Youngest????

[steve pagano]

     

     I was reading a previous tread about younger flyers and was wondering would any one happen to know who was the youngest person ever to win the nats? and at what age?


                                                 -Steve
                                         TIA

[Charlie Pate]

Good Question!
But lets be a little more specific.
Are we talking about Stunt? Hope so.
While were at it,How bout including the oldest person to win Stunt at the Nats too.
I would guess Davie Slagle or Eddie May for the youngest; and Bob palmer for the oldest( I said guess).
Somebody will step in with  "Just the facts mamm".

[steve pagano]

                                    YEP STUNT IT IS!
and just to add a little - any body know what the highest ever score was in doing the full pattern?

[Trostle]

     

     I was reading a previous tread about younger flyers and was wondering would any one happen to know who was the youngest person ever to win the nats? and at what age?


                                                 -Steve
                                         TIA

I am assuming that your question is who is the youngest to win the Walker Cup as the National Champion at the Nats.

There have been two Juniors that have won the Walker Cup.

Gerry Cipra in 62

Davis Slagle in 46, 47 and 48.

I am fairly certain that the age cutoff of the Junior category has always been 16.

I do not have any material that indicates the age of Gerry Cipra when he won.

The article in the April 47 issue of Air Trails on his Checkala Roma airplane that won in 46 (and I believe was used to win in 47 and 48 does not specifically give the age of Davis when he won that 46 Nats.  The way the article was written the explains Davis got his first model in 1944 when he was probably 11.  When he was 12, the article indicates that he was still developing his skills and had not yet built the Checkala Roma.  So, he would have been no more than 13 when he won in 1946.  He could not have older than 14 at that time or he would have been too old  in 46 to still compete when he was still as a Junior.

In that same Air Trails magazine was a one page article titled "Experts Bow to Youth".  That article stated that Davis was 13 when he won that 46 Nats.