ANAHEIM : Fly-Off Lets 2 Schools Air Rivalry

Jimmy Chu was nervous moments before the Anaheim Union High School District’s first “Top Gun” competition for propane-powered model airplanes began Friday at Savanna High School.

The Magnolia High senior was the lead designer of his school’s plane, which was about to fly in the two-school competition against a plane from archrival Savanna. He said he was more apprehensive than he was before big games as a member of the football team.

“We have to hope it flies or they are going to make fun of us,” he said, pointing to the Savanna team members and their 200 classmates, who had come to the athletic field to cheer their team on. “This is about school pride.”

Chu, 18, didn’t need to worry--his plane performed almost flawlessly as Magnolia defeated Savanna on a tiebreaker. The Magnolia team received a four-foot-tall trophy.

Both teams of about 10 members each watched nervously as their planes hurtled down Savanna’s dirt running track, and each broke into loud cheers as its plane took off and headed skyward.

The competition was the culmination of the district’s Saturday Enrichment Academy aeronautics class. For four hours most Saturdays since September, members of both teams have gathered at Savanna for lessons in the principles of flight taught by the Compton Tail Spinners, a volunteer group of model airplane enthusiasts.

The teams spent the first months of the program building two radio-controlled balsa planes from kits. But since March, the teams have been in separate rooms secretly designing their own planes, which are each about three feet long, with a propeller in the nose.

Because the school year is almost over and time was running out, the final planes were built by the Tail Spinners from designs submitted by the teams. The main difference between the planes, which are decorated in school colors, is that Chu decided to place the wings higher on his fuselage. That reduced speed but increased his plane’s stability, said Charles Kelly, a member of the Tail Spinners who led the class.

Savanna’s plane had been judged aesthetically superior, and neither team missed a question on an oral test about aeronautics, such as wing loading, angle of attack and aspect ratio.

But Magnolia’s plane flew slightly better, so even though the final score was tied, Magnolia was deemed the winner.