A brief history of Carrier Deck
Control Line Carrier was first flown at the 1950 US National Championships in Dallas, Texas. No details are available of the rules, although it was a single class flown on 60ft lines with probably no limit on engine size and this first event established the basic requirements of a take off, high speed run, low speed run and arrested landing.
The earliest documented rules appear to be those for 1957-58, where the details were recognisably similar to the current scale Carrier rules, although it was still a single class with no limit to engine size. The early 60s saw the growing use of .35 powered models competing in this single class and, on occasion, beating the larger engines. This eventually resulted in the separation of Carrier into two classes in 1964 or 1965, the classes being essentially different size engine versions of the preceeding single class. Class 1 was for .40s and below, and Class 2 was for .401 to .65cu.in. engines. Both classes required scale models and the emphasis in both was on high speed. This resulted in models being designed primarily for the fast run, with the model's slow run abilities being enhanced by a huge range of slow run devices limited only by the features found on the full size prototype. Models therefore sported flaps, ailerons, rudder, dive brakes, slats and slots.
Carrier was first flown in the UK during the BMFA National Championships at RNAS Yeovilton in 1968. The US Class 1 & 2 rules were borrowed by the BMFA and combined into the single British scale class. For the next few years until the mid 70's, UK Scale Carrier enjoyed its heyday.
The class of Profile Carrier was introduced in the US in 1969 to provide a simple beginner's event. Models had to have profile fuselages, minimum wing areas of 300 sq.in., only a scale-like appearance and a maximum engine size of .36cu.in. Models were still allowed to reproduce all the slow run devices found in the scale classes.
Due to very high top speeds being achieved in all US classes, all US rules were changed in 1976 to eliminate tuned pipes and to encourage slower speeds, although there was still more emphasis on high speed than on low. 1977 saw the establishment of the US' 600 maximum attitude rule to prevent excessive slow speed practices.
The UK class of Profile 40 Carrier was introduced to provide a nursery class for Scale Carrier, but turned into a separate and serious class in its own right in 1980. Models had to have profile fuselages, a maximum engine size of .40 cu.in and there was a maximum scoring speed of 75mph to reduce the emphasis on powerful engines. As with the US Profile class, models were allowed to reproduce all the slow run devices found in the scale classes.
The Profile 40 class replaced the Scale class as the most popular form of Carrier in the UK sometime during the late 70's and the early 80's. By the mid 80's, the profile class itself had diminished to a few stalwarts and the last event was held in 1986.
Nearly a decade afterwards, the Carrier enthusiasts of the London-based club of the Three Kings Aeromodellers, concerned at the complete loss of this control line discipline, developed a new UK Carrier class specifically aimed at beginners and called Basic Carrier Deck. This required the simplest of models and placed greatest emphasis on slow speed. The class was an immediate success, with six competitions in the South during 1994, serviced by the original Three Kings' carrier deck. By 1998, this had developed to eleven contests spread across the whole of the UK, three in Europe (the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany), four UK and three European carrier decks, an international Carrier Championship sponsored by the UK model engine company of Merco and an organisation, the Carrier Air Group, who are able to provide training, plans, information packs and equipment at all events.
In 1997, the scale US Class 1 Carrier contest class was introduced into the UK to cater for the BCD experts who wished to have a more advanced class to move up to, and for those aeromodellers who yearned for the sight, sounds and technical complexity of modelling and operating scale naval aircraft.
Introduction to BCD
Introduction to Class1
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