Howard, tell us about the Nemistunt?

Lake Charles 1975, didn't you enter a tri-geared Nemistunt in PA?

Howard, I understand how you might have missed this, especially as your wife is out of town and so you may have burned the house down by now trying to boil eggs for dinner.

Still, I'm thinking there's a pretty funny story here even if Zeke got name of entrant wrong.

Please, please, please tell story in same way it was told in the past. You know, back when we were flying Combat, thought Stunt Guys were girls, that most of PW's trim problems were related to fly specks on leading edge. (Ooops, major error in the timeline; but you know what I mean.)

No. Kit Gerhart did. He figured that a no-flap airplane with a light wing loading using a bladder tank and a K&B .40 turning a low-pitch prop would be a good stunter.

>No. Kit Gerhart did. He figured that a no-flap airplane
>with a light wing loading using a bladder tank and a K&B .40
>turning a low-pitch prop would be a good stunter.

**That's *not* the story!! You are such a wuss...

Look, you ain't never gonna make the Top Twenty, 21st in 2003, 30th in 2004 shows a trend which ought allow you to freely and without any angst whatsoever tell those who have not yet heard it a very funny story.

If you don't, I might*. And you know how I love to embellish this sort of stuff.

You're gonna lose no matter what on this deal. Better it be by your own hand.

Dan

P.S. *Changed my mind. It's your story, won't steal it this time. But PTG might, so get on with it.

>Look, you ain't never gonna make the Top Twenty, 21st in
>2003, 30th in 2004 shows a trend which ought allow you to
>freely and without any angst whatsoever tell those who have
>not yet heard it a very funny story.
>

Ahem, might want to check Howard's 2003 finishing place again. Of course, the apparent slope increases if you get the *right* place.

I would, for fairness, take all finising places outside the top 10 and divide by about 2.5 to 3, to get where it would have been in a normal year.

>
>>Look, you ain't never gonna make the Top Twenty, 21st in
>>2003, 30th in 2004 shows a trend which ought allow you to
>>freely and without any angst whatsoever tell those who have
>>not yet heard it a very funny story.
>>
>
> Ahem, might want to check Howard's 2003 finishing place
>again. Of course, the apparent slope increases if you get
>the *right* place.
>
> I would, for fairness, take all finising places outside
>the top 10 and divide by about 2.5 to 3, to get where it
>would have been in a normal year.
>
> Brett

Brett,

You caught me out on this one.

But desired result is having Howard tell the story. If I have to lie, cheat, issue threats and spread misinformation, that's what I'll do.

Still, I think he has already wussed on this deal...

Yeah it was Howard, he was there in Lake Charles. So he can't deny being there.

I was the junior kid in combat, down to my last plane, a Ringmaster with 36X, he loaned me a tapped backplate and set me up on pressure. Then he asked me if I 'could fly inverted 3 feet off the ground' How could I forget this?

There were the buzzard T- shirts, and someone had a shirt the AMA asked them to remove, seems it offended some R/C people, something about eating something and flying R/C....

Kit was actually making a serious attempt at flying stunt, but a couple of us did make some mischief. It was the days of white pants, so I acquired some stunt attire for Kit to wear. I also cost him his appearance points by attaching a streamer to his airplane during an official flight.

It was somebody else, though, who entered the slow combat plane. That was a protest in retaliation for some injustice he had suffered at a previous Nats.

Dan,
Howard has made some points here that don't add up to a complete story, but interesting nonetheless. His vague references to "injustices" and "stunt attire" do titilate, but I'm still not seeing a complete tale (streamer pun here of course) of stunt legend.
Come on, just tell it.
Chris...

Nope. I'd love to, but as I was not actually at this Nationals, my version is as funny as it might (possibly) be inaccurate.

I do believe Howard made reference to the time he entered Slow Combat with, um, an unusual model. And wore a clown suit.

Sorry...

I see.
Well, then I'll wait until he wants to spill the beans. What a build up.
Chris...

LAST EDITED ON Aug-09-04 AT 09:52 PM (CDT)
 
I do recall photos of a clown suit, but not the the circumstances.

Edit -I just Googled 'Howard Rush clown suit' and found this

That's why you should never, ever, wear a clown suit.
-- Howard Rush

  This lifted off Prestons site

There was an incident at a Lincoln Nats involving split flaps, a clown suit, and slow combat. It was the same principle: When you pay your entry fee to fly an event, you have considerable latitude as to how to go about it. It started with the Cow.

I went through a period of enthusiasm for split flaps. These are flaps that stick out of the bottom of a wing at 80% chord or so. The last 20% of the wing remains in its normal position. The flap is an appendage, like an upside-down spoiler, rather than being a hinged aft part of the wing. They have a lot of lift, but they also have a whole lot of drag. Dive bombers used them.

The Cow was my first attempt at making a foam wing. I finished the wing and didn't have an application for it, so I attached it to the top of a profile fuselage. I glued on some fixed, split flaps. I don't remember whether the flaps were on the top of the wing or the bottom. The resultant Cow would fly very slowly and turn tight loops in one direction. This inspired the plan: to wit, I would equip a Flite Streak with triangular cross-section moveable flaps, hinged to the TE as on a stunt plane. This gave the equivalent of a split flap in either direction, so I could turn tight inside and outside loops while maintaining a pretty constant 10 mph (approx) airspeed. Next, I would use enough fuel to last the whole flight. I assumed other people would need to make a pit stop. I would remain out of danger within a couple of feet of the ground--preferably inverted-- and win on air time.

I lost my only match. First, I forgot that I had to take off upright before I could turn inverted. My opponent, who was a really good flyer, got a cut while I was in transition. Then my engine stopped. I was then a cut and some air time behind. I needed at least one cut, but felt like I was on foot chasing a motorcycle. I gave up, but my opponent remained vigilant for the rest of the match, thinking I had something up my clown-suit sleeve.

The clown suit is another story, but I wore it at that Nats to add to the mystique of the split flaps.