21st Annual OSAA Fly In

Model Airplane News, Jul 1998 by Nelson, Jerry

THE QUARTER SCALE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA (QSAA) holds its annual fly in each October in its headquarters city of Las Vegas, NV. Last year, the 21 st QSAA was held on October 16 to 18. The QSAA group and president Warren Cross really do a firstclass (Las Vegas-style!) job of organizing and running the event. it seemed that everywhere you looked, there was a QSAA member directing, organizing, or running something.

On the first day, a show-and-tell/manufacturers trade show was held at the Sam's Town Casino; actually, the exhibit area was in the first level of the huge parking garage. Although the setup sounds unconventional, it worked out perfectly. The open sides of the garage allowed a gentle breeze to flow through the area, exhibitors parked right next to their display areas, and modelers unloaded their aircraft for static display very close to the display area.

Most of the 30 or so exhibitors offered products intended for scale and giant-scale applications. There was a good crowd of modelers in attendance, and the exhibitors seemed pleased with their sales efforts. Several long rows of tables held SO or so static-display models and offered ideal conditions to look closely at the models.

Friday and Saturday, under perfect flying conditions, were flying days at a dry lake bed about 10 miles from town on the way to Boulder Dam. The dry lake bed is very smooth and several miles long. Next to the flightline and pit area were the numerous vendor display areas. There were some additional vendors there who had not been present at the Thursday indoor activity. To the rear of the vendors were rows and rows of cars and motor homes and a few light aircraft that had been flown in.

Several efficiently run flightlines were in operation, and participants could have flown four or five times a day, perhaps even more, if they had wanted to.

At noon, demonstration flights were made by unique aircraft and vendor demonstration aircraft. Not only could you look at the products on display, but you could also see whether the stuff worked.

BEST OF SHOW

The model has a 70-inch wingspan, weighs 45 pounds and uses two AMT turbines lor power. The original aircraft was built in late WW It as a test aircraft for pulse jets and turbines. It was intended to be a low-cost attack lighter, but only 12 were built.

The model's fuselage is constructed of fiberglass, and its wing is built from carbon liber. An aluminum spar is used. A retractable, shock-absorbing, air-operated landing skid is used for landing; and a droppable, two-wheel dolly is used top takeoff. A releasable tailhook holds the aircraft in takeoff position while a bungee cord is stretched to catapult the aircraft. A split-rudder speed-brake feature is deployed to increase drag for landing.

The entire nose is easily removed to provide access to the radio equipment and, more important, to allow the starting ol the two turbine engines. The aircraft was flown twice during the noontime flying demonstration periods. The engines started quickly, and when the tailhook was released, the aircraft accelerated quickly and tracked perfectly straight ahead. At about 5 feet of altitude, the dolly was released, and immediately afterward, the bungee cord was disconnected from the nose-hook attachment. Climb rate was exceptional. It was obvious that there was a lot of power available. The noise level with both turbines going flat out was very low.

The aircraft appeared to be flying at around 200 mph and is fully aerobatic. Rolls, loops, knife-edge flight, Cuban-Os and several low, highspeed passes were easily accomplished. The landing was uneventful.

The engines were either throttled back to idle or shut off (I couldn't tell because of the low noise level). The twin landing skis were deployed, and the aircraft glided in to a smooth (somewhat fast) landing right in front of the spectators. Obviously, everyone was watching Jorg's flight. When the aircraft stopped after the landing, everyone gave Jorg a long, well-deserved round of applause.

An interesting note: when Jorg went to the las Vegas airport with a container to buy some jet fuel, the operator there wouldn't sell him the fuel unless he put it directly into an aircraft; the regulations didn't allow for model aircraft. Alter much discussion, an agreement was made so Jorg could buy 5 gallons of jet fuel.

Jorg Vogelsang, from Germany, flew his twin-turbine-powered Messerschmitt 328. Words cannot describe the thrill of seeing this magnificent example of world-class modeling. Andreas Geitz, also from Germany, demonstrated his huge Gee Bee It-2 powered with a Seidel 9-cylinder radial. Andreas proved that the Gee Bee can be flown flight after flight with complete control of the aircraft in all attitudes. The Gee Bee's landings were uneventful, and Andreas was able to taxi back to the pit area each time.

Many other interesting demos were made, including an excellent show by Dave Patrick flying his giant Tournament of Champions aircraft.

A formal banquet was held on the last evening at Sam's Town Casino. After dinner, recognition was given to the various people involved in running the fly in, and then the awards were given out.