Brian O'Meara and Bruno Mary Win US Scale Masters Team Championship for 2006.

Photo Courtesy of US Scale Masters Association

Brian is a life member of Mile Hi RC and joined the club almost 40 years ago in 1967.  Bruno Mary is a new member of Mile Hi, but has been flying Scale airplanes for the last 10 years.

After placing fourth last April at Top Gun in Florida, the big Sea Fury wins the National Championship in team scale in Muncie, Indiana. The US Scale Masters requires that the pilot become qualified by placing in the top 5 at a qualifier. Bruno and Brian were fourth at Top Gun, so they were qualified. Brian is one of only three pilots in the country that has a lifetime qualification status, as he has flown in every Scale Masters since 1979. This is the second time he has won the Team Division, in three years.

The Scale Masters competition is divided into two parts, static judging & flying. The plane is static judged on the ground, from approximately 15 feet. Three judges are given a documentation book that shows the original planes factory drawings and paint chips. The plane has to exactly match the original full size plane in both outline and markings. The paint has to be the exact shade of the original and all markings in the same place, as the full size.

After the static judging, the plane is then flown in a prototypical manner for five rounds. The average of the top three rounds is then added to the static score to give the total score.

The Sea Fury earned a 96 static score, which is very good. There were however, four other models that scored higher. Two of the planes had a 97.75, which was a full 1.75 points ahead. Consequently, the team started out in 5th place. With this in mind, the flying scores take on an even greater meaning!

If you ever watch Brian at Chatfield, you will notice he is a very disciplined flyer. He always flies in a rectangular "racetrack pattern", when practicing his contest maneuvers. The decision is made early, as to the exact maneuvers the contest plane will perform. Once this is accomplished, the weekly practice begins. In this case, the practice paid off. Brian¹s flight scores with the Sea Fury earned Top Team flight round, Top Team total flight score and "The Most Realistic Presentation Flight " award.

Below are the top three winners:

Place Pilot / Builder Aircraft: Static/Tot. Top Flight/Tot.

1.    O¹Meara / Mary - Sea Fury 96 93.417 Total 189.417

2.    Davidson / Rutherford - Beach Craft 94.75 92.75 Total 187.5

3.    Rice / Newman - Storch 97.75 88.5 Total 186.250

The picture is of Brian and Bonnie at the AMA Flying site in Muncie, Indiana. Bonnie is his caller at most competitions.

The Seafury was designed by Jerry Bates with a 101 inch wing span and is painted in Cuban markings. The original plane was built by the British and then sold to the Dutch, who flew it during the Korean War. The Dutch then sold the plane to the Cuban Batista regime in 1958. It has a 250 CC radial engine from Airworld-USA and has almost 20 HP. It swings a 34X12 prop with ease. The retracts were custom made by Sierra Precision and it is guided by a 10 channel Airtronics radio. Bruno spent two years building the plane while Brian did the aluminum paint job with Bob Violett Models aluminum finish.