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NARAM 39…
By Ed O’Neill
NARAM 39 was held the
week of July 28th through August 1st in Tucson, AZ. The actual launch site was located west of Tucson in an area designated for R/C flying. Three members of C.R.A.S.H., Ed O’Neill, Bruce Markielewski, and Todd Williams attended the meet. Also in attendance were Ed and Todd Schneider of COSROCS. Their purpose was to compete as well as sell Todd’s fine assortment of competition components. The trip began around 2 p.m., Saturday, August 26th after gathering at the Williams’ residence to exchange looks at models and discuss arrival times. Ed O’Neill and Todd Williams would be attending their first NARAM with Bruce attending his fourth. The trip was NARAM officially Monday was “1/4A” |
 “A” SuperRocDuration turned out to be a letdown for all three C.R.A.S.H. competitiors. Ed and Bruce set their sights on large parachutes and small body tubes. Partial deployment and/or non ejection seemed to spell their day. Todd would encounter the first of many “engine problems” he would have during the week. Despite this, he managed a 95 second flight which was well ahead of Ed and Bruce’s flight totals. Unfortunately the top four places were minutes ahead of anything C.R.A.S.H. could muster. Monday turned out to be an impressive showing in “1/4A” HD and a major disappointment in “A” SuperRoc Duration. A special thanks should go out to COSROCS for hosting these events at PP or B Vll. Without their help, “1/4A” HD could have turned out to be a major disappointment as well. Tuesday was “C”
“E” Dual Eggloft
Altitude also had it’s moments with the C.R.A.S.H. trio. Bruce flew versions of his famed fiberglass capsule. Todd entered a standard design with a CMR dual egg capsule. Ed flew a Streamliner with an Apogee capsule. All three competitors suffered broken eggs, separations, lawndarts, and lost models. By the end of the day, no one in C.R.A.S.H. managed a qualified flight. Tuesday was most frustrating for Bruce and Ed as both failed to make a qualified flight in either event. Unfortunately for Todd, his qualified flight was not high enough to earn him a place in the top four. The ride back to the hotel was rather quiet es Ed pondered what he could have done better and Bruce realizing his chances for a national championship were slowly slipping away. Tuesday night was |
  Wednesdaywas “A” Rocket Glider Duration and “D” Boost Glide Duration (multi-round). All three C.R.A.S.H. competitors had various designs intended for this event. Ed used his modified Skyfish” design for DBGD and a Tom Beach design (Stratus 4) for ARGD. Todd used various sized Edmonds ‘Delties’ for DBGD with both an Edmonds ‘Ecee’ and QCR Folding Wing for ARGD. Bruce flew a scratch-built conventional boost glider complete with a beeper for DBGD and his ‘Pivot Pod’ glider for ARGD. Both Todd and Ed managed qualified flights in all attempts with various times. Todd managed to get the only C.R.A.S.H. “max” with a 2x Deltie that thermalled away. Bruce managed qualified flights in both events, but neither model flew the way he expected. Despite the good showing, not one member of the C.R.A.S.H. trio was able to obtain places in the top four. The evening held R&D presentations and a social to award trophies to the top four places in Monday through Wednesday’s events. Ed received a 2nd Place trophy for “1/4A” HD with Bruce receiving 3rd Place. This was a fine accomplishment for Ed and Bruce thanks in part to COSROCS as well as Todd and the other members of C.R.A.S.H.. |
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Thursday was “1/2A” Streamer Duration (multi-round) as well as a scheduled tour of the Davis Montham AFB “bone yard”. This single event was a welcome break for the C.R.A.S.H. trio. All three members used essentially the same conventional 11mm three- finned design. The difference was in the streamer size and folding technique. Bruce and Todd had stayed up the night before, making who Todd called a ‘C Streamer” to gain somewhat of a competitive advantage. This approach was rather unique in that when unfurled the streamer was curved like a C to create more drag. What was interesting was that when compressed, the streamer appeared to be about one and a half times its original width. It also appeared to have very large accordion folds designed to create more drag. This concept arose curiosity, as Todd somehow managed to get his innovative concept into an 11mm tube. Bruce had a streamer that was somewhat similar but had a longer rocket that eased the burden of insertion. Ed took the somewhat traditional approach using a 4’ x 40″ with accordion folds in the upper part of the streamer. Todd managed one |
 Friday concluded the competition week with the required flights of the Sport Scale models. The C.R.A.S.H. trio decided to “sleep in” and arrive at the launch site later in the morning after the majority of the other entries had flown. Todd flew first and had an impressive and qualified flight with his Estes Sidewinder. The pressure was then on Ed and Bruce who essentially went head to head. It was clear that both competitors were worried with different aspects of their models. Bruce seemed apprehensive about his recovery system which had plagued his model in the past. Ed seemed worried about flying his model for the first time. It was almost surreal as both walked out together went to different pads and prepped for launch at the same time. A large crowd gathered anxious to see Bruce and Ed fly their works of art. Bruce gave Ed the go ahead to go first, and after countdown suffered a burnout. Bruce seemed to wait patiently as Ed changed his igniter. After the second countdown Ed’s Black Brant II roared off the pad under the power of an AeroTech F26 for a textbook flight and deployment. Bruce continued to wait as Ed went to recover his model. Upon returning his model for inspection, the Sport Scale judges concluded Ed suffered no significant damage. |
 Bruceanxiously waited to see the condition of Ed’s model as an unexpected breeze began to pick up. Bruce continued to wait as a relieved Ed placed his model back in its container for safe keeping. After waiting for the wind to die down, Bruce finally gave the go ahead for launch. His model lifted off the pad under AeroTech E30-4 power and proceeded to arc over into the ground. Upon impact, the model broke into several pieces as many spectators began to run up to the model. Bruce then frantically picked up the model and proceeded to the back of his van to begin what would be a record breaking repair of a Sport Scale model. Todd and Ed helped locate another motor for Bruce while repairs were made. Bruce performed the nearly impossible as he managed to repair the model and have it flight worthy in less than 30 minutes. Approximately five minutes before the range shut down, Bruce ws ready to make his second flight. The model lifted off the pad again under E30-4 power, going considerably higher than the first flight After ejection, the parachute failed to open and the model fell helplessly to the ground. Again the model broke into several pieces and the flight was disqualified due to unsafe recovery. For obvious reasons, Bruce vowed to build a different Sport Scale model as his next entry. Although Ed was happy to win NARAM 39 Sport Scale, he as well as Todd felt very bad for Bruce. Bruce on the other hand was somewhat happy that a fellow C.R.A.S.H. competitor won the event. The awards banquet NARAM 39 was an |