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Triathlon of Model Aviation - 2006
By Scott Black

The 2006 Triathlon of Model Aviation was a really exceptional event this year. We had a great time at last year’s Triathlon too, but this year just seemed to be better! I really enjoyed myself more too I think, probably because I was not worrying so much about how to organize and run the event like I did the first year. In addition, several members of the Screaming Eagles took their personal time to come help with the event even though they did not fly. Thank you to Doug Fish, Mark Crittenden, John Nyland, Andy Clark, Ron Richardson, Dan Winship and anyone else who helped. 

The day started with low winds and a forecast for hot weather and possible thunderstorms late in the day. As it turned out, we had hardly any breeze for the Rubber-Powered Free Flight event in the morning. It was just perfect! Later in the day, when it got hot, we had a nice westerly breeze that kept us cooled off despite the too warm temperatures. 

I applied for and received an official AMA Sanction this year for the Triathlon of Model Aviation. That meant a little more paperwork for us as we registered flyers in the morning. But, nothing that slowed us down. After the article on the Triathlon appeared in AMA’s Model Aviation magazine last year, I didn’t know what to expect regarding flyer turnout, but I wanted to be sure it was an official AMA event regardless. 

Like last year, we had a tremendous prize donation response from sponsors in the hobby! Great Planes sent a “U-Can-Do ARF” for us to give away. Brodak sent a “Clown ARF” control-line plane; Global Hobby Distributors sent a “Lucky Stik ARF” and a Magnum Digital Tachometer. We received 5 really nice Futaba Hats to give away as well. Although, when the contest started, I could only find 4! Hmmm…wonder what happened to that 5th hat? (See pictures for a hint.) We also received Gift Certificates from our friends at Omni Models, Sig Manufacturing, and several bottles of CA from Bob Smith Industries. One local hobby shop, Hobby R/C over on Franklin Road, was the only local hobby shop to support the event. Barb sent us some very nice Gift Certificates to give away. Remember Hobby R/C when you go to make your next hobby purchase. They support us, please support them! 

We had 10 participants in the Triathlon this year. That turnout is several more flyers from last year and it made for a great field of contestants. We could handle five more flyers probably without running concurrent events and still get it done in one day. A couple of guys didn’t compete in all the categories. We had modelers from Florida, Northern Indiana and from the Danville Black Sheep Squadron. Great to see those guys join us! All in all, it was just a great mix of guys and we had a lot of fun together. There was good sportsmanship all around and everyone helped everyone else maximize the day. 

During the pilots meeting, we stressed the confines of our field and the unique rules due to the flying field being within the Plainfield Educational Re-Entry Facility. Everyone understood and complied with the rules during the day. Then, I went over the specific rules for the day and declared myself “Dictator” on any disputes. Fortunately I didn’t have to wield my awesome power during the contest and lock anybody up in the shed. Due to the recent death of the soldier from Avon, who was laid to rest the day before our event, my mind was focused on him and his family when I was driving to the field that morning. I couldn’t get over the contrast of the beautiful morning and the anticipation of such a fun event in contrast to the sacrifice he and his family had made. So, I mentioned it during the pilots meeting because I felt it so deeply that morning. I wanted to remind myself and those competing, why we were together and what it means to be able to enjoy each other’s company for a day of flying in this great country of ours. I think it helped me, and perhaps others, realize how lucky we all are, and to keep the day in perspective. After that, we kicked off the event on a gorgeous June, Indiana morning! Doug Fish, our club President, helped me run the contest all day. This allowed me to also be able to fly in the event in addition to being the Contest Director. I hope the other competitors didn’t mind that I flew too. I don’t think they did. I know some think that the Contest Director should not be a competitor in an event they are running. But, given the fun nature of the event, I don’t think there was any conflict of interest. Besides, since I put together this event, as you can imagine, it’s exactly the kind of shindig that I wanted to fly in!

Again, we had exceptional free flight weather in the morning. Several of the rubber-power planes had nice long flights. It was a great sight to see their tissue-covered wings silhouetted in the sky. One flight by James Karpy was almost a minute long! That’s probably not long for the AMA Nationals, but it was amazing to watch happen at our field just the same. Virtually all planes featured Balsa & Tissue construction, earning them an automatic extra 10 points for the event.

The Control Line event included a balloon bust this year. That was really fun! To make things a little more competitive, we added a rule that you had to put one lap in between each stunt performed. All stunts were done in a 60 second period. That kept a stunt ship from looping virtually continuously to win as was the case last year. The rest of us flying air-pigs didn’t have chance that way, so we added the new rule. The balloon bust added 5 points to a flyer’s score and was something the slower control line planes were a little better at.

R/C Fun Fly saw the destruction of our returning Champion’s aircraft! Al Myers was our 2005 R/C Fun Fly winner. We all felt Al’s disappointment when his self-designed fun fly ship clipped a limbo pole. The result you can see in the photos. The silver lining was that Al Myers won the “Most Spectacular Crash of the Day” award. For his trouble, he received a big bottle of CA for a prize from Bob Smith Industries. Did I mention he was trying to do inverted limbo in order to double points? Hey, No guts, no glory! Al is a great flyer. Just one of those things.

The limbo poles definitely took their toll during the day. Several flyers hit them, including me. When I did, my Hangar 9 Twist did a strange little spin out. What I didn’t realize when I was flying in Round #2 was that I’d bent my rudder push rod arm somehow. No wonder that plane didn’t feel right when I was flying it! Oh well, my problem was easily fixed compared to Al’s. Anybody want to invent a non-damaging limbo pole? We’d be interested! As the event ended, I headed to the backseat of my car where I had a laptop computer. I hurried to plug flyer’s scores into a spreadsheet that I’d developed for the event. It automatically totaled everyone and made sure that I did not goof up on my addition. The overall place of each flyer was what determined the “Grand Champion” of the day. We also kept track of total points in case there was a tie. That didn’t happen; the overall winner was quite obvious! It was Mika Woodward.

Mika also narrowly won “Control Line – Champion” over yours truly. But, he overwhelming won the “R/C Fun Fly – Champion” award. And, as I say, he also won overall “Grand Champion” for the second year in a row! By the way, next year I’m adding a new rule: People with last names that start with the letter “W” will not be allowed to enter. (Just kidding Mika!) James Karpy, a former Screaming Eagles member from Florida, won the “Rubber-Powered Free Flight” award. His plane was a really great performer.

My “One Nite 28” from Peck Polymers was a sweet flyer, but never came close to James’ 53 second flight. As a side note, guys, if you have not built a high performance rubber-power model, you need to give it a try. It’s breathtaking when they float around in light lift like James’ aircraft did. I won “Coolest Plane of the Day” for my orange & white One Nite 28. I was happy about that. That plane was NOT a “one night” build! It took me some time to complete and I literally got it done the night before the event. All I’d done prior to the Triathlon was fly it for short bursts in my back yard in the early morning with a cup of coffee. I’m a Big Orange UT fan, so that caused my color choice!

The day’s Grand Champion, Mika Woodward, had his pick of the prizes. As you guessed, he grabbed the Great Planes U-Can-Do. That was fitting because he will be able to really fly the bonkers out of that plane and maximize its potential. My wife and kids had arrived at the contest from a little league game in time to help out with raffle prizes. We had a LOT of great stuff to give away! Everyone went home with a nice prize. The flyers all got one raffle ticket per event they participated in. And, we made sure that the guys who helped out also received a raffle ticket too. It worked out well for all.

I do have to mention that Steve Ragsdale won the Global Hobby “Lucky Stik” when his ticket was called. In true Steve Ragsdale fashion, he generously gave the airplane to young Christian Karpy. Christian has just mastered a trainer and the Lucky Stik is the perfect next plane for him. Guys like Steve help make this a great hobby. I had a couple of guys like Steve help me when I got started in the hobby when I was 15 years old. Without these kind of people, I don’t think I could have stayed in the hobby at that time with only my income from mowing grass and painting houses supporting my crashes. Steve gets the Good Joe award for sure.

As said, the 2006 Triathlon of Model Aviation was truly exceptional this year. I could not have been happier with the day and the fun we had. Next year’s event is tentatively scheduled for June 16th, 2007. I hope you can join us. Start building and practicing!

*All Photos by Ron Richardson