General control line discussion > AS TIME GOES BYE
MEMORIES ON THE NAVY NATS- SHARE YOURS
Terrence Durrill:
My first Navy Nats was at Glenview Naval Air Station in 1966 or maybe 1967.....hard to remember as it was a long time ago and my memory isn't what it used to be. I was in Denver, CO that summer, flying with my brother-in-law and we decided to go the Nationals. We loaded our planes in the old 1960 Plymouth Valiant and headed Northeast. We had accumulated a good supply of Riley Wooten Combat designs....mostly foam wing Vampires with Super Tigre Combat .35's and Fox .36xBB's.....along with some Sneekers and Voodoos. I had been in the United States Naval Reserve since 1963, had some active duty and several two week training periods, so I knew staying on the base would be a blast. It was everything described above....the barracks beds with scratchy wool blankets, the great Navy chow at low prices, the all night building sessions in the hangers and great aircraft displays. I saw a British Vulcan bomber come into the base for a landing.......extremely impressive aircraft. The morning of Combat competition, we went out to get in some practice flights. Riley Wooten came out and asked us how we liked his Vampire design. He went on that day to win first place in Open Combat, flying his Vampire with a warmed up Fox .36xBB. By the way, if you never got to see Riley fly in competition, he flat out owned the circle. We also saw Larry Scarinzi fly his Super Satan. He was so much faster than his opponent, it put him at a disadvantage. In the first round, my brother-in-law put his Vampire/Super Tigre Combat up against the Nemesis boys as we called Howard's crowd in those days.....yes....they were wearing their cowboy hats! He went out in the first round........that Nemesis II.....what an airplane in the 1960's. It ain't bad, even today. By the way, Howard, how did you do in Open this year with the Nemesis/Nelson combo??? In other first round action, I put my Vampire/Fox 36xBB up against an Air Force team member and was eliminated when he took off my booms, stab, and oh yes, the streamer. This reduced us to spectators. The pressure was off and we could watch the rest of the competition. It was a great experience and one that you keep for a lifetime.............TDurrill y1 H^^
Dave Evar:
The closest I got to a Navy Nats was flying a Cox Spitfire, and trying to get the Cox Stuka
to pull out of a dive, on the apron at NAS Coco Solo, 1965. Well former NAS.
Dave
WhittleN:
Fellow NAVY NATS guys
My first Navy Nats was 1967 Los Alamitos CA. I didn't really appreciate the NATS as it was only 5-10 miles from my house. I went home every afternoon - no NAVY chow for me. In '68 the NATS was in Olathe KS I took a train from Southern California to Kansas City and my High School counselor’s family picked me up and let me stay with them until flying began – then I got to experience the full NATS experience. Yes those long tables with airplane after airplane. Even at 3 AM folks were at the table in the hanger working. The night before the Senior Stunt event I never did make it to my “rack” - maybe that’s why I crashed on the outside squares. The 45 MPH wind probably helped. Oh the camaraderie - PTG aka Phil Granderson rebuilt my airplane after the crash – as I was so disgusted. The wind picked it up as it was drying and slammed it into the hanger door. I stashed it under the workbench until Dave Gierke, Keith Trostel and about 4 – 5 open fliers came around asking how come I hadn’t put in my second official? Well the rest of the story is they made me drag out the airplane and they rebuilt it. Flying models had a picture of Keith holding the airplane – he was actually holding the tail on as the 5 min epoxy was not setting up.
Got to go on the USS Lexington in Pensacola that year - what a wonderful experience. The USS Lexington is now moored in Corpus Christi TX my wife and I had the opportunity to go aboard had a chance to relive some memories.
Norm Whittle
Shultzie:
Thanks for bringing back some of those memories...of the 67 Nats which was also the first time that my late friend Tim Dunlop, his son Vance and I had the "pleasure and pain" to attend as competitors.
Both of us shared similar moments under the lights of the hanger table..doing some late night repairs.
I "kicked" off the nose wheel pant of my Sting Ray during a practice flight the day before qualifications....and Tim busted off the entire aft end of his beautiful brand new custom stunt machine on his first OUTSIDE SQUARE CORNER.
Both Tim and I got lucky enought to make repairs in time to fly our qualification flights the next day...(however neither Tim or I made the qualifications) but NOT WAS ALL SAD' AND DUNG'...
We both were totally BLOWN AWAY AND TOTALLY ADDICTED to attend as many nationals as our paychecks vacation times could allow...from that year forward.
Sadly Tim passed this life all too soon...in the early 70's. Here is a shot that I have posted before...showing Tim doing an quickeee repair job...right out there on the Navy Tarmac...while I waited until that eve. to make repairs to my Sting Ray's busted nose wheel pant.
Thanks to a borrowed can of white Pactra dope from Gierke and Tim's left over tubes of 5 minute expoxy...both our stunt machines, lived to fly that next morning in front of that row of Navy judges.
Mike Keville:
Ah, yes, the REAL Nats...the NAVY Nats. Rotating around the country every four years: NAS Willow Grove, PA; NAS Glenview, IL; NAS Dallas, TX; NAS Los Alamitos, CA. (Earlier ones at NAS Olathe, KS.)
My first one: Willow Grove, 1953, as a 13-year old spectator. A definite eye-opener! After that, attended two at NAS Glenview...then on to non-Navy sites:
#2: Glenview, 1962. Flew two FF events. A/1 Ambroid kit 'Jetstream' maxed on it's first flight but the D/T failed, and it was last seen heading the the general direction of Lake Michigan. Flying buddy Dave Ek (yes, THAT Dave Ek) was 10th in Senior Stunt....and far from last). Saw Lew McFarland win Open Stunt with his Shark 45. Also took a great photo of 19-year-old Bill Werwage prepping his Ares, but the pic has been lost.
#3: Glenview, 1966. "Bagman" to a fellow from No. Ill. who flew Old Time FF.
#4: Lake Charles, LA, 1974. (Dare I say it?) RC Pylon Official (Lap Counter). Invited by LHS owner who was into that sort of thing.
#5-6-7: Muncie, IN...CLPA judge.
Anyone who's never attended one of the old Navy Nats venues has missed the show. The barracks sleeping arrangements, the chow in the mess hall, the ability to see FF, CL, ROW, yes, even RC, all on one site --- and let's not forget The Scale Cage (Scale entries locked behind a wired-in display area for days) --- K&B's engine repair depot...."miles & miles" of wooden workbenches jam-packed with models of every category, class and description...Speed guys test-running Dyna-Jets outside the hangar at midnight...
All I can add is:
Those who were there know what I mean. Those who weren't, well, I'm sorry you missed it. THOSE, my friends, were the REAL Nats. Oh...and the entry fee? If memory serves, something like $1.00 per event.
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