With flaps partially down, the author’s RV-4 is being flown in the Sport Scale class (Lee Ray photo).
By Fred Cronenwett
The storms moved out and we had great flying weather to finish up the AMA events and fly Round 1 of the F4B team trials.
The 1/2A Scale event is unique in that you can fly with one or more .051 or smaller glow engines (without throttle) and only need to takeoff, fly level 10 level laps and land. It sounds simple, but these smaller models do not handle the winds as well and the engines can be difficult to start.
Keith Trostle flew a stunning North American AJ-2 Savage, which is a twin engine post-World War II aircraft that is not that well known. Keith earned the High Static award and won 1st place by a wide margin. There was a 2.5 point difference between 2nd through 4th place. Our only Junior competitor took 4th place, but also earned a Best Junior award for 1/2A Scale.
Fun Scale proved to be competitive, as usual, with the flight scores determining the final results. This class included Keith Trostle’s TA-152, Pete Mazur’s Bearcat, the author’s SBD Dauntless, and Joe Gilbert flying Ed Mason’s DC-6. It was anyone’s game to win. After round 3 was complete, the pilots elected to fly round 4, to see if the final results could be altered. After round 4 was complete, there was a 4.1 point difference between 1st and 2nd place. Pete Mazur was in 2nd place and I was in the 1st place position.
Sport Scale placing was not finalized until the fourth round of the flight scores were added. Mike McHenry had the highest static points in this event but had some problems with his flight scores before flying round 4. Mike ultimately took 1st place in Sport Scale with me taking 2nd place. This is why it’s important take note of the other scores and what flight score you need to move up one position in the final standings.
In Authentic Scale, the race for 1st place came down to half a point between Ed Mason and Mike McHenry. With three entries, Mike McHenry had the second highest static score, but Ed Mason had the high static score. Going into flight 1, Ed had the advantage. After all of the flights were complete Mike McHenry took first place by 1/2 point over Ed’s electric-powered Constellation.
Team Scale has seen two teams competing for the national championship bragging rights for a few years now. Allen Goff and Mike McHenry have competed with the Extra 300 for several years and have done very well with it. However, Ed Mason and Joe Gilbert were flying Ed’s Lockheed Constellation this year and took first place. The particular Connie that Joe was flying has four .25 cu-sized glow engines and looks very impressive when it’s airborne.
Paul Smith had the only entry in Profile Scale with his Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV.
After all of the AMA events were complete, round 1 of the F4B Team Trials flights were flown (static judging was completed this past Thursday). Rounds 2 and 3 of the F4B Team Trial flights will be flown on July 14th. I will have full details on the results of the F4B Team Trials in my November 2025 Control Line Scale column in Model Aviation magazine.
Results:
1/2A Scale
1st - Keith Trostle – North American AJ-2 Savage
2nd - David Betz – Piper Pawnee
3rd - Paul Smith – Curtiss P-40
4th - Christopher Degroff – Grumman F4F Wildcat
5th - Bob Whitney – Cosmic Wind
Fun Scale
1st - Fred Cronenwett – Douglas SBD Dauntless
2nd - Pete Mazur – Grumman F8F Bearcat
3rd - Keith Trostle – TA-152
4th - Joe Gilbert – Douglas DC-6
5th - Ed Mason – Boeing B-17
Sport Scale
1st - Mike McHenry – Piper Cub -
2nd - Fred Cronenwett – Van RV-4
3rd - Orin Humpries – Boeing Stearman
4th - Ed Mason – Lockheed Constellation
Authentic Scale
1st - Mike McHenry – L4H Grasshopper (Piper Cub variant)
2nd - Ed Mason – Lockheed Constellation
3rd - Paul Smith – PB-2A
Team Scale
1st - Joe Gilbert / Ed Mason – Lockheed Constellation
2nd - Mike McHenry / Allen Goff – Extra 300
Profile Scale
1st - Paul Smith – Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV