Oakland Cloud Dusters

To be presented at the 2027 North California Free Flight Council Banquet

The winner will be determined by the sum of their scores on the three listed events for the entirety of the contests held at Waegell Field for the 2026 contest season.

• Catapult Mass Launch. (One flight… No Max)
• OCD Catapult. (Best three of six attempts…Two minute max…Fourth and subsequent maxes would of course increase the score for that day)
• AMA Catapult. (Best three of six attempts… 90 second max… Fourth and subsequent maxes would of course increase the score for that day)

All Flight scores will be submitted on cards to the CD that day. Rocco will collect the scores that day and maintain those records. Scorecards are to be maintained by the contest director and scores submitted to Robert Hanford for national cup point recording. If Rocco is unable to attend a contest, he will collect the scores from the CD that weekend and continue maintaining the records. Again, the sum total of these flight times for the 2026 season will determine the winner of the Critchlow trophy. Rocco currently is in possession of the trophy… All past winners have been engraved properly on the nameplate…

The OCD High Launch pole with a 40 gram rubber band will be set up at all remaining contests.  To support the OCD Cat Glider event, plans of a successful model are also included.

Sponsored by
Rocco Ferrario (naparocco@yahoo.com)
Loren Vanderbeek (lorenvanderbeek@yahoo.com)

SGMA contest which was scheduled for February 21st, 2026 is cancelled due to water and mud on the field and windy weather prediction.

The Western States Champs is moved from the weekend of April 25 to the previous weekend of April 18 to avoid a conflict with the San Valeers Annual in Lost Hills.

Fred Terzian was contacted by late Earl Cayton’s family members, to collect some of Earl Cayton’s models from his apartment in San Francisco. Earl had lived at that address for many years, easily going back more than 60 years. He was on our OCD roster going back to that time, to the best of our knowledge. He could only be reached through his mailing address. He was also a member of SAM 27 at least from the Eighties (or possibly longer). He published his designs in various model magazines starting in the Fifties, and also modeling related cartoons.

Among the models Fred collected from the apartment, there were four different sizes of his Skyfire design of which, only one was previously known to us. That was the smaller 1/2A version with 37″ wingspan, which is on the NFFS Nostalgia Approved Designs list. It had a Cox Medallion .049 on it. The other three and the engines installed on them are; a larger wingspan 1/2A with a Fox .049, an A size version with a McCoy .19 and a B size version with a K&B Torpedo .23. Fred is planning to submit the previously unknown sizes to the Nostalgia committee for approval.

Skyfire is a unique design with its forward-swept wing and stabilizer. The plans for the 37″ wingspan 1/2A model seen in the pictures below are available on Outerzone: https://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=3521

This year, to save costs, we are not mailing our request for donations to the entire mailing list. After you decide to donate to the “Friends of Waegell Field” you may send your donation to:

Jerry Fitch – 6283 Surfside Way Sacramento CA 95831

Flyers are extremely grateful for the support of The Friends of Waegell Fund. As before, checks
for the 2026 memberships ($50) are made out to Jerry Fitch, not to FWF or Sierra Eagles, and
mailed to Jerry’s address above. Please remember, Friends of Waegell Field do not have to pay field rental fees at any contest on Waegell Field. Please be a “Friend”.

Saturday is the main day for the contest. If we have bad weather on Saturday we will try to have the contest on Sunday.

Council Officers for the 2026 season;

• President: Fred Terzian
• Vice President: Loren Vanderbeek
• Secretary-Treasurer: Jerry Fitch

Flight Rules: Cat III

Note: Nor-Cal FAI will be full maxes, unless weather conditions force shorter maxes which may occur at any roundChase bikes MUST be equipped with a US Forest Service Approved Spark arrestor. Smoking permitted in designated areas only, during dry season.

Please see below a survey from the Open Space Authority to collect feedback on potential uses of Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve. Free flighters in the Bay Area are urged to fill out the survey and suggest opening the terrain to model airplane use.

Provide input on future trail access!
Have you visited Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve? If so, we want to hear from you! To the north of the existing Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve are over 1,500 acres of recently protected valley floor lands currently being planned through the Coyote Valley Conservation Areas Master Plan (CVCAMP). The Open Space Authority is considering potential trails that would provide access to these properties. Click here to take our Coyote Valley Regional Connections Survey Your feedback will help as we plan the future of public access on these protected lands.

Oakland Cloud Dusters web site has been moved to a new hosting platform as of July 3rd, 2024.