NARAM 39...

    NARAM 39 was held the week of July 28th through August 1st in Tucson, AZ. The actual launch site was located west of Tucson in an area designated for R/C flying. Three members of C.R.A.S.H., Ed O'Neill, Bruce Markielewski, and Todd Williams attended the meet. Also in attendance were Ed and Todd Schneider of COSROCS. Their purpose was to compete as well as sell Todd's fine assortment of competition components. The trip began around 2 p.m., Saturday, August 26th after gathering at the Williams' residence to exchange looks at models and discuss arrival times. Ed O'Neill and Todd Williams would be attending their first NARAM with Bruce attending his fourth.

    The trip was relatively uneventful with a snooze at a rest stop outside of Soccoro, New Mexico late Saturday August 26th. The trip resumed early Sunday morning, August 27th and the trio arrived at the Roadway Inn in Tucson at around 2 p.m. After checking in, the remainder of Sunday afternoon was devoted to familiarizing themselves with their new surroundings as well as finishing up last minute details on their sport scale models.

    NARAM officially began Sunday evening with registration, the competition forum, as well as the required turn in of Sport Scale and Research and Development (R&D) projects. Bruce entered his NARAM 38 first place flying replica of a lunar module and an R&D Report on his six bladed helicopter design. Ed entered a scratch built 1/6th scale Black Brant II and an R&D Report on broadcasting a NARAM for television. Todd Williams entered an Estes Sidewinder and did not submit an R&D entry. The quality of the sport scale entries was average with a few finely C.R.A.S.H.ed birds along with your run of the mill night before "throw togethers". You can say that all three Colorado entries clearly stood out in their own unique and individual ways. Some models worth noting were a nicely constructed Estes Saturn V team entry, an assortment of different sized V-2's, a nice Terrier Black Brant VC, as well as a brave attempt at a Russian Vostok by a B Division contestant. After setting up and viewing the other entries Bruce, Ed, and Todd all retired to begin the week long competition.

    Monday was "1/4A" Helicopter Duration and "A" SuperRoc Duration. The 30 minute drive out to the launch site included a ride though a steep mountain pass eventually leveling off to relatively flat dessert terrain. The site was somewhat similar to the new COSROCS site in that it was an R/C park with a permanent ramada which provided very welcome shade to all who needed it along with a wide open expanse for model recovery. All three C.R.A.S.H. members had different strategies for "1/4A" HD and approached the event with relative confidence. Bruce used his unique six bladed Psyclone model which, to say the least, is an engineering marvel. Ed used a Rotoroc/Rose-a-Roc hybrid which had previously set a national record in "1/4A" HD. Todd used a Rose-a-roc style model that flew well at PP or Blast Vll. David Klouser had the best flight of the day (77 sec) and the best two flight total (97 sec) to take 1st place in the event. Ed O'Neill had two flights of 39 and 40 seconds that earned him 2nd place. Bruce took 3rd place with 21 and 34 second flights and Todd managed a 20 second flight for a respectable 8th Place.

    "A" SuperRoc Duration turned out to be a letdown for all three C.R.A.S.H. competitiors. Ed and Bruce set their sights on large parachutes and small body tubes. Partial deployment and/or non ejection seemed to spell their day. Todd would encounter the first of many "engine problems" he would have during the week. Despite this, he managed a 95 second flight which was well ahead of Ed and Bruce's flight totals. Unfortunately the top four places were minutes ahead of anything C.R.A.S.H. could muster. Monday turned out to be an impressive showing in "1/4A" HD and a major disappointment in "A" SuperRoc Duration. A special thanks should go out to COSROCS for hosting these events at PP or B Vll. Without their help, "1/4A" HD could have turned out to be a major disappointment as well.

    Tuesday was "C" Cluster Altitude and "E" Dual Eggloft Altitude. As expected, Tuesday was by far the most difficult of the entire week. Bruce flew a homemade fiberglass contraption that looked like something out of a science fiction novel. Ed flew a modified version of a Dan Wolf "C" Cluster design. Todd managed to put together a Dan Wolf design with help from Bruce, Monday night. Bruce's model careened off the pad and took out a V-2 on the sport range. He then lost his second model, although it was successfully tracked. Ed had a first flight that had a center tube failure, causing the model to crash. His second flight was straight and true only to separate at ejection and come crashing to the ground. Todd had the one qualified flight of the trio which is a feat in itself.

    Wednesday was "A" Rocket Glider Duration and "D" Boost Glide Duration (multi-round). All three C.R.A.S.H. competitors had various designs intended for this event. Ed used his modified Skyfish" design for DBGD and a Tom Beach design (Stratus 4) for ARGD. Todd used various sized Edmonds 'Delties' for DBGD with both an Edmonds 'Ecee' and QCR Folding Wing for ARGD. Bruce flew a scratch-built conventional boost glider complete with a beeper for DBGD and his 'Pivot Pod' glider for ARGD. Both Todd and Ed managed qualified flights in all attempts with various times. Todd managed to get the only C.R.A.S.H. "max" with a 2x Deltie that thermalled away. Bruce managed qualified flights in both events, but neither model flew the way he expected. Despite the good showing, not one member of the C.R.A.S.H. trio was able to obtain places in the top four. The evening held R&D presentations and a social to award trophies to the top four places in Monday through Wednesday's events. Ed received a 2nd Place trophy for "1/4A" HD with Bruce receiving 3rd Place. This was a fine accomplishment for Ed and Bruce thanks in part to COSROCS as well as Todd and the other members of C.R.A.S.H..

    Thursday was "1/2A" Streamer Duration (multi-round) as well as a scheduled tour of the Davis Montham AFB "bone yard". This single event was a welcome break for the C.R.A.S.H. trio. All three members used essentially the same conventional 11mm three- finned design. The difference was in the streamer size and folding technique. Bruce and Todd had stayed up the night before, making who Todd called a 'C Streamer" to gain somewhat of a competitive advantage. This approach was rather unique in that when unfurled the streamer was curved like a C to create more drag. What was interesting was that when compressed, the streamer appeared to be about one and a half times its original width. It also appeared to have very large accordion folds designed to create more drag. This concept arose curiosity, as Todd somehow managed to get his innovative concept into an 11mm tube. Bruce had a streamer that was somewhat similar but had a longer rocket that eased the burden of insertion. Ed took the somewhat traditional approach using a 4' x 40" with accordion folds in the upper part of the streamer.

    Todd managed one qualified flight and suffered more engine problems. Bruce encountered his share of problems but managed a max and a near max flight. Ed maxed his first two flights and nearly maxed a third. By the end of the day, Ed managed to capture 3rd Place. In this very competitive event 12 seconds separated the top four places. Thursday night concluded with oral presentations for R&D as well as Sport Scale display to the public. Neither Bruce nor Ed were invited to make an oral presentation for the judges. However, both did receive flight points for their entries. The static standings for Sport Scale placed Bruce 1st overall in C Division with 720 points followed by Ed in 2nd Place with 680 points. Todd was further down in the field with a respectable 400 points. Overall, C.R.A.S.H. had a fine showing in Sport Scale, the result of countless hours constructing scale models.

    Friday concluded the competition week with the required flights of the Sport Scale models. The C.R.A.S.H. trio decided to "sleep in" and arrive at the launch site later in the morning after the majority of the other entries had flown. Todd flew first and had an impressive and qualified flight with his Estes Sidewinder. The pressure was then on Ed and Bruce who essentially went head to head. It was clear that both competitors were worried with different aspects of their models. Bruce seemed apprehensive about his recovery system which had plagued his model in the past. Ed seemed worried about flying his model for the first time. It was almost surreal as both walked out together went to different pads and prepped for launch at the same time. A large crowd gathered anxious to see Bruce and Ed fly their works of art. Bruce gave Ed the go ahead to go first, and after countdown suffered a burnout. Bruce seemed to wait patiently as Ed changed his igniter. After the second countdown Ed's Black Brant II roared off the pad under the power of an AeroTech F26 for a textbook flight and deployment. Bruce continued to wait as Ed went to recover his model. Upon returning his model for inspection, the Sport Scale judges concluded Ed suffered no significant damage.

    Bruce anxiously waited to see the condition of Ed's model as an unexpected breeze began to pick up. Bruce continued to wait as a relieved Ed placed his model back in its container for safe keeping. After waiting for the wind to die down, Bruce finally gave the go ahead for launch. His model lifted off the pad under AeroTech E30-4 power and proceeded to arc over into the ground. Upon impact, the model broke into several pieces as many spectators began to run up to the model. Bruce then frantically picked up the model and proceeded to the back of his van to begin what would be a record breaking repair of a Sport Scale model. Todd and Ed helped locate another motor for Bruce while repairs were made. Bruce performed the nearly impossible as he managed to repair the model and have it flight worthy in less than 30 minutes. Approximately five minutes before the range shut down, Bruce ws ready to make his second flight. The model lifted off the pad again under E30-4 power, going considerably higher than the first flight After ejection, the parachute failed to open and the model fell helplessly to the ground. Again the model broke into several pieces and the flight was disqualified due to unsafe recovery. For obvious reasons, Bruce vowed to build a different Sport Scale model as his next entry. Although Ed was happy to win NARAM 39 Sport Scale, he as well as Todd felt very bad for Bruce. Bruce on the other hand was somewhat happy that a fellow C.R.A.S.H. competitor won the event.

    The awards banquet was held Friday evening to award trophies for the remaining events, NARAM Champions, as well as the Contest Year Champions. Ed received a 3rd Place trophy for "1/2A" Streamer Duration as well as a 1st Place trophy for Sport Scale. Ed also ended up in a tie for 3rd Place with Peter Always for the NARAM Championship. Bruce was awarded 4th Place for the Contest Year Championship for having the 4th highest point total. This was the result of a lot of hard work on the part of Bruce. He was also the recipient of the "Best Midwest Qualified Flight" trophy. He was nominated twice for this award - once for his "6C" Custer crashing into a V-2, and a second time for both his LEM flights.

    NARAM 39 was an interesting and intense experience for all the competitors. It is an ideal way to participate in competition as well as pick up new techniques and ideas!