What do names like Cox, Norvel, OK Cub, Wenmac, Brodak have in common? They are all names along with a few more that showed up at the annual Carolina 1/2A Crew's flyin and Reedie Race! Yes folks there are still a few of those die hard enthusiastic small engine extremist out there who enjoy the challenge of having a tiny little glow engine screaming in their ear around 30,000 rpm!!!

What does it take to be a 1/2Aer you say? You must reminisce in the smell of glow fuel and burnt castor in the morning! A love of the small model engines such as the ones we grew up with on those plastic racers and warbirds by such well know companies as Cox and WenMac (Testors). Unfortunately today most of these screaming little beast are no longer made but plenty are still around to play with!!

The Carolina 1/2A crew meet came about I guess one would say in hyperspace. A group of 1/2A guys met on the RC Universe's 1/2A forum, found out that many were close by geographically and decided to get together and do some flying! It has grown in the last few years to include honorary members from all over the US and the world!

Roger Bond, one of the founding members has taken charge of the flyins and has graciously asked his local club, BARKS ( BURLINGTON-ALAMANCE RADIO KONTROL SOCIETY  ) for permission 2 times a year for this gathering. With two flying fields available we generally alternate with one field being used in the spring and the other in the fall. Rog   (Rog) provides the hot dogs and hamburgers will Raymond Lef  (RLeff) supplying the refreshments. Not a high tech arrangement but the may goal for this flyin is just to have fun and enjoy the camaraderie of other 1/2A fliers.

Last year the idea arose to do some fun racing to get the competitive juices flowing. We wanted to keep it simple and affordable to all as well as fun and challenging. With Cox selling their .049 reed valve product engine for around $7.00 it was decided to introduce the "Reedie Racer". The only limiting factor being the racer had to use a Cox Reed valve .049. All other aspects were thrown to the wing. Any design as long as it was safe and airworthy would be accepted. With that in mind several designs were built/created and flown to great success. Many of the fliers had less than $50.00 in their complete racing model! 

The first race featured several sleek and ultra fast models along with some older designs from the past. Heats were run between 2 poles approximately 250 feet apart. 5 laps per heat was found to be adequate with the standard fuel tanks on the Cox Golden Bee and Black Widow engines. All pilots are told 30 seconds before launch to start engines. It seems simple but sometimes the little engines give a bit of trouble and if you are not up on your cranking etiquette you may be left behind!!!

The winning phrase for the reedie race and all other races is "Consistency". Well proving during the first race with the slower older designs with proven reliable engines taking the trophies!! Again its one thing to burn the sky up with a super hot racer but, if you can't get it to crank reliably and fly the course consistently you loose!! This was demonstrated with Raymond's Eric Glutten design Skarkface. A 1962 single channel design that had rudder added. Not the fasted model there but every tine Raymond and Hfenn ask for them to crank they did and they flew a constant course around the piylons. A little Rivet design I modified from Owen Kaplan 1962 pulser design also did well. What does this tell us? Hmmmmmm.

The final flyin included a open class where any engine up to a .074 engine can be used. This class is for the guys with the hot Norvels, CS, VA, etc. engines to show their stuff. Some really fast models come out of this class. Very exciting to watch!

Now the Carolina 1/2A Crew flyin is not all racing. That’s just one event. For the most part is just a fun flying type of event with all types of models flown even electrified 1/2A designs. All are welcome to come fly their 1/2A designs. You can come and see some really great models, eat some really great? Food, and enjoy talking with some fantastic guys who love the hobby and 1/2A engines. So plan to come to the next Carolina 1/2A Crew flyin next year. Need directions. Get on the internet and go to RC Universe website. Then to the forum section. Finally to the 1/2A forum and look for some of those "handles" popping up all the time in the chat. Just dive on in and join us!!! See ya there!!!

Bob Harris