter
with a new Northwest Sport 40 Carrier plane. Still innovating,
Mike equipped this plane with a magnetic hook deployment system. Flying
Lines photo.
Some of the Carrier guys. From left: Mark
Schluter, Carrier Champion Jim Schneider, Event Director Kris
Millard. Flying Lines photo.
Andy Prior launches Gene Pape's Voodoo for a match
in Vintage Combat. Paul Gibeault photo.
Russ Hester holds John Thompson's Half Fast III
model powered by a very old Fox Combat Special before a match in
Vintage Combat. Paul Gibeault photo.
Mark Schluter gets ready for a heat with his
Northwest Sport Race entry. Paul Gibeault photo.
Mark Schluter's Twister. Flying Lines photo.
Pat Johnston's Beetle Bomb Bearcat. Flying Lines photo.
Scott Danner flew this one in both Classic Stunt and Intermediate Precision Aerobatics. Flying Lines photo.
Tim Just's Impact. Flying Lines photo.
Walter Hicks' Profile Stunter. Flying Lines photo.
Dennis Nunes' Profile Stunt Circulas 46lle. Flying Lines photo.
Randy Ling's electric twin Profile Stunt plane. Flying Lines photos.
Mark Schluter's Magician. Flying Lines photo.
Dennis Nunes' Classic Stunt plane. Flying Lines photo.
Jerry Eichten's Oriental. Flying Lines photo.
Ken Burdick's F2D Proto Speed plane. Flying Lines photo.
Ken Burdick's B Proto Speed plane. Flying Lines photos.
A closer look at Jim McCartney's GeeBee. Flying Lines photo.
Mike Hazel's Northwest Super Sport Race plane. Flying Lines photo.
Ken Burdick's Dallas Sport Goodyear racing plane.
Flying Lines photo.
Leighton Mangels' Clown Racer. Flying Lines
photo.
Leighton Mangels' Northwest Sport Race plane Flying
Lines photo.
John Thompson's Wildman 60, built from RSM
Production kit No. 1. The Old-Time Stunt plane was designed
in 1950 by Floyd Carter, still an active member of the Eugene Prop
Spinners control-line club in his 90s. Flying Lines
photo.
Jim Aron's Ringmaster, flown to first place in
Old-Time Stunt. Flying Lines photo.
Gary Weems' Vector 40, flown in Advanced Precision
Aerobatics. Flying Lines photo.
Page Peterson's USA-1, first plane in Advanced
Precision Aerobatics. Flying Lines photo.
Jeral Godfrey's L-17 Bird Dog, flown in Authentic
Scale. Flying Lines photo.
Orin Humphries' Stearman. Flying Lines photo.
Tim Wescott's Ercoupe, first place in Profile
Scale. Flying Lines photo.
Orin Humphries' Beech Staggerwing. Flying
Lines photo.
The prize table. Flying Lines photo.
Results of this contest are included in the Northwest Competition Standings.
This page was updated June 12, 2024