Bob Gellar and his Electric Replica So Long

Bob Gellar of SAM 100 brought his little So Long to the SWR at Eloy, Arizona this January.

The Comet Kid

(Photo Credit: Mary Moskal)

Inaugural Electric Replica at Southwest Regionals

The first to fly Electric Replica at the Southwest Regionals at Eloy, Arizona. From left to right: Luther Peters with a Zipper, Steve Moskal with a 1940 Comet Sailplane, Bob Gellar with a So Long, Richard Dick with a Brooklyn Dodger, and Phil Pearce with a Simplex. Vic Newton would join the group a bit later with his Playboy.

 

Significantly, no replicas of a rubber design were flown. Most flights were taken in the morning on Sunday. Scoring was one point per second with best two out of three official flights.

And the winners of the inaugural Electric Replica event were . . .

 

First - Vic Newton with his Playboy
Second - Steve Moskal  with his Sailplane
Third - Phil Pearce with his Simplex

 

Bob Galler pushed his So Long past Luther for a Fourth
Luther Peters and his Zipper was edged out to Fifth

 

Sadly, Richard Dick crashed on a test and did not fly.

 

Steve Moskal and Vic Newton return from the flight line. (Note those ubiquitous comfy chairs for long flights) His Playboy almost earned a max on his first flight.

Vic earned this First Place trophy. The same style was presented to the Second and Third Place winners. Notice the SAM 100 logo at top center. An outline of the State of New Mexico with a petroglyph Roadrunner. These laser etched alder wood plaques really caught the attention of the crowd.













What We Learned

A 10-minute max time does not easily allow this to be an event loaded with fly-off potential.
These little models have real charisma and can offer real performance.
Because they are limited to a 36" wing span, you do not want to get them in a killer thermal. The chance for losing such a small model is a real possibility.
Everyone who entered had fun and vowed to come back with a new model next time.

The Comet Kid
(Credit photos to Mary Moskal)