Schultzie,
Thanks for the great pics of the early Chipmunks. Good sharp pics as usual, and the color is really good for their age (did you do some photoshop magic on them?).
The 3rd pic, titled "VanLoo in the staging area.jpg" is actually Mike Stott's Chipmunk. Notice the 17085 AMA number on Mike's airplane .. Jim's AMA number is 822.
Do you reckon the picture of Mike's Chipmunk was taken in '68 or '69? He flew it at both those NATS. My guess would be 1968. Notice the wide white stripes on the runway that appear in both your pic of the Stott airplane and in the Chris McMillin pic on this web site ..
http://members.zumatel.net/mdgretz/1968nats.htmSchultzie, were you at the '67 NATS in california? The reason I ask is that dating some of these old Chipmunk pictures from the '67-'69 era has been a bit of a guessing game. Most of the dates in my timeline of Chipmunk evolution are certain (
http://members.zumatel.net/mdgretz/Chipmunk.htm - are certain ) but a couple are "best guess" from Jim and Mike and myself.
For instance, we know for certain that Jim flew the Chipmunk in your first two pictures at the '67 NATS. There is a picture of the airplane in the '67 NATS coverage in the November 1967 Model Airplane News - see
http://members.zumatel.net/mdgretz/mannov1967.htm He may have also flown the same airplane in '68, but I don't think so. I believe he flew the airplane with the blue checkers on top in '68.
Another certainty is that Mike flew his Chipmunk in both the '68 and '69 NATS.
Both Jim and Mike are a little foggy about the dates at this stage in their lives (aren't we all!). Just recently Mike was gathering some info for PAMPA historian Wynn Paul, and he started to question which model he flew at the '67 NATS in california? He's not certain. He may have been flying his Phantom Foam Stunter a second time, or a maroon Foam-Flite winged Nobler, or the Chipmunk. If it was the Chipmunk, that throws off the timeline that we deciphered before for my web site.
Input from you and others who were there in '67, '68, and '69 are helpful. So check again on the dates of your slides and let me know what you find.
Mike G