IMAC National Championships

Model Airplane News, Mar 1998 by Wolanski, Daniel

DURING THE LATE '80s AND EARLY '90s, the location and results of the IMAC National Championships went pretty much unnoticed. After all, IMAC was still in its adolescence, and other mature events like pattern and the TOC (Tournament of Champions) dominated media coverage. But nothing remains constant, and it was only a matter of time before the pendulum began to swing toward IMAC events nationwide. IMAC's new leaders realized the popularity growth and began to promote IMAC more aggressively. Using tools like the Internet and a professionally published newsletter, IMAC has finally achieved the prestige and popularity once dominated by pattern. So how do you up the ante? Easy: publicize, promote and bring together the nation's best pilots at one contest over a holiday weekend and call it, "The IMAC National Championship."

This year's IMAC National Championship was held in Morgan Hill, CA, in conjunction with AMA Expo '97. Contestants drove more than a thousand miles each way to get the opportunity to compete with the best IMAC pilots in the nation. Planning for the event began well over a year in advance by contest director Amir Nashati and the Santa Clara County Model Aircraft Skypark club. This was the best-run contest that I have been to in a very long time, and the 60x520-foot paved runway, complete with paved pits and full-service snack bar, added to the enjoyable country-club atmosphere.

THE COMPETITION

As dawn broke Saturday morning before the contest, pilots began to arrive in droves. As 39 pilots assembled their planes, one thing became immediately apparent: everyone had a large airplane. I began to wonder whether I was at a rally of the giants and not an IMAC contest. After all, IMAC doesn't have a minimum aircraft size requirement. As I walked up and down the pits to size up my competition, I soon realized that my 1/4-scale Extra 260 would be the smallest plane in the Advanced class! The 74-inch-span plane couldn't compare to the 100-inchplus size of the 35% machines. I have always believed that smooth thumbs matter more than a larger plane, but I really didn't want to test my theory at a national championship!

We assembled for a pilots' meeting to review the rules and scoring. Amir reviewed the sign-up list and gave us the tally of contestants. There were 20 Sportsman pilots, 10 Advanced and 9 Unlimited. We also reviewed the scoring format and discussed the controversial topic of gyros. The use of gyros is not forbidden under the current AMA rules. Amir used his CD power, however, to ban their use. Bill Hempel Jr. apparently never received notice of this ban and showed up a few days before the contest with gyros installed. Bill attempted to convince Amir on Friday that their use did not give him an advantage, so Bill let Amir fly his Edge 540 with the gyros on and off so that he could make his decision based on experience. Amir flew the plane and concluded that the gyros damped several maneuvers, including stall turns and snap exits. Because these elements are vital to scoring, gyros would not be allowed. Amir reconfirmed his position on gyros at the meeting and asked Bill to unplug them. Bill politely obliged and the contest began at 10:30 a.m.

The contest started with the Sportsman pilots split up at the two flightlines. All pilots were instructed to fly through the sequence two times while in the air. Advanced and Unlimited shared the sky during the afternoon. The day continued by switching judges and flightlines to ensure a balanced score. By 6:30 p.m. we had five scored flights, and all of the attention was on scorekeeper Brian Nelson. Northwest regional champion Mike Kuper led the Sportsman class with his 70-inch-span Ohio Extra 300S. Trailing Mike were Tom Smith from Edmonton, Canada, and Chris Fouquet from San Francisco, CA, each with 33% airplanes. In Advanced, I was in first place with my 25% Precision Model Products (PMP) Extra 260, followed by two local contestants, Fred Weaver and Ken Zierman, each flying a 35% PMP Extra 260.

Unlimited seemed to be the Ken Gregory show. Ken had a commanding lead over second-place Bill Hempel Jr. and third-place Ryan Taylor. Ken flew a 35% PMP Extra 260 while both Bill and Ryan flew the new 36% Aeroworks Edge 540. At the end of the day, Saturday, Amir handed out the Unknown patterns for each class and instructed that no one practice them. After receiving the Unknowns, it was clear that these would be the breaking point of the contest. These were the most difficult I have ever seen. My personal goal was to get a score on every maneuver-no zeros. Mike Kuper and I "stick flew" our respective patterns all night in our hotel room until we couldn't think clearly. Tomorrow would determine the national champion.

WINDS OF CHANGE

Sunday began the winds of change in the Advanced and Unlimited classes. The difficulty of the Unknowns really separated the scores among the more experienced pilots. In Sportsman, leader Mike Kuper flew a very smooth routine with the exception of rolling the wrong way on a humpty. Mike got a zero on the maneuver but still won the round. Dennis Welty from Boring, OR, flew a solid round and jumped from sixth place into second, bumping Tom and Chris down a notch. In Advanced, I failed to meet my goal and zeroed a two-turn spin by performing the maneuver out of the box. This opened the door for Ken to take over first with a very solid flight. In Unlimited, Bill Hempel Jr. flew the Unknown as if he had been flying it all year long. Ken Gregory stepped up to the plate and appeared to be hitting a homer when something went wrong. He missed a half roll near the end of his sequence because he couldn't hear his caller over an engine in the pits. Ken didn't realize his mistake until three maneuvers later and zeroed all three. Ken lost 150 points and the lead all in less than 10 seconds. Ryan Taylor held on to third with a very nice flight.