1929 R N Bullock, 36, GB

Attending the July 14, 1929 Wakefield International Cup Contest at Halton Aerodrome were two Americans who won as a Grand Prize all expenses paid trips to Europe by becoming the "USA Nationals" Indoor and Outdoor Champions in 1928. They were Joe Culver, of Oakland, California who won the Indoor Championships, and Don Bumham, of West Laffyette, Indiana who won the Outdoor Championships. They brought with them Wakefields, which were unique, in that these aeromodels were made entirely of "balsa wood". Actually these were Cabin models which conformed to the USA Rules, but had been converted to the Wakefield Rules. These Wakefield's were very light, weighing less then three
ounces, including the rubber motor. The airframes of these American Wakefields were covered with Japanese tissue, which was lightly doped with nitrate lacquer. The uniqueness of these American Wakefield's was in contrasting them to the typical Wakefield flown by Team GB, which were made of hardwood, steel wire, and were covered with silk cloth. The overall weight of these English Wakefields was over nine ounces!

That the Americans failed to place in the 1929 Wakefield International Cup Contest is less important to history, than the knowledge they brought back with them to America:

First: They learned of the importance of the Wakefield International Cup event as a truly prestigious international aeromodelling event.

Second: They now had the knowledge of the type of aeromodel it would take to win the Wakefield International Cup Contest within the SMAE Wakefield Rules, and they could impart this knowledge to others.

Third: They had made lifelong friends with other aeromodellers in Europe, and now shared a common interest with them in the Wakefield International Cup event.

Fourth: They paved the path, followed to this day, by all of the American Wakefield aeromodellers that came after them.

In 1930 two more American Indoor and Outdoor Champions took the path paved by Joe and Don. These Americans would return home for the first time in History with "The Cup"!

In 1929 flying a low winged hardwood and steel wire Wakefield made and flown by R N Bullock who had been on the 1928 team GB, and had placed second, won the Wakefield International Cup. This was the first, and the last time a low winged, geared Wakefield would win " The Cup". R N Bullock's winning time, for the longest flight in the contest was 70.4 seconds.

Ralph Bullock

WINNING WAKEFIELD
component	inches	mm
wing	48x7.5	1219x190
stabilzer	20x6	508x152
fuselage	34	864
propellers	16 dia	406 dia
2 geared 14 strand motors, 400 turns

References:
Aeromodeller, August 1982, Vintage Corner, Alex Imrie
M.A.N. Sept 1948, Wakefield in '48, John Mackinzie
1953 International Competition Handbook, Gerold Ritz

Music: "Sing'n in the Rain"; Literature: "All Quiet on the Western Front", Cine: "Blackmail"

1930 Joseph Ehrhardt, 18, USA

The third Wakefield International Cup contest was again held at Halton, Aerodrome, England, on Saturday, July 19th. Again this year three Americans came to England, having won the US Nationals Grand Prizes of all expenses paid trips to Europe, but this time, they came with Wakefields to compete against the five man Team GB, and Team Canada. The Americans were Ray Thompson, Bill Chaffee, and Joe Ehrhardt, who were flying all balsa wood Wakefields weighing about 4 ounces including the T-56 brown rubber motors of 10 strands 1/8"x 1/30". These motors were usually wound up from 1100 to 1200 turns, providing a 60 second motor run, using a 17" diameter propeller with 28" of pitch. Joe Ehrhardt used a modified NACA 6409 airfoil on a wing of 32" span. Contrast these Wakefields with those flown by Team GB, which were considered to be light if they weighed in at 9 ounces! These English Wakefields were made of hard woods, steel wire, and were covered with silk. The configuration of these Team GB Wakefields may have been low winged, with an area of about 200 square inches, following the pattern set by R N Bullock, the 1929 Wakefield Champion, who was on hand to defend his title.

What happened on Saturday to Team GB is best left to Pelly-Fry who was quoted in the September 1982 AeroModeller as saying: "The American (Joe Ehrhardt) ended up by walking off with first place to the tune of 155 seconds ROG, that made us sit up and take notice! (of balsa wood) This same article indicates what some aeromodellers in Great Britain thought balsa wood ".. has no strength, and can only be used for unimportant parts." This attitude prevailed into 1931, and continued well into the late years of the decade. By 1995 balsa wood was obsolete as a major component construction material, and many balsa wood Wakefields had simply become "uncompetitive". Mark Haas, an American Boy staff member tells the story this way: "We were ready for any kind of weather, and we got every kind. The Wakefield Contest was held in conjunction with the annual Halton Aerodrome Exhibition, so there were thousands of spectators. It did my soul good to hear the British entries complaining about the weather, for I knew that if we won there would be no qualifying adjectives applied to our victory. 'Beastly weather, by Jove,' they said. 'I say, a wicked day!' And we agreed - it was a real test for the models. Occasional rain, a wind that jabbed instead of blowing steadily. Gusts that would blow a plane over before it could get enough power to flight.

A British entry made the first trial and flipped over before it left the runway. We insisted that this be called a 'no flight', for he hadn't had a chance to test conditions. His next try was more successful - he made 35 seconds. Joe Ehrhardt flew next. He had decided to use the same plane that had won the AMLA (Nationals) Contests three weeks before, though he had extra wings and props and fuselage ready. His plane weighed about 3 ounces- that first British ship weighed 10! But Joe's ship had power, as was shown when it held it's own against the strongest wind of the day. His first flight was 64 seconds. The (next) British entry - the Captain of the British Team - made Joe's flight look weak, though. He made 84 seconds. Applause and yells from the sidelines - excited announcements from the loud speakers - congratulations from us.

Joe wasn't bothered a bit. He knew his plane could do close to three minutes, and he knew just why it hadn't done it on that first flight (a knot of rubber prevented the motor from unwinding; the plane came down dead stick with a third of the turns [unused] still in the motor). Let me say right now that Joe Ehrhardt didn't win any contests on luck or somebody else's reputation. He knows aerodynamics from birth to the grave ( ! ? ). He was the chairman of our speaking committee whenever anybody wanted to talk aviation.

Flights continued. Bill Chaffee did 26.6 seconds, which was good enough to get him sixth place. Ray Thompson did 37 seconds, but the flight was disqualified because he accidentally pushed his plane in launching. But the wind and not the judges gave Ray the count, for he picked up his ship with a dustpan. Bill did the same thing on his next flight. But in the meantime Joe's turn came again and he had three minutes written all over his face. He had so much power in his ship that it went almost straight up - snickered at the wind - then lit out for points north. His official time was 155 seconds. England had seen its best fuselage flight, and the crowd certainly appreciated it." Joe Ehrhardt of St Louis, Missouri was the 1930 Wakefield International Cup Champion, the first American to win the "Ole Mug." He was a child, 18 years of age.

Joseph Ehrhardt's Wakefield

References:
American Boy, Sept 1930
Aeromodeller, Aug 1982, Vintage Corner, Alex Imrie
Aeromodeller, Sept 1982, Vintage Corner, Alex Imrie
Music: "I got rythm"; Literature: "Cimarron", Cine: "Das Angels Blue"

1931 Joseph Ehrhardt, 19, USA

This year for the first time in the short history of the Wakefield International Cup the venue would be located in a foreign country. This necessitated Great Britain to send their Wakefield team aeromodels to the United States of America in boxes, another first. The contest was scheduled for June 10, 1931, at Wright Field Dayton, Ohio. The "Great Depression" had yet to affect the fourth US Nationals, the NAA, and the AMLA were the joint sponsors of the big contest which was held the previous week. The USA Wakefield Team was selected at the "Nationals", beginning the early Team selection tradition, used until the 1950's. This year Carl Carlson entered an 11 foot wing span petrol powered Wakefield weighing 9.5 pounds, allowed by the current SMAE Wakefield Rules. Carlson's petrol model unfortunately crashed just after it took off, ending the threat of petrol power domination, this year.

The contest began at 9:00am, with the reigning Champion Joe Ehrhardt ready to fly with a new Wakefield. Again it was an all balsa wood Wakefield, but this time the entire plane weighed 1.25 ounces, including the 0.49 ounce rubber motor of 8 strands of 1/8". Joe Ehrhardt was also a "US Nationals Outdoor Champion!" As light as it was Ehrhardt's Wakefield had a 37 inch wingspan, with a fuselage length of 32 inches, and it was well adjusted for flight, using a right turn under power, and a left turn in the glide pattern. Ehrhardt, not one to hesitate, wound his "T-56" brown rubber motor to 1000 turns, outside of the fuselage on a steel wire device which was inserted into the fuselage to transfer the motor.

Ready at the board Joe set the ship for ROG and it was off! Needless to write his Wakefield climbed straight, fast and very high, for a perfect flight of 4 minutes and 24.8 seconds. Ehrhardt used the same propeller he had used on his 1930 Wakefield, but this time he equipped it with a freewheeling device, to improve the glide (a first). Joseph Ehrhardt was the 1931 Wakefield International Cup Champion, the first aeromodeller to win The Wakefield International Cup Event consecutively.

Joe and President Hoover

Joseph Ehrhardt's Wakefield

References:
American Boy, Sept 1931, Merrill Hamberg
1953 International Competition Handbook, Gerold Ritz

Music: "Mood Indigo"; Literature: "Good Earth", Cine: "City Lights"

1932 Gordon S Light, 19, USA

The entire world was now in the midst of a "Great Depression", financing aeromodelling events was not on any of the financial agendas of any corporation in the world including BP. In fact the Airplane Model League of America (AMLA) which up until 1932 had conducted the US Free Flight Nationals lost all of its financial backing, and now could not continue its sponsorship of the contest. The "Nationals" was originally scheduled for late June, and traditionally the Wakefield Event Team Trials, and the Wakefield Cup Event this year, would be flown at the end of the big contest. This allowed the US and the proxy flyers Team some practice time to prepare for the Wakefield Event. The SMAE had approved the June date and proxy aeromodels were prepared by Team Great Britain, boxed, and were shipped in time to arrive in the USA for the June contest.

The SMAE was not consulted when the Bamberger Aero Club of New York assumed sponsorship of the US Free Flight Nationals, or when it rescheduled the contest and venue, to be held at Atlantic City on September 10, 1932. In all the confusion, to save the entire "Nationals", little thought, or none was given to the proxy aeromodels sitting in boxes, at least not by any but those who were concerned about the condition of their aeromodels. The SMAE, after learning about the rescheduled date of the Wakefield Event, declared it "No Contest: null and void". Who can blame their actions? Their Wakefields which were to be flown proxy had been encased for two months, in boxes, and could not be considered ready for the Contest.

The Wakefield Cup Event was formally held at Atlantic City, NJ, on September 10, 1932. The reigning Wakefield Champion Joseph Ehrhardt was there, as were Team USA, Team Canada, and the selected Proxy Team. It was a great contest, and it was hard fought, but in the end the Crown of Champion, went from Ehrhardt to a new Wakefield Champion Gordon S Light of Lebanon, Penn., who had the longest flight of the day, with what some claim to be the most beautiful Wakefield of the "Antique Period".

Although he wears the Wakefield Champions Crown as the "1932 pretender", we must recognize that Light had nothing to do with the circumstances. Acting solely as an Historian I would appeal to the FAI/CIAM or who ever the powers be, to rescind the original decision of the SMAE and give in to the long held opinion that Gordon S Light was the 1932 Wakefield Cup Champion! A detail of the winning aeromodel is furnished, it was truly a beautiful Wakefield having a glazed cabin, and handsome undercarriage, and it flew wonderfully.

On the winning flight of 7 minutes, 57 seconds, the "T-56" brown rubber motor consisting of only 8 strands, was wound up to 1200 turns, it ROG'd perfectly from the take off board, and was lost OOS after almost eight minutes. The total wing loading was estimated at 1.65 oz. at 100 sq ins, with a wing area of 169 sq ins, very light, 2.79 ounces! Gordon wrote me that he was just pleased to beat Maxwell Bassett who flew a petrol powered Wakefield to 4th place!

References:
M.A.N. Sept 1948, Wakefield in '48, John L MacKinzie
Aeromodeller March 1976, Those early days, Magpie
International Competition Handbook, Gerold Ritz

Music: "Brother: can you spare a dime?"; Literature: "Brave New World", Cine: "Tarzan"

1933 J W Kenworthy, 33, GB

The SMAE had acted, the Wakefield Cup was back in Great Britain, but a cloud of controversy surrounded the Crown of the Reigning Champion, Gordon S Light. The September 10, 1932 Wakefield Cup Event, held at Atlantic City NJ, USA, was declared null and void, "No Contest", by SMAE, and the Wakefield International Cup was ordered to be returned to the SMAE in England.

There was a 1933 Wakefield Cup Contest, it was held in June at Fairey's Aerodrome, and there was one foreign entry, a Wakefield came from America from whom else? Gordon S Light, the unofficial reigning Wakefield Cup Champion. James Pelly-Fry was selected to fly Light's aeromodel, and he made a good contest of it. Basically it was a seven person contest, the six man Team Great Britain, against the one man Team USA,and the weather was beautiful 80 degrees F, barometer at 30 inches, but it was windy at 15 to 20 mph. The SMAE decided to wait until 6pm. Meanwhile qualifications were required by each contestant, which were called a "test for directional stability".Only C S Rushbrooke failed to qualify, so CSR was ruled "Out of the Contest"! J W Kenworthy was declared the 1933 Wakefield Cup Champion. Kenworthy flew a beautiful aeromodel, which had high aspect tapered wings and tail, all balsa wood, weighing 2.8 oz. total. Kenworthy had the longest flight of 5 minutes, 21 seconds, OOS, breaking the GB record for longest flight ROG. A Willis was second, and Gordon S Light's aeromodel flown proxy by J Pelly-Fry was tied for second, with a 2 minute, 23.2 second flight. The SMAE had at the last instant "fiddled" around with the Wakefield Rules declaring "The competing aeromodels must fly at least 200 yards in a straight line without a circle upon take off" (?) ... a very curious requirement... can anybody explain how Kenworthy did 5 minutes in a thermal without a circle? With these kinds of obstacles to overcome J W Kenworthy deserved to be the 1933 Wakefield Cup Champion.

J W Kenworthy

References:
International Competition Handbook, Gerold Ritz
Aeromodeller, Those early days, Magpie

Music: "Stormy Weather"; Literature: "Ulysses", Cine: "King Kong"

1934 J B Allman, 32, GB

Prior to the end of the 1933 flying season the SMAE did some serious fiddling with the Wakefield Cup Rules. First they deleted the "Any Type of Power Rule", restricting power to "Rubber Power Only", then they restricted the wing area to be between "190 & 200 sq. inches", then they placed a limit on total weight including rubber motors to be "4 Ounces Minimum", and finally they made the flight time to be the "Average of Three Flights". So much for the threat of petrol powered, and outdoor-indoor aeromodels!

The 1934 Wakefield Cup Contest was scheduled for Sunday, June 24, and from America came boxed aeromodels from Team USA to be flown by the Proxy Team Members at the contest. The USA Team Members were Gordon S Light, of NY University, the "Unofficial 1932 Wakefield Cup Champion", who came in third in 1933, Walter Getsla of Chicago, Illinois, the stalwart of the Illinois Model Airplane Club. Walter sent a cleanly designed mid-winged gear driven Wakefield. Getsla's Wakefield was featured in the 1934 re-enactment in SAM 35 Year Book No. 3 "And So To Warwick". Alwyn Greenhalgh and Mike Hetherington made copies of Walter's Wakefield, and Getsla was there to relive the day. In fact to this day Walter Getsla is remembered by the Oakland Cloud Dusters, to which he served as the Treasurer for many years, and to whom is placed a perpetual Wakefield Trophy, in his memory. The third Team Member was Frank Zaic, of NY, NY, who sent a beautiful sheathed streamlined Wakefield; the other members of Team USA were: A Howell; A H Duflon; and L M Adams. "Fetchermite" Horace Claymore, engaged to retrieve "Grasshopper" for J B Allman could hardly wait for that day, in fact I paraphrased him:

"At last, the day of the 1934 Wakefield Contest arrived! Allman asked me to be at Warwick Common by 9:00am. There was no wind, but a fine drizzle persisted all day, sometimes heavier, sometimes a little lighter, but always there... The Tote Building... was the only cover that most of us had between flights. During the eliminators, the "Grasshopper" broke its port wing right across about half way along, and consternation abounded. Allman set about repairing. I remember speaking to him about the weather. Allman replied "The weather, Horace, is perfect for us ..." "Grasshopper" ....(had a geared) three minute power run! Yet...

FIRST FLIGHT: 8.5 seconds....!

SECOND FLIGHT: Slight stall... 163 seconds

THIRD FLIGHT: Allman ...became a little tense. The moment of drama I mentioned earlier was now approaching... Allman told me... "I am putting on absolute maximum turns, the rubber can break!" As I held the model, and Allman piled on the turns, I became aware that ... the whole world was watching us ... we were at the take off board ... and Allman placed "Grasshopper" on the board ... and than picked it up and moved the wing forward! He than placed the model back on the board and looked at the starters. I could not believe what I was seeing! "DON'T LET GO", I called to Allman ... he paused, picked the model up ... and turned to me . ..not saying a word. "YOU MOVED THE WING FORWARD" I said. "BUT THE MODEL WAS STALLING" ..."you should have moved it (the wing) back." Allman ... slid it back again ... then he replaced the "Grasshopper" on the board, looked at the timekeepers, and she was off! ..."Grasshopper"... set to fly in very large circles of about 250 to 300 yards diameter ...cruised up to 70 feet and recorded 164 seconds. The Cup was ours!"

Frank Zaic was third this time, Walter Getsla was tenth, and Gordon S Light's Wakefield was crashed on the field. In all fairness, the Proxy Team has the most difficult of tasks, and the shortest amount of time to practice with their charges. If they can win even a tenth place they are doing quite well under difficult circumstances.

Crashed?

Frank Zaic

Getsla

J B Allman's Wakefield

References:

SAM35 Year Book No.3, Horace Claymore "Fetchermite"
Aeromodeller, June 1984, The 1934 Wakefield Contest, Alwyn Greenhalgh
Aeromodeller, July 1984, Grasshopper, Alwyn Greenhalgh
Aeromodeller, October 1984, Vintage Corner, Alex Imrie
M.A.N. Sept 1948, Wakefield in '48, John MacKenzie
1953 International Competition Handbook, Gerold Ritz

Music: "Anything Goes"; Literature: "Tropic of Cancer", Cine: "Of Human Bondage"

1935 Gordon S Light, 22, USA

In 1935 the SMAE again received boxed Wakefields from America. Team USA consisted of Frank Zaic, of NY, NY, who was a 1934 Team member, Donald Mertens, Vernon Boehie, Ralph Kummer, and Gordon S Light, the "Unofficial 1932 Wakefield Champion", who placed third in 1933, and whose Wakefield was destroyed on the field in 1934. Light was very determined, in fact he made simulated attempts with this year's Wakefield; first he would disassemble it, pack it carefully into its container, shake the container as hard as he could, and removed it from the container, and reassemble it, then he would fly it, and check its adjustments carefully. Light did this over and over again, until he was assured that the aeromodel, and the container, was ready for shipment to Great Britain.

Monday, August 5, 1935, dawned clear, calm, and warm at Fairey's Aerodrome, Hayes, Middlesex, a simply superb day to fly rubber power Wakefield aeromodels. The USA Team boxes containing Wakefields were there, we do know that. Alex Imrie, writing in "AeroModeller, Vintage Corner", in July 1986 wrote "Unfortunately ... full flight details have never been published on this (Wakefield) Event..." If Alex, was still alive to read this, I can state unequivocally that very little has ever been recorded about any pre-1948 Wakefield Event , until this book was written. Most of the information, if any was available comes in snippets, often disassociated from the subject. I will attempt to stitch together these snippets of history to describe what Imrie and I think occurred.

Along with the USA Team boxes there were also Team Australia boxes containing aeromodels sent by: Milton Boss, Jim Fullarton, J Danks, J Donald, A Flew, and H J Mckay, all to be flown by the Proxy Team. John Hamilton, writing in the publication "Wings", names the Proxy Team member Tommy Ives as the person who was selected to fly Gordon S Light's Wakefield. I have drawn a sketch of Tommy holding Gordon's ship just prior to its first and only flight. Tommy Ives removed Light's aeromodel from its container, and following Light's written instructions, test flew it, Again this was a beautiful design, developed since 1932, into a consistent flyer, and Tommy had no problems with it.

Tommy, again following Light's instructions, packed 600 turns into the "T-56" brown rubber motor, on a motor stick, outside of the fuselage, than hooked up the wound motor inside the fuselage, set it on the take-off board, assumed the prescribed "by the rules position", by holding the tip of the propeller, and the tip of the right wing. Tommy let her go, and go she did! This was a towering flight of 7 minutes 30 seconds OOS, straight up. More than two hours later Light's Wakefield arrived back at Fairey's in an airplane flown by a pilot who had found it at Hanworth Aerodrome, where it landed after a two hour flight! Gordon S Light was the 1935 Wakefield Cup Champion! He never quit, and he never gave up trying. His Wakefield is now located in the AMA Museum, a place of honor for it, and for a person who epitomises what this Wakefield Cup Event is all about.

Now aeromodellers the world over, because of the determination shown by Gordon S Light, and his fellow Wakefield flyers, like Frank Zaic through his publications, were committing their energies to the design of aeromodels especially for the Wakefield event. Nations were now sending six person teams or their aeromodels to be flown at the Wakefield events. The 1936 Wakefield Cup event would be held in the USA, at Detroit, Michigan, and Team Great Britain was sending six persons to challenge the World.

Gordon S Light

WINNING WAKEFIELD 1932
component	inches	mm
wing	36.25x5	921x127
tail	15.75x4	400x102
fuselage	26	660
propeller	17 dia 28 pitch	432 dia 711 pitch
rubber	1/8" 9 strands 1.8oz

1932
Tommy Ives

1935

References:
Model Aeronautics Year Book, 1935-36, p.7, Frank Zaic
M.A.N. Oct 1935, p.28, Junior N.A.A. News
M.A.N. Aug 1937, p.28, Junior N.A.A. News
M.A.N. Sept 1948, p.16, Wakefield in '48, John L MacKenzie
Aeromodeller, Nov 1985, p.664, SAM35 Wakefield Ann.meet
Aeromodeller, June 1986, p.432, Vintage Corner, Magpie
1953 International Competition Handbook, Gerold Ritz

Music: "Porgy and Bess"; Literature: "Tortilla Flat", Cine: "A Nite at the Opera"

1936 Albert A Judge, 19, GB

The venue for the 1936 Wakefield Cup Contest was Detroit, Michigan, to be held following the "USA Nationals", which was scheduled from June 30, to July 2. Among the 400 Contestants competing at the "Nationals" were six members of Team Great Britain who promised in a letter to Frank Zaic "...to take home not only the Wakefield Cup, but the Moffett Trophy, as well". These audacious braggarts were; Alwyn Greenhalgh, age 13, H A Jones age 13, D Fairlie aged 18, Robert Copland, age 18, Albert Judge, age 19, and the oldest at age 33, the wisest, and the 1934 Wakefield Cup Champion J B Allman. Upstarts all, if you ask me! Really, this was a most impressive Wakefield Team, as history will show. They did not get away with the Moffett Trophy, that was lost by proxy flyer Bert Pond, who recorded a 44 minute, 14 second three flight total with Vernon B Gray's cabin model giving New Zealand the Moffett Trophy for the first time. Pond later described himself as " ...the snake in the grass!"

June 30, 1936, was the day of the USA Team eliminations, traditionally held on the last day of the "Nationals". The Team USA members were: The 1932, and 1935 Wakefield International Cup Champion Gordon S Light, Lebanon Penn; Roy Wriston, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Dick Everett, Elm Grove, W V; Bill Atwood, Glendale, California; John Ginnetti, Atlantic City, NJ. The alternates were Charles Tracy, and James Cahill, flying a Wakefield with a folding propeller, this was a first to be shared with Wally Simmers, who independently was also using a folding propeller on his rubber cabin model. Roy Wriston in winning his place on the Team set a new U.S. Record, with one flight of 41 minutes, 10 seconds, which was bettered by Chester Lanzo, the next day with a Class D Cabin flight of 48 minutes, 45 seconds! A record that still stands today. Lanzo's D Cabin was in fact a Wakefield. Controversy still rages over the fact that the stabilizer was larger then 33% of the wing area, which was 210 sq.ins. In July 1986 AeroModeller stated that the SMAE still was unable to confirm an accurate interpretation of their own 1933 - 1936 Rules!

Meanwhile at the Canadian Wakefield Team Eliminations the following persons were selected to represent their nation at the 1936 Wakefield International Cup Contest: Thomas G Harris, Fred Hollingsworth, Melvin Bardsley, Henry Yerdier, Paul Verdier, Raymond T Smith, and John Lemick. From Paris, France was Andre Vincre whose Wakefield next year would be published in AeroModeller as: "THE 1937 WAKEFIELD CUP WINNER". Andre brought with him Team France Wakefields to be flown by the Proxy Team. These included G Dubois, whose proxy was Brown, and Henri Varache, whose proxy was none other than Chester Lanzo. There were Wakefields from, New Zealand, including W G Alexander (p. Marchi), A Pearce (p. Bert Pond), H J Robinson (p. Lanzo), W B Mackley (p. Jim Cahill ), J Finlayson (p. Chadwick), R MacGregor (p. Hoyse ). And Team Canada. Frank Zaic wrote about the "1936 Nationals" in the Junior Aeronautics Year Book of 1934 ( ! ) ,but although he was there, he did not write one word about the 1936 Wakefield International Cup Contest! Only the results!

Wednesday, July 2, 1936 dawned hot, humid, and calm, near Detroit, Michigan at the Wayne County Airport, the venue for the 1936 Wakefield International Cup contest. Assistance was provided by the US Army Air Corps, using Pilot Training Air Cadets as Official Timers, two for each contestant. The SMAE Wakefield International Cup Rules were presented by Team Great Britain and using their advise the Air Cadets scrutinized all of the Wakefields which had been entered for conformance with the Wakefield Rules. A point was made about pushing as was observed "numerous times" at the USA Team eliminations, the previous day. Though how one could push by holding the extreme tip of the wing, and the tip of the propeller is something of a mystery, with a rubber powered aeromodel fully wound to maximum turns, held in the required position, pushing would be a neat trick even for the Great Harry Houdini! There was a draw, and, Albert Judge was selected to have the first flight of the day.

He later recalled that on boarding the train at Waterloo Station, London, it dawned on him that he had left his airscrew on the mantle at home! No problem. His mother would drive home, retrieve the airscrew from the mantel, and meet the Team at the docks. She arrived just in the nick of time, as Albert and the Team were heading up the ramp to board the ship SS Aquitania.

ROUND 1: Now Albert concentrated upon packing 1200 turns onto his rubber motor. Done. Albert placed his Wakefield in the proper ROG position on the take-off board, and let go! It was away! Climbing steeply, but straight under torque, then right, holding steady to the side thrust. Power off, the propeller free wheeled into the glide pattern, circling left in 200 yard circles. Flying OOS in 497 seconds, but with the Air Cadets in pursuit in their "Jeep". The Air Cadet Chase Team, was efficient because they stayed with Albert's Wakefield until it landed, and returned to the flying field with his plane undamaged. The defending Wakefield Champion Gordon S Light had a flight of 283.5 seconds, he was second. Denis Fairlie with 276.3 was third. Bob Copland was fourth, with 275.2 seconds, and the 1934 Wakefield Champion J B AIlman with 270.8 was fifth. Dick Everett with 270.0 was sixth, and John Ginnetti with 246.2 was seventh. Bill Atwood was eighth with 105.0 seconds, Andre Vincre was ninth, with 92.5 seconds, Roy Wriston was tenth with 100.0 seconds, and G. Dubois (p. Brown ) was eleventh with 80.0 seconds. The ambient temperature was now over 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

ROUND 2: Albert Judge kept his fresh rubber motors in a thermos. He quickly exchanged the used motor, and stuffed a new one into his fuselage. Then he proceeded to pack in the turns, for his second flight. At 950 turns this motor crystallized, and shredded the uprights of his fuselage! Meanwhile Roy Wriston had a 555 second flight to take the lead with 655 seconds. Bert Judge was ready again, putting only 900 turns into his motor he did 136.2 seconds for a 633 total time, dropping to second place. Dick Everett jumped into third place with a 221.4 second flight, for a two round total of 571.3 seconds! Bob Copland showing consistency came in with 130.9, for a two round total of 406.1 seconds, for fourth place. Gordon light had a 103 second flight, and was now fifth with 396.5 seconds. J B Allman continued his championship form with a 149.0 second flight, for a total of 299.8 seconds to hold sixth place. Denis Farlie was seventh with a 296.5 total, Bill Atwood eighth 221.0 seconds, John Ginnetti ninth 210.3 seconds, tenth Dubois 190.0 seconds, and eleventh Andre Vincre 179.5 seconds. Now not only the temperature was rising, but so were the frayed tempers of the leaders. Any of the ten could take "The Cup".

ROUND 3: Roy Wriston had lost his Wakefield. He searched frantically down wind, with some Air Cadets who helped him look for it. Bert Judge decided to use the same rubber motor he had used on his second flight. Al also decided to play it safe by limiting his winds to 850 turns in the by now 100 degree heat. At 845 turns the motor burst again, the pieces shredded the fuselage with the surgical precision of a hatchet! Bert was probably frantic, his hands may have trembled as he rebuilt his Wakefield. Bob Copland scored a 205.2 second flight, with J B Allman behind him with 190.1 seconds! Where was Wriston? Time was running out!

Judge was ready again, and this time using a cool motor from his thermos, he stopped winding at 800 turns, taking no chances. Now he was set, and away! Judge was down in only 116.3 seconds; landing as Roy Wriston climbed out of the "Jeep" with his lost, but now found Wakefield. Quick calculations indicated that Wriston could win it all with a flight of only 158.1 seconds, to beat Judge! The wing of Wriston's Wakefield had to be repaired, but there wasn't enough time. Electing to forget the repairs, Roy began winding. At 750 turns he was at the nose block! Now without hesitation he grasped what was left of his right wing, held the tip of the propeller, closely watched by the English Team Manager B K Johnson, who was clutching the "Lucky Mascot" given to him by Mrs Thurston aboard the Aquitania. Roy let go of the remains! It climbed off the take-off board, but was shuddering all over! Up it went in this almost fatal condition, and mercifully did something resembling a glide, landing in only 73.0 seconds, Roy would be second today, short by 85.1 seconds. A lifetime...

NOTES IN PASSING: Albert Judge quote: "I ought to say that winning the 1936 Wakefield Cup, changed my whole life".

Albert Judge's Wakefield

Al'Bert' Judge

References:
1934 (?) Junior Model Aeronautics Year Book, Frank Zaic
1953 International Competition Handbook, Gerold Ritz
Aeromodeller, Aug 1976
Aeromodeller, Aug 1986
Model Flying, 1987, Vic Smeed

Music: "Pennys from Heaven"; Literature: "How to win friends and influence people", Cine: "Modern Times", Arch: "Falling Water"

1937 Emmanuel Fillon, 20, France

This year the Wakefield Rules were again changed by the SMAE, first: the total minimum weight would now be 8 ounces, including the rubber motor; the total wing area would be from 190 to 210 square inches; power will be by rubber power only; flight time will be the average of three flights, flight time is unlimited. These changes were made, by the SMAE late in the flying season of 1936. In an Aeromodeller article published in 1986 Mike Kemp writes "It appears that not even the SMAE have a complete set of the (Wakefield) rules from 1928 to 1950."
The Wakefield Rules are of course the fundamental basis for the design of the species "WAKEFIELD" and are the basic raison d'etré, for the event in the first place! In this book I have attempted to summarize these rules by year, but I have experienced some frustration in exactly fixing the actual dates of the changes. The "Rules", of course, have always affected the performance of species Wakefield, and therefore any change in the rules has a ripple effect in the flight performance characteristics. Often changes were made to the rules that were not only questionable, but given the authority of the governing body, these changes became irrefutable. The changes to the original rules brought to a close what I have classified as the "Antique Era", and ushered in a new design concept I classify as the "Vintage Era". This was a Wakefield some authors have classified as the "Classic Wakefield", a species half rubber motor, half airframe, a period analyzed by Martyn Pressnell in his Aeromodeller article "Yesterdays Wakefields". Developed to its fullest potential these "pre-1951" Wakefields could easily out perform any gasoline powered aeromodel, both in the power climb, and the glide, a phenomena that may have led to the revisions of the rules by CIAM, which limited the weight of the rubber motor to 80 grams in 1954, and deleted the classic ROG rule in 1957.

The 1937 Wakefield Cup Contest was held in Great Britain, at Fairey's Aerodrome, on Sunday August 1, 1937. This time the Wakefield Contest was truly an international event. To Fairey's this year there were Wakefield teams from Great Britain, France, Canada, Sweden, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Norway, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States of America. In every way this was the first "Wakefield International Cup Contest". The only records I have been able to locate were provided by Emmanuel Fillon, in 1987, and one page of results in the September 1937 Aeromodeller. This is the same Emmanuel Fillon who in fact was declared the 1937 Wakefield Cup Champion. Emmnuel was 20 years of age, and he was the first Frenchman, and the last, to be declared the Wakefield Cup Champion. Fillon's Wakefield design is still clouded with controversy. In December 1937 Aeromodeller published the drawings of the: "WINNER OF THE 'WAKEFIELD' CUP 1937" The Aeromodeller editors also made a point of underlining the title block with the statement: "THIS MODEL WAS DESIGNED BY MONSIEUR A VINCRE". Now I don't mean to imply that the controversy began with this publication, it did not. Undoubtedly Monsieur Vincre was not without allies at the Modele Air Club de France, in the person of none other than President Monsieur F Cartier, who slipped the drawings over to the anxious Aeromodeller editorial staff. Next came "The Retraction" by Aeromodeller, in February, 1938, on page 110, which I shall be pleased to reprint here in its entirety:

France wins
THE WAKEFIELD WINNER. "And now we have to sort out a "bit of a tangle." Monsieur Emmanuel Fillon of France won the Wakefield Cup in 1937. That we all know. Well, some while back, (December 1937 to be exact - author) Mons. Cartier, President of Modele Air Club de France, kindly offered us permission to publish drawings of Mons. Vincre's model, which won the Coup de France, 1937, and which was described as being "ALMOST IDENTICAL" with Mons. E Fillon's Model. (Actually Aeromodeller said Fillon's Wakefield was "AN EXACTLY SIMILAR MACHINE" - author). It now appears that in certain quarters the impression has been gained that Mons. E Fillon developed his model from Mons. Vincre's. This of course is definitely not the case, Mons. Fillon has asked us to state that his model was entirely designed and constructed by himself, and that it was placed second in the "Equip de France" (which equals our English eliminating trials), at which competition Mons. Vincre was not a competitor. In our September issue we published a small sketch of Mons. Fillon's model, and on comparison with the drawing given in the December issue, it will at once be seen that whilst the models are of a similar shape their sizes are different, as also certain details. We regret having unwittingly added to the confusion by stating, in the notice on our drawing in the December issue, that the models were identical ("EXACTLY SIMILAR" author) for which we offer our apologies to Mons. Fillon, who was the winner of the Wakefield Cup Competition of 1937. But hold! Hold very tight, Mons. Fillon! We are coming after it this summer!

Ralph N Bullock 1929 W.C

Emmanuel Fillon's Wakefield

Frank Zaic

References:
1937 Cinquantenaire Wakefield 1987, E Fillon
Aeromodeller, June 1986, Yesterday's Wakefields, Martyn Pressnell
Aeromodeller, March 1976, Those early days, Magpie
Aeromodeller, Dec 1937, Wakefield Winner, A Vincre
M.A.N. Sept 1948, p.16, Wakefield in '48, John L MacKenzie

Music: "Whistle while you work"; Literature: "Of Mice and Men", Cine: "Snow White"; Art:"Guernica"

1938 James Cahill, 20, USA

July 31, 1938 at the Caudron Aerodrome, Guyancourt, outside of Paris, France, was a day of light breezes, and sunshine. The French hosts were now following a Wakefield tradition of honoring their guests with accommodations and contest preparations which were "par excellence". Contestants from 14 nations made this first Wakefield event on the European continent a wonderful international event. From America came the six person USA Team consisting of James Bohash, Detroit, Michigan, Gordon J Wisniewski, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, George De La Mater, Oneonta, NY, Henry Stielmeier, Inglewood, California, Ted Just, Johnstown, Penn, and James Cahill, Indianapolis, Indiana. Team Captain. Jim was on the 1937 Team, but lost his aeromodel and could not compete in England. Getting to Paris had not been easy for any of the team members, because of the "The Great Depression". James J Noonan, a boyhood friend to Gordon Wisniewski, wrote to me, that somehow Gordon's father came up with the money to pay for Gordon's passage. Noonan also recalls that the main course at the 1938 US Nationals banquet was beans; getting passage money to sail to Europe to fly in the Wakefield Event should have been insurmountable, but Team USA was there!

James Cahill's first flight was for 30 minutes 54 seconds! Jim's second flight was disqualified for "pushing". Just how one can "push" holding a fully wound rubber powered Wakefield by the tip of the wing and the tip of the propeller, is curious? Jim's third flight was 1 minute 8 seconds. James Cahill was declared the 1938 Wakefield Champion, by the SMAE officials at the end of the contest, with a 10 minutes 54 second average. But, many years later in 1976 the "bleeding" seems to have continued, because in the "Aeromodeller" writing his by-line "Those Early Days...", "Magpie", A K A J van Hattum, was still agonizing: "It was a classic example of what was to happen time and again in National (National?) as well as International Contests. The model (Wakefield ) had floated down after some two or three minutes when it struck a powerful riser over a cornfield only 10 or 20 feet up (!) and (it) shot up to record over 30 minutes." Poor Maggy! In his next timely article he had to cover the 1939 contest!

James Cahill
Second place went to Beugueret, of France, with an average of 6 minutes 58 seconds. Robert Milligan of Canada took 6th place. Bob kindly furnished me this information and a photograph of his aeromodel being prepared for flight by the proxy team member "Bunny" Ross of the UK. Frank Zaic was there, but did not record what he may have seen in any of his "Model Aeronautics Year Book(s)". James Cahill's "Clodhopper" does appear in the Zaic 1938 MAYB, on page 88, but Zaic does not describe this aeromodel as "The 1938 Wakefield Winner" it is entitled the "1937 Moffett Winner"; earlier in the 1934 MAYB Zaic reproduced a letter from Jim Cahill (dated 7/6/79?) where Jim writes about his "... folding propeller...", among other things. Maybe accurate "History" was unimportant even then; at a contest on 11/5/95,a person said to me concerning this very history book "...who cares about History Charles?" I care! Sir ! Because if we have no History, we have no future!

This was the first year of the new FAI rules, including: the stabilizer will have a maximum area equal to 33% of the wing area.

References:
1953 International Competition Handbook, Gerald Ritz
M.A.N. Oct 1931, NAA Junior Membership News
M.A.N. Sep 1948. Wakefield in '41, John L MacKiuzie
Aeromodeller, Feb 1976. Those Early Day's. Magpie (J van Hattum)
Aeromodeller, March 1976. Those Early Day's. Magpie (J van Hattum)
1938 Model Aeronautics Year Book, 1931 Moffett Winner, F Zaic
1934 Model Aeronautics Year Book Letter: 3. Cahill 7/6/1976, F Zaic

Music: " September Song "; Literature: "USA"; Cine: "Alexander Nevski"

1939 Richard Korda, 24, USA

How could it be? On the first flight of the event he won it all! Even he said it. Richard Korda said it when he was 79 years old, by now a Parkinsons patient, speaking on an audio tape made on September 6, 1994 by Loren Dietrich "...they made too big of an issue of the flight in the Wakefield. One lucky flight?"

The contest date was August 6, 1939. The place, chosen by Bernard McFadden, publisher and patron of aeromodelling, chose: Aviation Golf Course, Bendex, NJ .The event: "The 1939 Wakefield International Cup" contest, of course! But the original contest site that was chosen by the American Wakefield Cup Committee, the Bendix Airport, was rejected by the attending SMAE officials as unsuitable for the Wakefield Cup Contest! "On arrival at the proposed flying ground it was immediately seen this was far from ideal, and an inspection of the spot allocated for the contest proved this to be quite impossible as it was sandwiched between a dense wood and the airship hangar." The only alternative was the Golf Course. The weather was "boiling hot" according to the English Team Member Norman Lees, but perfect until noon. There was no wind, and there were thermals everywhere!

The day before, during processing, quite a few Wakefields were found that did not comply with the Wakefield rules. It was found that Richard Korda's Wakefield was underweight, and also the fuselage cross section did not meet the length squared over 100 requirement, plus, the stabilizer was oversized! This was the plane that Korda had won a place on the USA Team with in the qualifications. A considerable amount of consternation ensued, adjustments were made to the surfaces of Korda's Wakefield. Korda's Wakefield was rechecked the next morning, before the contest got under way.

There was a draw for flight positions on the morning of the contest. New Zealand would go first, followed by the USA, Great Britain, France, Canada, and last South Africa. There was more consternation! The New Zealand entry was scratched because it did not meet the Wakefield Rules! I don't know whose Wakefield this was, it could have been B B Marsh (does anyone reading this know?). Anyway Richard Korda was selected to be the first to fly. The "luck of the draw"? The rest is pure History. Everybody that was there agreed that Dick Korda's was the second most remarkable flight in the history of the Wakefield Event. The first occurred last year in 1938, just outside of Paris, when Jim Cahill became the Wakefield Champion. Korda's Wakefield had just the right climb, not too slow and long, nor too steep and fast, it just climbed out. And got very, very high. After 60 seconds on the propeller, Korda's Wakefield leveled out at 300+ feet, the propeller folded back, and it went into an exceptional glide pattern, indicative of a perfectly trimmed airplane. Losing imperceptible height, Korda's Wakefield drifted toward the bottom of the Golf Course where, now at an altitude of about 200 feet, it was taken gently by a thermal. "Within a few minutes it was over a thousand feet, and soaring up with each turn." According to Leonard Stott of Team GB "Ten minutes passed as many eyes watched, and Korda's Wakefield was now at about 1,500 feet altitude!" Up there it circled, minute, after minute, now the Wakefield itself was looking down at the point from which it had taken off. Then it drifted down course again, past the end of the field, slowly gliding downward, and finally, landing! The official time for that flight was 43 minutes 29 seconds. Richard Korda made two other flights that extraordinary day, for an average time of 15 minutes 50 seconds. Was Korda's Wakefield an exceptional aeromodel? Yes it was, and still is to this day. It's only drawback was that it was so common! It was the standard cabin model of the "Cleveland Balsa Butchers", everyone in the club made them. Chester Lanzo and Richard Korda perfected the genre. Korda used a much knotted "T-56" brown rubber motor, 47 inches long, consisting of 18 strands of 3/16", cranked in 1200 winds to turn a 18 inch diameter single bladed propeller on the winning flight. Korda remarked that his Wakefield flew better under "reduced" power. (Yeah, sure!)

What of Team GB? According to Leonard Stott: "By this time Korda's machine was still up in sight, having clocked 34 minutes and broken Bob Copland's world record." Otherwise they did very well, the members were: Robert Copland, Charles Gibson, Ronald Hill, Leonard Stott, Norman Lees, and Reginald Parham. GB Team Manager, Eddie Cosh. From Canada the Team members were: Fred Bower, Lavelle Walters, Edward Booth, Gim Wong, and Roy Nelder. There were proxy Wakefield from; France, M. Giovanni, A.Vincre, Tournadre, Chabot, Chinaud, and Barthelmy. From South Africa: Dalgetz, Becker, Leslie, and Connolly. From the USA Earl Stahl's Wakefield was flown proxy by Ted Just.

The last comment of the contest I must leave to Leonard Stott:
"Once again the Wakefield Cup had been won by one outstanding thermal flight, and whilst not in the least begrudging the Americans their victory, one was left with a feeling of dissatisfaction that the trophy should be won in this manner."

43 min 29 sec!

References:
The National Model Airplane Meet in pictures, F Zaic
1953 International Competition Handbook, Gerold Ritz
Design of Wakefield Models, S B Stubbs
M.A.N. Sept 1948, Wakefield in '48, John L MacKenzie

Music: "Somewhere over the Rainbow"; Literature: "Finnigan's Wake", Cine: "Gone with the wind"; Art: "Grandma Moses"

1948 Roy Chesterton, 23, GB

World War II was at last over and behind us. It had been nine years since the last Wakefield Cup event, the reigning Wakefield Champion Richard Korda is now 33 years old. Nine years ago Fred Bower of Canada who had placed second on only two flights in the 1939 Wakefield Cup Contest when he was 19 years old, had died at age 24, crashing into the St Lawrence River while ferrying a B-25 bomber. Robert Copland, now 35,who had been fourth in 1939, was now preparing to challenge the World in the quest of honor for "The Ol Mug" again.

The Wakefield Aeromodel Clubs of the United Kingdom had remained intact throughout World War II. Ted Evans, who owned an aeromodel shop which was the epicenter for Wakefield design of the Northampton club, was ready also. Ted, one of the finest Wakefield designers of all time, was ready with his new Wakefield design "Jaguar". The UK Team Trials began with the "Gutteridge Trophy" meet on May 2, 1948. Ted Evans was the eventual winner. Ted won by out flying 25 other Midland Area qualifiers that day. Ten of these entries flew Ted's "Jaguar", and one of those was a clubmate, a new member to Northampton, Roy Chesterton . At the final Team Trials both Ted Evans and Burt Revell crashed their "Jaguars" in the gusting wind, and rain. The "Jaguar" had a tendency to loop under full turns "making pieces on the ground !" as James Taylor wrote in his song.

Nick Evans, Ted's son was quoted in SAM 35, No.4 :"My father was a modest man. I am sure that nobody knows that he carved the propeller for Roy Chesterton's "Jaguar", and also trimmed it in the early morning hours in one of Northampton's parks. Mike Kemp the author of this article, went on to mention "...the rules of the Wakefield Event at the time stated:

"The model, including the propeller(s) must be constructed by the entrant." This was the "Builder of the Model Rule" (BOM) that was rescinded forty-nine years later by the Plenary Committee of the FAI/CIAM in 1988, because the rule had become unenforceable by that time. (IK: it is hard to believe that there was so much complaint about removal of the rule when it had been completely flouted by historical names so much earlier).

Wakefield aeromodellers the world over now prepared to descend on to Akron, Ohio for this years Wakefield Event. Nine years is a very long time between contests. Think about the spread of time: 1930 to 1939, 1939 to 1948. A new generation of aeromodellers had emerged in the world. In the USA the reigning Wakefield Champion Richard Korda was preparing for the Akron Wakefield contest with a new machine that resembled Chester Lanzo's "Classic Wakefield". The 1938 Wakefield Champion James Cahill, qualified for the 1948 Team USA, with a new Wakefield that had a single wheeled retracting landing gear, the fuselage had a wide airfoil-shaped box fuselage, but Jim stayed with a shoulder mounted wing. The other USA Team members were Tom Coryell, of Indianapolis, Ind, Bob Holland, 33, of Sunland, Cal, Jim Bunton, of Hunington, Vir, and Dick Schumacher, of Reseda, Cal.

The Belgium Wakefield Team arrived with only four members, Georges Lippens, of Brussels, Ludo Van Hemelrijck, of Brussels, Pregldien, Emile Sijsmans, of Antwerp, and they drew Carl Goldberg as their fifth member, to fly proxy for Gaston Joostens, of Brussels, who was unable to make the trip.

Australia sent their Wakefields to be flown proxy. They drew Frank Cuummings, the 1947 USA Nationals Outdoor Free flight Champion, flying proxy for Frost, and Donahue proxy for Marden.

New Zealand got "the luck of the draw"( again) their proxy team consisted of some of the best flyers in the Chicago Aeronauts: Otto Curth who flew proxy for B B Marsh, Ed Lidgard for Court, Wally Fromm for Grey, Jim Broderick for Angus McDonald, and Gerald Ritzenthaler, the 1959 Nordic Glider World Champion who changed his name to Ritz, flew for E H Harold.

There was a six person Canadian Team including Bob Milligan, of Toronto, Ontario, who was on the 1938 Team, Levelle Walter, of Windsor, Ontario, John Cotte, of Ottawa, Ontario, Jim Wood, of Windsor, Ontario, Leonard Dickie of Ottawa, Ontario, and Roy Nelder, of Toronto, Ontario, an outstanding aeromodeller.

The Team from Great Britain was led by Bob Copland, 33, a team member in 1936, '38, and '39; Len Stott GBTeam Member in 1938 and 1939; Flight Lt A D Piggott RAF, 26; P C Doughty, 32; M J King RAF,19; and Roy Chesterton. No Wakefields came from France, the Netherlands, South Africa, or Germany this time. The stage was set...!

ROUND 1: The Contest opened at 10 :20am on the morning of August 27, the beginning of a brutally hot, 85 degrees F and humid day, with next to little wind drift. Again there was a draw, to choose who would fly first. Roy Chesterton won the draw. Was this prophetic? The Wakefields were launched ROG from the concrete taxi strip. On his first flight Roy's "Jaguar" performed perfectly, with 1000 turns on the Dunlop rubber motor, it banked left on the initial torque burst, then as Roy remembers "...slowly to starboard and settled down to a steady climb in 100 foot circles. I had decided on a five minute dethermalizer fuse... it continued to glide in rather large circles, sinking slowly. It landed 300 yards from the take-off point after a flight of 4 minutes 46.5 seconds." Next to take-off was Bob Copland flying his classic streamliner to 4 minute 9.3 second total. Otto Curth flying proxy for B B Marsh did 2 minutes 58.2 second total. James Cahill had a less than spectacular flight of 1 minute 4 seconds. Dick Korda had a fast climb, but no glide, and was down faster, within 1 minute 43.6 seconds. Bob Holland's Wakefield , using 20 strands of 1/4 inch T-56 rubber, was down in 2 minutes 3.2 seconds, and Coryell managed only 3 minutes 28 seconds. Roy Chesterton was in the lead, and Bob Copland was second!

ROUND 2: Roy: "There seemed just no time at all between the first and the second flights. This time I packed in 1050 on the nose block right in position for the last 50 turns and, with Bob Copland holding the machine and wincing, as the last turns went on. The take-off was quite good again, but the climb was very slightly to the left - probably the result of a few more turns. Than came a disconcerting moment when the "Jaguar" hung on its propeller and stalled slightly (?) but it pulled out quite nicely and continued to climb quickly." 6 minutes 2.4 seconds for Roy Chesterton. Meanwhile Otto Curth flying proxy for BB Marsh went ahead with a towering flight of 12 minutes, 11.1 seconds. Coryell was second now with a 7 minute 37 second flight. Chesterton was third. Bob Cahill turned in a 7 minute 44.2 second flight for fourth place behind Chesterton. Bob Milligan was fifth now after turning in an 8 minute 48 second flight, Bob Copland was sixth.

ROUND 3: Roy Chesterton decided to be conservative on his last flight, trying not to make his Teammate Bob Copland wince as he is quoted on his last flight. "Having considered the shaky start of the second flight, it was decided not to experiment with the trim but to put 100 less turns on the last flight and sacrifice some of the initial burst of power and that, it seemed, coupled with the fact that there would be no DT fuse, should prevent a recurrence of a semi-stalled condition. The third round was officially opened at 1:00pm, and the question arose, whether to wait and risk a freshening breeze or fly and sit on a bed of nails until the end of the competition and "sweat it out". I chose the latter course, because there were enough thermals about if one could get high enough to take advantage of them. With no DT to worry about, I concentrated on a good wind of 950 turns. The initial climb was less spectacular, but with a slight turn to the right there was no sign of a stall and the model got up quickly. It was soon obvious that it would be the last and best flight for me. It climbed and drifted steadily across the field, whilst the jeep kept directly underneath. After ten minutes... it was apparent that following it would be useless. It had been aloft for a full 15 minutes when we saw the last turn of the silver propeller as it climbed away faster, and we turned about to check the official time. Eight minutes thirty two and nine tenths seconds. From 1:30pm until 5:00pm that afternoon was the longest afternoon I have ever had to endure."

Roy wins for England!Otto Curth had a chance, but only managed 2:28.3 late in the day. Meanwhile Jim Cahill having lost his Wakefield during round two, was still downwind searching for it in the woods. Tom Coryell had a good chance also, but he waited until the last moment to fly, and there was no lift. Tom was down in 1:42.8. It was all over. A frustrated Dick Korda exasperated by his own performance was heard to mutter "...heaven help us if they ever go to folders". Roy Chesterton was the last person from Great Britain to win the Wakefield Cup, outright.