Ken Burdick pilots a B Proto Speed plane during the Northwest Control-Line Speed Championships. Howard Doering photo.

2018 Northwest Control-Line Speed Championships

Sept. 22-23, Bill Riegel Model Airpark, Salem, Ore.

By Mike Hazel, contest director

Speed flying returned to Salem with a rejuvenated entry level that we have not seen in a while. Only a couple of regular NW’ers were missing in action, and it was great to have Californians Howard Doering and John Newton up to join in on the fun. Loren Howard had also entered but had to bail out early when some back pains became a problem. Too bad, as we were looking forward to seeing a couple of his planes go. The total contestant roster numbered 14.

There was some story with the weather. Saturday was a bit windy and wet at times early on. The day got better as it progressed. Sunday was great, mild temperatures and average winds. So as could be expected, it was very busy on Sunday with the circle signup sheet utilized to keep the troops in order.

One special addition to this year's contest was the flying raffle. Contestants earned a prize draw ticket with each flight, and we did a drawing at the end of each day. The prize table had to be seen to be believed. Hundreds of bucks of goodies were up for grabs: Engines (including a Dyna-Jet), several speed pans, spinners, control hardware, line, handles, power tools, building supplies, and other miscellaneous goods. Howard Doering had the most entries, and he went away with an armload of hardware.

This year we again awarded a perpetual trophy to the speedster with the highest record ratio performance. We used the Flying Lines website Northwest records as a basis for this. The Flying Lines records differ slightly from the Northwest NASS (North American Speed Society) records in that the geographical area only encompasses AMA district XI plus British Columbia. Some of the percentage results were extremely close! And the winner was ... Jim Booker with a 99.1% score against his own record in NASS Sport Jet.

Miscellaneous notes: As expected, the Northwest B Proto event was the big-entry event. The Fireballs gang from Portland fielded a couple of planes in NW B Proto and also brought along some spectators. Chris “Partner” Sackett had plenty of NW B Proto merchandise available, and kept himself plenty busy helping the other guys with their entries. On Saturday evening several of the contestants headed to a local dinner spot where we had our own dining room reserved. Good to see that nearly every event was represented with some level of entry. There were a handful of planes that did not make it out to the circle as usual. That’s pretty typical when several of us are trying to fly too many events! A few of the scores were pretty slow, but that’s OK since we were trying to just get in our official flights no matter what. A couple of apologies are in order: first to Dean Singleton, whose plane was dorked when the pilot (me!) goofed on the handle orientation. Ouch! And second to John Newton, when we goofed at the timing table and failed to get a clocking on what would have been a good .21 Sport Speed flight. Sorry 'bout that!

Results

(Northwest competition points shown in parenthesis)

1/2 A SPEED (1 entry)
1. Howard Doering, Garden Grove, Calif. -- 99.39 mph

1/2 A PROFILE PROTO SPEED (2 entries)
1. Bruce Tunberg, McMinnville, Ore. -- 70.33 mph (2)
2. Jeff Cleaver, Port Ludlow, Wash. -- 69.28 (1)

A SPEED (no entries)

B SPEED (3 entries)
1. John Newton, Crescent City, Calif -- 152.93 mph
2. Howard Doering -- 144.00
3. Mike Hazel, Mehama, Ore. -- 98.64 (1)

C SPEED (2 entries)
1. Howard Doering -- 173.00 mph
2. Scott Newkirk, Snohomish, Wash. -- attempt (1)

D SPEED (1 entry)
1. Ken Burdick, Kamloops, B.C. -- 118.60 mph(1)

AMA JET SPEED (2 entries)
1. Mike Hazel -- 165.22 mph (2)
2. Howard Doering attempt

Judges watch as Howard Doering flies Steve Lindstedt's B Proto Speed plane, as timers Mike Hazel (right) and Craig Bartlett count laps. Photo submitted by Howard Doering.

FAI SPEED (no entries)

FORMULA 40 SPEED (no entries)

21 SPORT SPEED (4 entries)
1. Howard Doering -- 138.41 mph
2. Scott Newkirk -- 127.06 (3)
3. Ken Burdick -- attempt (2)
John Newton no time/officiation error

21 PROTO SPEED (1 entry)
1. Howard Doering -- 124.09 mph

NW SPORT JET (2 entries)
1. Jim Booker, La Grande, Ore. -- 148.58 mph (2)
2. Howard Doering -- 147.85

NASS SPORT JET (2 entries)
1. Jim Booker -- 146.04 mph (2)
2. Mike Hazel -- 145.80 (1)

F2D PROTO SPEED (3 entries)
1. Ken Burdick -- 104.51 mph (3)
2. Bruce Tunberg -- 90.28 (2)
3. Mike Hazel -- 87.13 (1)

NW B PROTO SPEED (8 entries)
1. Chris Sackett, Maple Ridge, B.C. -- 110.79 mph (8)
2. Ken Burdick -- 106.10 (7)
3. Jeff Cleaver -- 99.16 (6)
4. Doug Powers, Portland, Ore. -- 94.10 (5)
5. Steve Lindstedt, Silverton, Ore. -- 92.04
6. Craig Bartlett, Corvallis, Ore. -- 81.88
7. Dean Singleton, Lebanon, Ore. -- attempt
Mike Hazel attempt

RECORD RATIO RESULTS
1. Jim Booker NASS Sport Jet -- 99.1%
2. Mike Hazel NASS Sport Jet -- 98.9
3. Ken Burdick F2D Proto -- 98.7
4. Howard Doering C Speed -- 97.98
5. Chris Sackett NW B Proto -- 97.97
6. Howard Doering 21 Proto -- 97.3
7. Mike Hazel AMA Jet Speed -- 94.3
8. John Newton B Speed -- 93.83
9. Ken Burdick NW B Proto -- 93.82
10. Jim Booker NW Sport Jet-- 93.2
11. Howard Doering NW Sport Jet -- 92.8
12. Howard Doering 21 Sport Speed -- 90.0
13. Howard Doering B Speed -- 88.4
14. Jeff Cleaver NW B Proto -- 87.7
15. Bruce Tunberg F2D Proto-- 85.3
16. Doug Powers NW B Proto -- 83.2
17. Scott Newkirk 21 Sport Speed -- 82.6
18. Mike Hazel F2D Proto -- 82.3
19. Steve Lindstedt NW B Proto -- 81.4
20. Howard Doering 1/2 A Speed -- 80.6
21. Bruce Tunberg 1/2 A Proto -- 76.0
22. Jeff Cleaver 1/2 A Proto-- 74.9
23. Craig Bartlett NW B Proto -- 72.4
24. Ken Burdick D Speed -- 67.0
25. Mike Hazel B Speed -- 60.5

Results of this contest are included in Northwest Control-Line Competition Standings.

Northwest CL Speed Championships photo gallery

Jim Booker shows off the Northwest CL Speed Champion photo as he receives congratulations from Chris Sackett. Howard Doering photo.

Ken Burdick starts the engine on his D Speed plane as Jim Booker holds. Howard Doering photo.

Bruce Tunberg launches a B Proto plane. Howard Doering photo.

Mike Hazel's B Proto plane takes off. Howard Doering photo.

Steve Lindstedt starts the engine on his Northwest B Proto entry as Howard Doering waits at the handle. Photo submitted by Howard Doering.

Mike Hazel pilots Jim Booker's Northwest Sport Jet entry. Howard Doering photo.

Contest Director Hazel kept busy -- here he's piloting Jeff Cleaver's 1/2-A Proto entry. Howard Doering photo.

Ken Burdick's D Speed plane makes its takeoff roll. Howard Doering photo.

Nice paint job on Jeff Cleaver's .21 Sport Speed plane. Steve Lindstedt photo.

Bright yellow plane waits on its dolly. Steve Lindstedt photo.

An asymmetrical speedster. Steve Linstedt photo.

Jim Booker' Podracer Northwest Sport Jet plane. Steve Linstedt photo.

An attractive B proto plane. Steve Linstedt photo.

Mike Hazel's F2D Proto plane. Steve Linstedt photo.

Ken Burdick's Pink Lady. Steve Linstedt photo.

Craig Bartlett's B Proto entry. Steve Linstedt photo.

A vintage-style speed plane. Steve Linstedt photo.

Chris Sackett's B Proto plane. Steve Linstedt photo.

A metal-winged speedster. Steve Linstedt photo.

Jeff Cleaver's B Proto plane. Steve Linstedt photo.

Scott Newkirk's Nelson .40-powered C Speed plane. Steve Linstedt photo.

John Newton's .21 Sport Speed plane. Steve Linstedt photo.

A well-designed box for carrying a Speed plane to a contest, by Ken Burdick. Steve Linstedt photo.

Doug Powers' B Proto plane. Steve Linstedt photo.

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This page was upated Oct. 1, 2018