August 4, 2024: CL Racing

By Paul Gibeault

Good morning, Control Line (CL) Racing fans. Victory is in the air.

Day one of official racing was greeted by perfect weather and a perfect flying circle facility. It was a day of victories as well. For many, just completing the long and arduous travel was a victory. For others, competing in spite of injuries and chronic health conditions was a victory. As always, it's simply a victory to be able to breathe the rarefied air at the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana, along with our many friends and fellow competitors.

Open Class 1 Mouse Race commenced with seven teams competing. After a late start, the first heat got under way and the newly formed Hempel/Gibeault team showed superior speed and range to win with a comfortable 2:49. They were closely followed by Greb/Bischoff in second with a 2:57. Father-and-son team Barnes Jr./Barnes Sr. retired in third with 49 laps due to a loose glow head.

The heats were run back-to-back, and Hempel/Gibeault noticeably improved to an excellent 2:33 with better pit work. Greb/Bischoff improved slightly to 2:52, and Barnes Jr./Barnes Sr. still experienced difficulties but finished in third with a respectable 3:13. It was noticed that most all teams were having tuning troubles today.

Heat two’s grouping showed The Can-Am team of Hazel/Gibeault leading easily with a 2:50 running rich. Mayer/Bischoff snagged the Barnes team lines on landing at lap 40 for a re-fly. Barnes Sr./Barnes Jr. earned a DQ at 19 laps for unfortunately snagging Mayer/Bischoff. The next heat saw Barnes Sr./Barnes Jr. winning with a 2:55, Gibeault/Hazel retiring at lap 48 with needle trouble, and Mayer/Bischoff retiring at 10 laps.

The last solo re-fly heat was flown by Mayer/Bischoff, who posted their best time of the day with a nice 2:42. It was approaching noon and all of the weary contestants decided to forego the 100-lap final race. Standing on their best heat times, the teams were awarded. First place was awarded to the Hempel/Gibeault team, second place to Mayer/Bischoff, third place to Hazel/Gibeault, fourth place to Greb/Bischoff, fifth place to Charles Barnes Sr./Chuck Barnes Jr., and sixth place to Barnes Jr./Barnes Sr. Lunch and rest were welcomed by all!

Open Goodyear followed with four entries. All forms of trouble plagued the racers. Today, my friends, the racing gods were angry. The only person to complete his heat for first place was Charles Barnes Sr. In second place was Bill Bischoff with 58 laps. Doug Mayer placed third with 50 laps, and Chuck Barnes Jr. placed fourth with a failure to start.

Finally, it was time to bring out The Clowns (I mean PDQ Flying Clown Race models, that is). Continuing along the path of Goodyear, the Clown racers experienced even more tuning troubles. Most all being powered by the powerful O.S. 18 TZ engine, it just wasn't their day. Charles Barnes Sr.'s model suffered from a leaky tank, and other maladies affected the others. Bill Bischoff's model looked well on the path to win when his pitman broke the propeller on a pit catch, only to find out that they had no spare! In a most unusual outcome, after the last engine burnt down and ground to a halt, Doug Mayer and Chuck Barnes Jr. tied for first place with 91 laps each. Bill Bischoff came in third (by a single lap), and Charles Barnes Sr. came in fourth place with 85 laps. This concluded day one in the brutal Muncie heat.

A big thanks to stalwart timers Sandra Lee, Charlie Johnson, and all of the other racers who did double duty timing and flying. Thanks also to Bill Bischoff for keeping the racing on track under very extenuating circumstances. Power by Paul … out!

Note from AMA: Do you have photos from the Nats that you’d like to share? If so, email them to Clarissa Poston at clarissap@modelaircraft.org. Please include a brief description in your email, naming any individuals pictured in the photo(s), the name of the event that the photo(s) were taken during, and the name of the individual who took the photo(s). Your submission(s) might be posted on AMA’s Flickr page, which can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/modelaircraft/albums!