DAVID WIGLEY >> SCALE COMPETITION
Having competed in the Masters Class at Top Gun for many years, I’ve won the “Mr.
Top Gun” award four times with my scratch-built Westland Wyvern and Bristol Beaufighter. I have also held a judging seminar to share some of the secrets of my success. As Harry Higley has said, “There are no secrets!”, and to me, that’s what our hobby is all about: sharing our ideas and accomplishments with fellow modelers. Over the years of building and flying competition scale models, I have always tried to learn as much as I can from those who have been successful. I save magazine articles that demonstrate a good technique and make notes for future reference. When I see some really nice detailed feature on a model, I’ll ask the builder how it was done. Here are some of my tips for success.
When it comes to static judging, one of the biggest mistakes that people make is giving the judges too much information. Remember, you start out with a perfect score of 100, then they downgrade from there. The trick is to give the judges enough information but avoid giving them opportunities to take points away. At events like Top Gun, AMA Nationals, and the Scale Masters, your final score is heavily weighted toward the static score, not the flying rounds. I’ve won because I have put a lot of effort into making sure that I didn’t leave any points on the static table. You do, of course, have to be able to fly precisely, but no amount of precision flying will improve your static score.
When it comes to flight scores, let’s face it: Judges are human. As such, they strive to be fair and consistent, but they have already seen lots of P-47s and Mustangs and have scored countless split-Ss and Immelmanns. I think one of the reasons why
I’ve done well is because I choose unusual subjects. You can really improve your score if you put together a flight plan that is unique and interesting. The judges will like it and reward you accordingly. It’s also important to practice if you want to do well and strive for reliability. Everything on your competition airplane must work perfectly all the time. You can’t expect to fly well if you’re constantly scrambling to fi x things at the last minute. And that goes for your support equipment as well as your caller; everything and everybody— must be reliable.
JEVERYTHING ON YOUR COMPETITION AIRPLANE MUST WORK PERFECTLY ALL THE TIME. YOU CAN’T EXPECT TO FLY WELL IF YOU’RE CONSTANTLY SCRAMBLING TO FIX THINGS AT THE LAST MINUTE.