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Are you an aeromodeler and
does your name happen to be Carl Hermes, Rolf Hagen, Robert Dunham, or Donald
MacKenzie? Were also you contesting in the free flight realm during the mid
1950s? If so, you might find yourself among these photos taken during the 1954
international championships held at the Suffolk County Air Force Base, sponsored
by now defunct Convair aircraft
company. All those young men are old timers now, as are the models they were
flying. Maybe one of these fellows is your father or grandfather. Print out
the photo and send it to him if you want to see a grown man cry. Take a close
look at the last photo and you will spy none other than Lt. General Jimmy Doolittle
taking part in the awards ceremony.
Here is coverage of the
1954 World Model
Air Olympics.
International Meets: Rubber Power Wakefield F.A.I. Free Flight
"Gas"
How's this for a beautiful free flight site? Suffolk Co.,
N. Y., Air Force Base was location of Wakefield & F.A.I. Championships.
Aeromodeling's 2 top events combined last season to produce Model Olympics
of the Air. Sponsor: Convair. Host: USAF
Swedish entry by Rolf Hagen in gas event flown by Mr. Hakansson
to 9th place with 10:01 total.
Ed Naudzius, Detroit, proxy-flies Wakefield by Don Wilson,
New Zealand (15th).
The United States won three out of four major events to take top honors in
the first World Model Olympics staged last season at Suffolk County Air Force
Base on Long Island, N.Y. The lone foreign victory was scored by Australia when
Alan King of Victoria defeated entries from 8 other nations to win the historic
Wakefield Cup for rubber-powered model planes.
The winner! Alan King, flying for Australia, scored five
perfect 3-minute flights to capture Lord Wakefield trophy.
Entry by Upson of Great Britain in F.A.I. readied by Call
and Parmenter, U.S. (14th).
Americans won team titles in the Wakefield and also in the F.A.I (Federation
Aeronautique Internationale) engine-powered contest, and a member of the U.S.
team, Carl R. Wheeley of Washington, D.C., took the individual championship
in free flight.
The famous Franjo Kluz Cup, emblematic of the world supremacy for engine-powered
endurance models, was awarded to the U.S. power team. This trophy was donated
by the Aero Club of Yugoslavia. The F.N.A. Cup, donated by the Aero Club of
France, went to the American Wakefield team. Twelve nations were represented
at the Model Air Olympics with more than 50 individual contestants on hand from
all six continents. The competition was sponsored by Convair Division of General
Dynamics Corp; the U.S. Air Force served as official host.
Fabi Mursep, Argentina (8th) in Wakefield.
Eduardo Benavidez of Argentinian team placed 21 st with
II :20 total time.
Cesar Altamirano of Argentina with Wakefield entry. His team
placed 5th in Wakefield event, 2nd in gas contest.
 American Entrants Capture Both Top-Team
Trophies
Winning United States team enjoys complimentary remarks offered by Air Force
Colonel Jack Bradley as the Air Defense wing commander presents the F.N.A. team
trophy at the Awards Dinner. This highly coveted group prize is given for the
rubber-powered Wakefield event. Team members who amassed a total of 2,404 points
were (from left) Robert DeBatty of Oaklawn, Ill. (738 pts.); Robert Dunham of
Tulsa, Okla. (835); Warren Gillespie, Jr., of Hampton, Va. (771); and Richard
Baxter of LaMesa, Calif. (798). At left side of table is the well-known cup
donated by the late Lord Wakefield of Hythe; at the right can be seen the fabulous
Franjo Kluz trophy which is awarded to the top performing group in F.A.I. power
flying. This team prize also went to the U.S.A. for the 2,204 point total racked
up by gas modelers Carl Wheeley, Dave Kneeland, John Tatone and Ray Lagermeier.
Top proxy performer in '54 Wakefield was Carl Hermes of
U.S. who flew Charles Jackson's model to 2nd for Great Britain.
Argentina team member Oscar Lastra checks out his conventional,
clean free flight. He used single wheel and sub-rudder skids.
Canada's Donald MacKenzie assumes a prayerful, hands-off
stance as he launches his rubber-powered entry. Don's total: 675 seconds.
Take one good model. ship it across the Atlantic Ocean,
give it to a proxy flyer by name of Hermes and here's the result!
1954 Wakefield results
1954 FAI Results
Among the celebrities from left):
Thomas Lanphier. Jr., president National Aeronautic Assoc. (and V.P. of Convair,
the Model Olympics sponsor): Lt. Gen. James H. Doolittle, USAF (Ret.); Queen
of the Meet, Joan Nelson with Frank Lashek's F-92 Dyna-Jet control scale (from
last year's AT Annual): and Keith Storey, president, A.M.A.
After getting off to a bad start and missing out completely
on his first two tries, U.S.A.'s Ray Lagermeier made· 3 perfect flights.
Familiar sight around the world of aeromodeling: Timers
put the clock on an official flight as contestants watch at rear.
Here's the Story: A King and a Queen
Australia's lone entrant in the Lord Wakefield competition, Alan King (center)
is crowned "king" of all international rubber powered model flying with the
awarding of the famous old blue ribbon cup. Five perfect flights of 3 minutes
each brought him the prized trophy. Standing at left is Keith H. Storey of
Pasadena, Calif., president of the Academy of Model Aeronautics and a famous
control line speed and team race flyer. Representing women in aviation as "Miss
Air Olympics" was Joan Nelson of Sea Cliff, L. I., an airlines stewardess.
Scene of presentation was the Henry Perkins Hotel, Riverhead, L I., following
the conclusion of the two-day Convair-sponsored Model Air Olympics. King, aged
26, was three times Australian National Champ, is an industrial chemist. With
a 5th place in the F.A.I. Gas event he very nearly became the first individual
to score a double win.
Manuel Andrade of U.S.A., proxy for Allan Lim Joan, Australia,
gets Wakefield model off to fine flight. Joon-Andrade placed 3rd.
Dick Quermann of U.S.A. with Great Britain model built by
William Rockell. This Rockell-Quermann proxy team ended in 11th place.
Posted March 23, 2014
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