It’s July! We’re getting closer to the 50th Anniversary of the 1967 National Model Airplane Championships, which were held at the Naval Air Station in Los Alamitos, CA. We’re going to share some official U.S. Navy photographs pictures each week, until July 24-30, the anniversary dates of the event in1967, when we’ll share a picture a day.
Learn more about the 1967 Nats in the July 2017 issue of Model Aviation.
Cliff Telford and Lt. Bob Violett (Navy) pictured with their airplane. They competed as a team in Class B Speed. (Photo Credit: Official United States Navy Photograph. Source: National Model Aviation Museum Archives, #0001 AMA Collection.)
Members of the Valley Circle Burners (Photo Credit: Official United States Navy Photograph. Source: National Model Aviation Museum Archives, #0001 AMA Collection.)
Mr. Wildman having his airplane inspected, possibly for registration. (Photo Credit: Official United States Navy Photograph. Source: National Model Aviation Museum Archives, #0001 AMA Collection.)
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For more information on the National Model Aviation Museum, including our location, hours and admission fees visit: www.modelaircraft.org/museum
Where where “Valley Circle Burners” based at? Just curious. I remember watching an OLD kid’s show featuring aeromodellers flying at the San Fernando Reservoir.
1967 Los Alamitos was my first NATs.
Although my dad had the darndest time keeping his R/C planes under control, he taught me how to fly by just standing behind me and telling me when the airplane looked like it was flying right. At first I only had 1 channel with a rubber band powered escapement – Single Channel. Then, for Christmas ’66 I got my brother’s Hand-Me-Down 6 channel reed setup, he got Dad’s 10 Channel reed setup and Dad got a new Orbit 3+1 Proportional outfit. Then the NATS came to Los Alamitos – just 40 miles away. That was less than 1/2 tank of gas away on my Yamaha 80 or about 30 cents round trip. The “Round Trip” was important because I had a job mopping the floors at a Winchell’s Donut Shop every night near home and that paid $10/wk I couldn’t afford to live without at 16 years old. So even though I slept every night in the Navy Hangars, I rode my Yamaha round-trip each night to mop those floors returning to Los Alamitos to enjoy the camaraderie of the Championship modelers each night.
I entered 2 events that week. Class I R/C was Single Channel but you could have throttle control too. By 1967 Lloyd Sagar had taught the world how to use throttle and Up-Thrust to act like Elevator Control to do loops and landing flares. I hadn’t gotten that memo yet so I was still spiraling down to get airspeed and timing to do a loop. I didn’t win any trophies but gained a lot of experience flying in front of judges.
My other event was Class 3 R/C which was basically “Full House”, 4 Channels. But I only had 3 channels. I entered a DeBolt Pea Shooter which was a low-wing airplane with Ailerons. Except, since I didn’t have 4 channels, I locked my Rudder in place and flew with Elevator, Aileron, Throttle and Steerable Nosewheel that was connected to the Aileron channel with a “y” cable. Because I used that third channel for ailerons and not Rudder, I was forced to fly in Class III instead of Class II. I could do all the maneuvers except a reliable Stall Turn and even that worked most of the time.
At the end of the week, I had a great time, didn’t crash and still have a lot of memories. I went on to graduate High School the next year and joined the USAF for a 20 year career. Three years later, 1970, I earned my Private Pilot’s License just 3 days before heading off to VietNam.
In 10 years, I’ll tell you about my next NATS adventure. That time it was at March AFB, CA.
AMA41947
What great memories! Thank you so much for sharing. Would you be willing to share more memories by writing a History Project biography? We’d love to tell your story. Learn more about the History Project here: https://www.modelaircraft.org/museum/history.aspx Thanks again!
The ’67 Nats was a long haul for me, but the experience was wonderful! Some current friends such as Bob Violett was there (as shown in the photo). Unfortunately, others have passed…Cliff Telford, Roger Wildman and Ed Keck are regretfully no longer with us. It was great living on the Navy base for a week, and I miss those times. Some may remember the hot air balloons that were launched late at night, and the dynajet speed models that were flown after dark on base! Good times.
Dave Gierke (Novi III, All American Eagle)
My Dad (Mike) was a member of the original Circle Burners (club pictured above) which was a control line race club out of the San Fernando Valley, CA. I still have my dad’s Circle Burners silk patch that looks like and is almost the same size as the logo on the T-shirts pictured above. He became a member in the very early 70ies invited by his good friend Ron Duly. I became a member of the “Circle Burners” much later down the road after the Circle Burners name was “acquired” by the stunt flyers club at the San Fernando basin. I flew a lot of control line with my dad as a kid into my early teens but lost interest and didn’t return to the hobby until the late 90ies when control line flying seemed to pick up quite a bit of momentum again. I flew a lot of Navy Carrier events with Ron Duly, Tony Naccarato and Dave Dawson. I also flew a lot of stunt but never competed. Unfortunately, interest in control line flying has diminished quite a bit in the last several years due to a lot of guys that were keeping the hobby going are passing away. I haven’t flown at the basin (RC or Control line) in quite a few years myself due to moving out of the local area to the Antelope Valley. My dad recently passed away which adds to my lack of desire to return to flying lately. Maybe someday, I still have a garage full of models!
Where where “Valley Circle Burners” based at? Just curious. I remember watching an OLD kid’s show featuring aeromodellers flying at the San Fernando Reservoir.
Hi! The caption and information provided with the picture doesn’t provide any information on the home location of the Valley Circle Burners. But, we’re pretty sure it was a club based in the San Fernado area, and it looks like they are still an active club! See here: https://sites.google.com/site/valleycircleburners/home/valley-circle-burners-flying-site
If that isn’t the right group, here’s an AMA club search result that might be helpful: https://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx
Thanks!
Maria
Club still flys at the basin on weekends mostly.
1967 Los Alamitos was my first NATs.
Although my dad had the darndest time keeping his R/C planes under control, he taught me how to fly by just standing behind me and telling me when the airplane looked like it was flying right. At first I only had 1 channel with a rubber band powered escapement – Single Channel. Then, for Christmas ’66 I got my brother’s Hand-Me-Down 6 channel reed setup, he got Dad’s 10 Channel reed setup and Dad got a new Orbit 3+1 Proportional outfit. Then the NATS came to Los Alamitos – just 40 miles away. That was less than 1/2 tank of gas away on my Yamaha 80 or about 30 cents round trip. The “Round Trip” was important because I had a job mopping the floors at a Winchell’s Donut Shop every night near home and that paid $10/wk I couldn’t afford to live without at 16 years old. So even though I slept every night in the Navy Hangars, I rode my Yamaha round-trip each night to mop those floors returning to Los Alamitos to enjoy the camaraderie of the Championship modelers each night.
I entered 2 events that week. Class I R/C was Single Channel but you could have throttle control too. By 1967 Lloyd Sagar had taught the world how to use throttle and Up-Thrust to act like Elevator Control to do loops and landing flares. I hadn’t gotten that memo yet so I was still spiraling down to get airspeed and timing to do a loop. I didn’t win any trophies but gained a lot of experience flying in front of judges.
My other event was Class 3 R/C which was basically “Full House”, 4 Channels. But I only had 3 channels. I entered a DeBolt Pea Shooter which was a low-wing airplane with Ailerons. Except, since I didn’t have 4 channels, I locked my Rudder in place and flew with Elevator, Aileron, Throttle and Steerable Nosewheel that was connected to the Aileron channel with a “y” cable. Because I used that third channel for ailerons and not Rudder, I was forced to fly in Class III instead of Class II. I could do all the maneuvers except a reliable Stall Turn and even that worked most of the time.
At the end of the week, I had a great time, didn’t crash and still have a lot of memories. I went on to graduate High School the next year and joined the USAF for a 20 year career. Three years later, 1970, I earned my Private Pilot’s License just 3 days before heading off to VietNam.
In 10 years, I’ll tell you about my next NATS adventure. That time it was at March AFB, CA.
AMA41947
What great memories! Thank you so much for sharing. Would you be willing to share more memories by writing a History Project biography? We’d love to tell your story. Learn more about the History Project here: https://www.modelaircraft.org/museum/history.aspx Thanks again!
The ’67 Nats was a long haul for me, but the experience was wonderful! Some current friends such as Bob Violett was there (as shown in the photo). Unfortunately, others have passed…Cliff Telford, Roger Wildman and Ed Keck are regretfully no longer with us. It was great living on the Navy base for a week, and I miss those times. Some may remember the hot air balloons that were launched late at night, and the dynajet speed models that were flown after dark on base! Good times.
Dave Gierke (Novi III, All American Eagle)
My Dad (Mike) was a member of the original Circle Burners (club pictured above) which was a control line race club out of the San Fernando Valley, CA. I still have my dad’s Circle Burners silk patch that looks like and is almost the same size as the logo on the T-shirts pictured above. He became a member in the very early 70ies invited by his good friend Ron Duly. I became a member of the “Circle Burners” much later down the road after the Circle Burners name was “acquired” by the stunt flyers club at the San Fernando basin. I flew a lot of control line with my dad as a kid into my early teens but lost interest and didn’t return to the hobby until the late 90ies when control line flying seemed to pick up quite a bit of momentum again. I flew a lot of Navy Carrier events with Ron Duly, Tony Naccarato and Dave Dawson. I also flew a lot of stunt but never competed. Unfortunately, interest in control line flying has diminished quite a bit in the last several years due to a lot of guys that were keeping the hobby going are passing away. I haven’t flown at the basin (RC or Control line) in quite a few years myself due to moving out of the local area to the Antelope Valley. My dad recently passed away which adds to my lack of desire to return to flying lately. Maybe someday, I still have a garage full of models!