October 1-2…Our 18th Annual Alamo Scramble burped and gasped and struggled to survive with minimal participation. The reality of the matter is simply a severe shortage of active members. Age, sickness and the Big Thermal in the Sky have taken their toll, but in addition to these negatives there is an even more important one (editorially speaking): airplanes are now more of a ho-hum subject than they have been in past generations, and with the passing of the FAC generation the aura of flying machines is passing with it. San Antonio is loaded with retired Air Force pilots and other personnel of a later generation that simply are not motivated in the same way as we were in the post-Lindbergh era. If these folks turn to model airplanes at all, they go directly to radio control types; ARF, RTF, and whatever are very popular. The appeal of our hobby as a demanding craft is not there. And our grandchildren do not see anything energizing toward our hobby after they have crossed the Atlantic three or four times at 500 mph or so. So now our hobby is surviving on the shoulders of scattered master-craftsman types, separated by distances of hundreds of miles and brought together at major meets with the help of the Internet. These guys (the gals seem to be even less impressed than ever) are attracted to our stick-and-tissue activities because they enjoy the sheer challenge of a hobby that demands so much but rewards success in a stunningly spectacular way. They are essentially highly skilled craftsmen, and not many have been professional pilots.

Here are the results of the three events that were run:

Old Time Rubber: First: Jim Thornton – Miss Canada – 284 points (best flight 100 seconds). Second: Rick Carnrick – Korda Victory – 231 points (best flight: max). Third: Allen Shields – F.A. Moth – 167 points (best flight 72 seconds). Fourth: Alex Techuk – 146 points (best flight 56 seconds).
Old Time Rubber Stick: First: Jim Thornton – Gollywock – 268 points (best flight 101 seconds). Second: Allen Shields – King Henry – 191 points (best flight: max). Third: Lou Viggiano – Gollywock – 179 points (best flight 67 seconds). Fourth: Alex Techuk – 174 points (best flight 82 seconds).
Jet Catapult Scale: First: Mike Fedor – Temco TT-1 Pinto – 57 points (best flight 22 seconds). Second: Mark Troutman – A10 – 16 points (best flight 6 seconds). Third: Allen Shields – Heinkel P-1077 – 13 points (best flight 5 seconds).

More about the Scramble: From CD Dick Adams: "We had a very nice day for our Saturday flying, steady wind at 5 to 7 mph, slightly cloudy and limited thermal updrafts. It was hot and sunny, and a few people got a little burn. There was a very good attendance by members of the Alamo Escadrille despite our losses in recent years. Not too many travelers from afar but Mike Midkiff and Charlie Hill did, coming in Charlie's Toyota pick-up, the back of which was filled with models protected by vast quantities of scrunched-up newspaper. Roger Moon was on board and flew in every event. Sunday was a repeat of Saturday except that no competitive events were flown."

From Mike Midkiff: "Seguin weather was quite good. The winds subsided later on Saturday and were a non-issue on Sunday. Lack of grass of any sort was intimidating (severe drought conditions, only one-third of normal rainfall….editor) This caused, at least for me, some restrained flying. There was some activity flying non-scale stuff on Saturday….Charlie wowed us with his Outrunner-powered scale Fokker Dr.1 done all in black tissue. It flies nicely with scale dihedral using a control line airflow baffle between top wing and cowl. I put in a number of flights with the somewhat new DeHavilland DH-2, Outrunner motor powered with LiPolys (batteries). (It) has the similar trim trick, using a span-wise baffle. Flights with this model are rock steady, and landing gear held up well (on) the concrete-surface landings. Sean (Tavares), Bruce (Finley), Charlie and I enjoyed nachos and margaritas at a nearby watering hole. It was fun sharing some of past Scramble memories Saturday afternoon. On Sunday Charlie put in some nice flights with his Fokker D-8 and Hansa Brandenburg floatplane, both CO2 powered. Bruce played around with his Zero and Ruski Yak ??? Nice to see Bruce's models again. I flew my Zero a couple of times but hard landings curtailed more flights. We had plans for two mass launches but damage to Charlie's Tony and a broken prop on my SE-5 rendered the mass launch event plans moot. I flew the Tiger Moth tentatively a few times with some OK flights but fear of landing damage kept me from max turns. It was sad to realize that the attendance was so poor! Jim Thornton was the only guy from the Houston area and myself the loner from Dallas. Even the San Antonio area nets less and less attendance than I remember. On a brighter note: Bruce brought along some sandwiches that hit the spot during our high-level building and trimming seminars conducted both days. To sum up: Great weather, great scale flying, and disappointing attendance...Mike"

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