The Schneider Cup aircraft would taxi out, take off, fly a triangle course around three 16 foot high floating buoys, land and taxi back. The tension was terrific as the crowd held its' collective breath as these one of a kind replicas raced around the pylons and when they landed, the crowd would erupt into applause. The judges would score each aircrafts performance for each flight of the day. These scores for each day are added to the Static and Speed Trials scores and the total represents their finishing position for the meet.
At the conclusion of the day of flying the giant Schneider Cup aircraft were transported to the convention center and put on display so everyone could get a real close look at these magnificent aircraft.
In the next three years, the Schneider Cup Re-Enactment would be separated from the London Bridge Seaplane Classic. Although wind would play an important part in these next few years, the event continued to gain popularity and we would add antique cars and period costume contests to the show. Bob Curtain from Scottsdale, AZ would bring his restored Tiger Moth vintage bi-plane up and let us raffle off a ride. The publicity of this event was not restricted to RC or model industry, but the state Chamber of Commerce would feature the Schneider Cup Re-enactment in their annual event for the state of Arizona. On many occasions we would see full scale aircraft make the trip to Lake Havasu and make flybys or if seaplanes, land on the lake.
The Schneider Cup Re-Enactment ran for 4 years. The city of Lake Havasu have told us that the publicity value for the city because of this event runs into the millions of dollars. The community gained publicity and income from the visitors to this event. Many of our current Desert Hawks RC Club members are here because of the publicity and community friendly attitude about RC and hopefully the RC industry benefited from the exposure gained from a prestigious event like this.
It is impossible to adequately express the gratitude we have for the contestants who created these magnificent aircraft and brought them here to compete and for all of us to enjoy. They thanked us for presenting the Schneider Cup Re-Enactment and without them, there would be no history to look back on. We thank them for giving us this history to look back on.
Schneider Cup Re-enactment 3How did the event go?
RESULTS FROM EACH SCHNEIDER CUP RE-ENACTMENT
followed the plan and soon everything was under control. With warm morning sun bathing the vendors display booths lined up against the hotel, the pits filling up with Fun Fly and Schneider Cup aircraft, the spectators, the palm trees, and grass, it was a very special sight.
Because of insurance and safety reasons, the entry forms required the contestants to declare that their aircraft had flown successfully prior to the event. The Schneider Cup Re-enactment required all aircraft to go through speed trials. Their speed was determined by scale, so all aircraft would have to be launched, taxi out to the take off area, take off and fly a two way course through the traps to determine the fidelity to required speed, land and taxi back.
Every aircraft brought to this event had been scratch built and its airworthiness unproven to us, so the speed trials were held on Spectator Point, a peninsula a couple of hundred yards away from the hotel and the spectators. We had trailers and tow vehicles to transport the aircraft to and from this remote location. Most of the aircraft performed well, but a few crashed during the speed trials.
The surviving Schneider Cup aircraft were transported back to the Schneider Cup pit area. We separated the Fun Fly and Schneider Cup pits, however all entrants could access any of the pit area. The pit area designed so that the spectators could get close to all aircraft. See below. This is not to scale, but you can get the idea.
The London Bridge Seaplane Classic fun fly aircraft would have open flying and the sky was filled with them as they would register for their time slot, fly and then someone else would go up. There were several flight stations, each with a Desert Hawk member to monitor the frequencies used and assist flyers as spotters or help if needed. We had two pontoon recovery boats should a downed aircraft need assistance. We divided the day into time slots, alternating the fun fly and the Schneider Cup aircraft.
As the event neared, I had the distinct feeling that there were going to be, not only a lot more contestants than we were use to, (The first event was the London Bridge Seaplane Classic and the Schneider Cup Re-enactment combined) but the spectator turnout may be huge. I had received phone calls from all over the U.S., and from Canada and Europe. I told the committee and the club members that we needed to prepare for a huge turnout.
The rules for the Schneider Cup Re-enactment awarded points for fidelity to scale, fidelity to speed, and flight realism which was divided into take off, flight and landing.
The Schneider Cup aircraft were assembled and judged prior to transporting to the Speed Trials. We had three judges of significant background and experience.
The morning of the event we had mixed feelings. We were ecstatic the line for registration went clear out to the parking lot, but we underestimated the turnout. There were more than 250 entries and as the day wore on the spectator crowd was estimated at more than 5,000 by the hotel management.
We were under the gun to get the event under control. True to form, the parking crew, registration, pit control, crowd control and vendor crew
What about the event, the SCHNEIDER CUP RE-ENACTMENT?
The Schneider Cup Re-enactment was a super event for several reasons. Because the aircraft subject was unique, scale and large it caught the interest of the media and public as well. Seaplanes themselves had little exposure in previous year, but these were the legendary Schneider Cup aircraft. When the magazines began including articles about the up coming event in nearly every months issue, interest went through the roof.
The concept was unique but be assured, without many talented people, their ideas, diverse talents, enthusiasm, organizational skills and hard work over many months this event would not have been successful. The polished event that looks easy and runs smoothly is one that the presenters have done their homework!
I have mentioned great events can gain a life of their own. Cliff Adams, Tom Easterday, later founded Unlimited Racing, Doug Wilbur, and Bo had an air show team that they mounted floats, added smoke and made a huge apperatus that released hundreds of red, white and blue balloons during the opening ceremonies and national anthem. They did this at their own expense...Thanks again guys. The mayor of Lake Havasu City dedicated the event and welcomed our many visitors and competitors.
To organize an event takes planning and people to do all the big and little things to make it all come together. Long before the Schneider Cup Re-enactment took on a life of its own; we sat down and discussed the event. The Schneider Cup Committee was formed from our members. This group of people were the best committee I have ever been associated with. The committee consisted of the heads of each of the primary departments, and they would choose their own team. Bob Lake would eventually CD the event, but his planning abilities were crucial to our success. How many events do you know have flow charts. Bob asked us for what needs to be done, why and when, we discussed priorities and we gave him the info he requested. Soon Bob asked me to put it into my computer and print it out. Those were the days of dot printers and you could print out a mile if necessary. The chart was updated constantly, but the main items were there for us to discuss at each meeting. The time line was set and each director would be asked the progress of their team. If any director's team was having difficulty everyone would pitch in and get that area up to speed. We had a schedule and we made sure everyone was able to meet it. As the event got closer, the meetings became more frequent. The meetings included every area from event publicity to parking layout and everything in between.
EVENT POSTER
The sponsorship negotiations did not look like they would come together for the first event, so I decided to go ahead a find an artist, commission him to create artwork for our poster. The poster would be large and full color and also be a promotional devise to show this event was special. I contacted Jeff Waldrop who had done other aviation art that I liked. Jeff agreed and we worked on a concept for the poster. Our event promotional vehicle was the Curtiss R3C-2 so that would be the primary
Jeff Waldrop perhaps thinking about next years poster
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image and of course I wanted the London Bridge to be in it. After several pencil sketches, one jokingly having the Curtiss flying inverted under the London Bridge, we agreed upon a design. Jeff did a fantastic job. The Curtiss looked fantastic and the reflections on the aircraft were incredible.
