A Short History of the Early Years of the International Team Racing Event

Team racing, originating in the United States, was taken up by European modelers and developed enthusiastically along with other control line events. By 1950 control line speed and acrobatic contests had been held on the continent to "International" rules established by the French-dominated FAI and team racing had been introduced to both Great Britain and the Continent.

As 2.5cc speed developed into a truly International event in the early 1950:s, many people suggested the inclusion of other events at speed contests. These additional events, if not on a World Championship status, were at least held simultaneously with speed and accorded a more prominent role. In this manner team racing was introduced on the International contest scene and, as the rules were improved, climbed to its present degree of popularity ranked as a fully developed World's Championship event.

In these early years team racing was most enthusiastically received in Great Britain, where the immediate post-war economic conditions were not so harsh as those on the continent, favoring the early development of model flying. In 1950 the British governing body for model aviation, the SMAE, introduced Class A (2.5cc) and Class B (5.0) team racing. The Class A rules were the prototype of the modern FAI T/R Sporting Code while the Class B were similar to the old AMA team racing so popular in the late forties and early fifties in the USA. The SMAE Class A T/R rules specified 70 square inch minimum wing area, model height three inches and model wheel diameter of l l/2 inches were also minimums. The maximum tank capacity was 15 cc. (half the engine capacity and half the fuel capacity of a Class 'B' racer) and the lines were a 42 feet length of unspecified diameter. Two British engines that were very well suited for Class A T/R were available at the time:

• The E.D. Racer 2.46cc diesel. A mass-produced engine that was very popular and exceeded our own McCoy 29 in commercial life-span and wide-spread acceptance. It was available from time-to-time up until 1970.
• The custom built Oliver Tiger Mk. I, popular with race car enthusiasts.

Dick Edmonds was a formidable British competitor, collecting many first and seconds during the 1950-1951 season. In these years British modelers had not taken their A T/R airplanes across the channel to compete on the continent so all the development and experience was confined to the British Isles. In those days a very good model would fly in the high 70's (mph, 120 km/h) at 35 laps/tank using an 8 x 8 prop.

1954-1959: International Racing Prior to the World Championships

The very first International Control Line contest to include team racing was the 1954 meeting held August 20 at the Hague, Netherlands --- indoors!

The British T/R team had to compete to the provisional rules established by the FLA, which were quite different from the SMAE rules and much more like the current FAI specification. They called for 125 sq. in. wing area (8.0 sq. dm.), a 10cc tank and 120 laps, equal to 10 km as a length for all races. Three teams per heat were also specified with engines permitted to be running at the "start" signal. Whipping was NOT mentioned and on the 43 foot (13.1 m) lines must have proven irresistible! Fastest heat times were 6:29 and 5:46 in the semifinals. The final found Smith (Great Britain), Janssens (Belgium) and Edmonds (Great Britain) placing in that order, many reed valve conversions of the steel disc rotor E.D. 2.46 were around but there was a two minute countdown to the "Start" and engines could be running the whole time. Some competitors didn't want to run the risk of a slow start and left their engines churning the whole 120 seconds on the ground and broke many homemade reed valves before the race started.

The winner of this pioneer event was Pete Smith's "Footprint", The best performance on the short lines was 40 laps at 82 mph (132 km/h) (the same distance as 33 laps on the present length). It weighed about 17.5 ounces (500 g) and set a pattern that has become a standard; wings from 3/8" sheet stock, l/8" sheet tail, inverted engine and bubble canopy.

The following year had no T/R at the C/L "Internationals" held in Paris. In addition, the French made many last minute or unannounced changes, making it difficult for foreigners to discover the location of the contest, much less prepare for it.

Some of the difficulty with the organizers was sorted out by the following year, and the Vll^thCriterium of Europe was held in Etterbeek, Belgium on April 30 and May 1st, 1956 with speed, T/R and stunt making this the pioneer of many three event contest to come. The new FAI rules called for the now-familiar 52'3" (15.92 m) line length, and specified .01" diameter (.25mm), but again made no mention of whipping.

The jury at the meet did, in fact, allow whipping for a while in T/R, but protests finally made themselves felt and it was stopped, increasing the average heat time by one minute. The final found the familiar names (in spite of rule changes) in the 4 man final. Smelt (Netherlands) (E.D. Racer, reed valve) at 5:45, Howard (Gr. Britain) 5:47, Edmonds (Gr. Britain) 5:50 and Van de Dyk (Netherlands) 6:04, Edmonds managing a prop change during the race!

In June of 1957 it was Etterbeek again for the VIII^th Criterium of Europe. Oliver Tiger was almost a unanimous engine choice, with the Spanish getting by with one stop. In the heats Britain's Mike Bassett was the fastest with 5:03, but he could not compete in the final due to the (then) rule requiring each finalist to finish both heats. Stouffs of Belgium won at 5:50 barely beating Spain's Gorgocena (5:51) and Fernandez (D.N.F.). Fastest airspeed was Bassett's 92 mph (148 km/h).

1958 introduced the present total area rule (186 sq.in, 12 sq.dm.), but still required completion of both heats, and four-man finals once again in force. Many good contenders were eliminated by running into trouble in one heat. Oliver Tiger again dominated, powering all four in the final. The present cross section and appearance rules were also adopted for 1958.

Whipping reared its ugly head with complaints leveled at the Italians and Italian and Belgian models required a very liberal interpretation of the cross section and appearance rules. Dick Edmonds' winning "Drag Master" claimed 93 mph (149 km/h) at 38 laps on a Tornado 7 x 9 and Oliver Tiger Mk III.

The problems encountered with whipping (was it wrong or right?) led the French and Belgians to push through the ruling for 1959 that explicitly stated "whipping is permitted" and the results of this ruling are apparent in the dramatic outcome of the 1959 meeting.

The 1959 contest was the 10^th Criterium and again held at Etterbeek. It introduced three man heats and strict enforcement of the height rules (flight between two and three meters except when passing). Many teams were disqualified for high flying and many more crashed as a result of not being able to control the model well when whipping. Three models had speeds of 102 mph (164 km/h) (.25mm ~.010" lines, remember)

Without whipping (hard, at least), outstanding models were those of Bernard (Belgium), the Winner with his Oliver powered Startiger, Rosenlund (Sweden) with the Oliver powered Miss FAI and Berselli (Italy), with a mono-wheel model which was wrecked during practice.

Whipping at his most, the Bernard/Stouffs' Startiger was good for 108 mph (174 km/h) and finished a heat in 4:27, making two stops. Models were whipped with dead engine for as many as nine laps to make the 100 laps. Rosenlund was disqualified for an oversize tank in the second processing (although not during the first) and so did not get credit for second place.

Important design trends were the introduction of metal pans, notably by Bernard and Rosenlund, the lone Italian monowheel design, and the use of spring steel or aluminum sheet landing gear in Rosenlund's Miss FAI.

Note: Team standings are based on the sum in seconds of the best 100 lap heat times for the three teams from each country. Any country with less than three teams returning a heat time is ranked next below any of these teams.

The third place team used a home built engine, the fourth an Eta 15, the first two using Olivers; Rosenlund flying at a constant 96 during a race, making two stops. The British won team honors for Dick Edmonds, team manager, all of the team using monowheel. The high speeds of the 1960 event prompted the introduction of the present .30mm (.012in) line diameter rules.

The 1961 "XI Criterium of Aces" at Genk, Belgium, showed only one of the top contenders using two wheels. Bernard was absent and Rosenlund won, using an engine borrowed from the Swedish combat flyers!

Oliver used again for all the finalists, Leloup and Lecuyer using a one-stop technique.

The second International competition was held in 1962 at Kiev, USSR, and saw many complaints of rule infractions. Nery Bernard got disqualified in both heats. Ken Long breaking a wing (again) and weather baffling most of the big names. The Oliver Tiger monopoly was broken by the modified Super Tigre G.20D's of the Russians.

The first place team made three stops, making the complaint of whipping seem justified. Airspeed of 102 - 105 mph (164 - 169 km/h) and 30 to 33 laps was quoted, which seems hard to believe without leading being a big factor. The third place team, disqualified in the finals in a very bad ruling, used a MOKI T/R 6, then the Oliver Tiger racked up the next four places. USSR, of course, won the team championship.

Rosenlund had a retracting gear version of Miss FAI and had gone to a Super Tigre for power. Rules stayed without change for the 1963 Criterium and the Russians continued their domination of the event, although few teams lived up to their hopes in terms of times turned in. The British fielded a team of one-stoppers that didn't, and the results were:

The 1964 World Champs saw no dramatic performance increase but as Kjell Rosenlund said "There are many more that can do it". Technical advances were the retracting gear of Magne/Malfait, France, which was a little cranky, and a portable engine warmer of Alseby/Hagberg, Sweden, which was invaluable during a very cold moment when an unseasonable front passed over the contest site.

Improvements in technique came in to cut pit stop time down. The high speed taxi of Dan Jones was just being developed and the audience loved it as well as the Russian technique of the mid-air catch. The very fast Czech heat time though, used only flawless pitting, very high airspeed kept up by strong winds and a downwind pass skillfully executed by Trnka in about one out of four laps. The sensational 4:23 was to stand a very long time in World Champs competition.

Besides being the first occasion the USA had made it into the "top ten", it was also Italy's best showing in a long time. The third place Fontana/Amodio had an "oil cooling" system. No fins on their Super Tigre and the whole engine was enclosed with an oil filled cowl that used the surface area to radiate heat. No air duct, of course.

In 1965 significant technical progress was made, the Russians did not attend and the landing lessons that Dan Jones had given in 1964 had escaped the Europeans. Måns Hagberg had an electrically controlled compression set-up actuated by a battery pack supplying power down the lines. His Eta had the shrink-fit multi-finned muff that later Stockton/Jehlik and then Ken Bedford of Eta were to copy. Due to an incredible foul-up in 1964 Stockton-Jehlik were not permitted to go, although they qualified, and hassles later. AMA sent "S & J" to the Criterium as a make up for missing Budapest the year before. The Eta they brought did not work well so they began the first of a series of excellent placings with a Super Tigre.

The 1966 World Championships in Great Britain showed the first appearance of pressure refueling which was employed on all the Austrian's Bugl (HP 15D) powered models. The continued appearance of remotely controlled compression by the pilot (Brendel/Glodeck, W. Germany) with a Webra Mach II, and also by a radio control receiver and servo activated by the pitman (Tolouse/Coste, Fr.) with a Micron 2.5cc. This latter technique was outlawed on a rule interpretation that relied on the section of the sporting code that says the pilot controls the plane in flight. Also showing up again were retracting gear models of Fontana/Amodio and Sundell/Sundell. This year the 200 lap final was instituted to produce a "better indication", but still only one second separated the first and second place teams.

The mid-air catch was outlawed and the rumors of Russian models with throttles that would permit a fuel fill with engine running at the pits went unverified as the Russians used conventional models.

For the first time, an American team won. Their fast heat time was a 1-stopper. Their low aspect ratio model Jefe stood out from the European designs.

The 1967 Criterium of Europe at Liege-Bierset introduced the 7cc tank and "S & J" came over from the USA to win again, this time with a HP 15. Two firsts and a second in three years with three different engines.

Pressure fueling gained in popularity, but the gadgets of past years (retracting gear, electrical compression change) had dropped from sight as had any regular one-stop racers. The winners using the scarce and highly valued HP engines did 87 to 92 mph (140 - 148 km/h) in the race with two stops. Without the Russians it was difficult to conclude too much.

Held in Helsinki Finland, the 1968 World Championships showed definite improvement in performance with the 7cc tanks. The Russians introduced shut-offs and a loud hailer to instruct the pilot; innovations to be widely copied in future years. The two-stop race was still the style and Stockton/Jehlik did it again! Predictably there were several Jefe styled models.

The 1969 Criterium instituted the semi-final system of races in which the nine fast heat times flew off in three semi-final races and then the three fastest went on to a 200 lap final. The Hasling brothers' HP did 100 mph (160 km/h) for exactly 25 laps for a fast time and they then were eliminated in the semi-finals in a crash. The resulting fourth place would have been a third under the old system, but now having one of the three fastest heat times would not assure a place in the finals. The Zolotervich/Kobets team successfully used the cut out (operated on the exhaust only) so convincingly that it would be widely copied in future contests. The popularity of the Eta and Oliver had waned and the new Bugl-designed Hirtenberger Patronenfabrik HP 15D was the engine to have. It is very fast and competitive in either two or three stop setups. Significantly the Russian "Own Design" engine had just begun to show its potential in its very early form.

Despite the 7cc tank rules times were very good, but the winner was an anti-climax of sorts, having only the ninth fastest heat time.

The venue for the 1970 World Champs was Namur, Belgium. The innovations were continuing to change in popularity. The retractable landing gear and in-flight adjustment of the compression completely gone, but pressure refueling and cut offs had expanded their hold and were de regeur. Glass fiber props almost universal.

The 'home made' or special engine also increasingly important but the surprises were the fixed compression engine of Parent/Kelly and the spring starters of the Hungarians. The fixed compression Super Tigre used a squish band shaped head and small changes in the amyl nitrate content of the fuel made up for the needed compression changes. In their only completed race they were badly under-compressed and not much to do for it!

The mechanical starter has since been outlawed but was quite a surprise at the time as it was assumed the rules did not sanction any outside help. The Russians went on to show you didn't need them, turning in a 4:17! This, at long last, beat Trinka and Drazek's 4:23 at Budapest in 1964.

The smaller tank still had people experimenting with the right number of stops. There were teams who regularly made one, two and three stops. Barr/Theobald had the fastest one-stopper which at 56 laps is equivalent to getting 80 laps on the old 10 cc tank! The three stoppers must be as quick as possible, close to 100 mph (160 km/h) and the crew must be very reliable on fast stops for the aircraft to be competitive.

Tactics, too, showed a little change. Since the introduction of the British-style semi-final race of nine contestants in three heats there was little need of trying to get the very fastest flight possible in the first two heats. So, if a good time was recorded in the first race which appeared to be a shoo-in for the semi-final, the team would pass a second heat chance to reduce the exposure of the model to a possible crash. Judging was generally continuing to improve and get more stringent which met with the approval of all modelers.

The XIV Criterium of Europe was, for the first time, held outside of the traditional host country, Belgium. Pecs, Hungary was the venue for 1971 and many were disappointed that such a fine contest was shut out by some Communist countries, presumably because the Hungarian economy is in good shape. USSR, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, and East Germany stayed away, making this a lesser test than it might have been. The Italians did not come and no new "ideas" were present. Fuel shutoffs a little less popular but pressure fueling almost universal. Great variety in engines, nine makes showed up including a new-design Bugl and a diesel conversion of a Rossi 15. With only 30 teams entered, the times were nevertheless respectable, with seven teams in the 4:30's.

A summary of the 1972 World Championship meet at Helsinki is not really possible for me, however I can add some tentative details based on the information at hand. The feature of the meet was, of course, the absolutely first rate Russian performance. Unfortunately the entry has again shown another decrease and, in regard to the number of competing countries and the number of Competitors the entry is down to about 2/3 of its high watermark established in 1964. This is unfortunate in view of continuing improvement in international economic conditions and diplomatic relationships and can only be marked up to the pull of radio control and the increasing difficulty in obtaining the required hardware for competition. Aside from the Russian specials and the ARM engine, the remaining competitors were between 4:37.5 and 4:43.2 for the fifth through tenth positions indicating no real improvement over the 1971 Criterium but a solid advance over the 1970 world champs.

In retrospect one can appreciate the enormous improvement in the rules and in the judging that occurred in these 12 years since the first World Championships in 1960. The improvement is due to the FAI and the European clubs.