Let me introduce our latest Associate Vice President (AVP) for Colorado, Sean McEntee. Sean was recommended by National Free Flight (FF) Society President Dave Lindley, so I drafted him for his expertise in FF. It is important to make sure that all aspects of our hobby are represented. Here are a few words from Sean:
I look forward to doing what I can for District IX. I represent a great bunch of people whose passion is FF, and I have close ties to folks who fly Control Line. FFers have at least one monthly "Scramble," plus several large contests, including a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale event throughout the year. We also work with the Science Olympiad each spring, culminating in the Colorado State competition in April.
My first contribution covers our Indoor Scramble, held in January at Manitou Springs High School, which was the first Scramble of 2025. Eight fliers entered the traditional contest, in which fliers enter any event (e.g., P-18, Hand-Launch Glider, etc.) and are scored against local club records for that event. Additionally, each contest holds a featured event. The featured event for this January was No-Cal (Profile) Scale, with four fliers entered.
At the top of the No-Cal heap was David Aronstein, with his fantastic Mr. Smoothie Thompson Trophy racer. It is a great performer. Tom Norell placed a close second with his SBD Dauntless. Following Tom was Don DeLoach with his Farman Mostique. Bringing up the rear was yours truly with a rendition of Paul Bradley’s B-25 plans. This model has been more of a technical challenge than a competitive model (and who doesn’t love bombers?). It features counter-rotating propellers and scale-length motor sticks. With a little propeller experimentation, this model should be able to crack the 1-minute barrier. An honorable mention was John McGrath’s great-looking Spitfire.
For the Scramble, Chuck Etherington and Frank Menanno battled for top honors, with Chuck besting Frank in P-18. Other highlights included David Aronstein test-flying his Cabin model. David’s models are world-class, and it is always a treat to watch his ultra-light models in action. Newcomer Butch Berlemann, making quantifiable improvement with each outing, brought out his well-executed Lacy M-10 Peanut. Props (no pun intended) go out to Don DeLoach and Tom Norell for helping Butch get his model trimmed out. Butch’s enthusiasm and hunger for knowledge is great to watch, and he will soon be a factor at contests.
South Dakota AVP Zac Roller took a hand-me-down Byron AT-6 and did a complete makeover! The AT-6 is now powered by two 12S batteries in parallel running through a Tribunus ESC to a Dualsky GA6000 motor. After removing the old covering and getting back to the fiberglass, he added a battery hatch in the nose, scalelike hinging, a tailwheel, as well as the new paint scheme you see here. Zac said the new electric configuration gives power to spare and really makes it a performer. The original retracts are anything but dependable, so if anyone has a solution for electric retracts in this size, please send him information.