CL Combat
Rich von Lopez, 8334 Colegio Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90045
RTF equipment and practice
The availability of Ready-to-Fly (RTF) equipment has transformed how we approach contest preparation and the competition itself. Many of us have been doing much more practice flying than we ever did in the past when we had to build our own models. You don't mind losing a model from time to time since you don't have a lot of time invested in building it.
Although I still build many of my models, I supplement the fleet with store-bought airplanes. I bring practice models to almost every outing so I can get in a little streamer-chasing. Mark and Chuck Rudner do the same. Pat Willcox goes so far as to keep practice models stashed across the country, so that when he alights in a city with modelers he has some ready-to-go equipment.
The opportunity to practice and compete with good equipment on a regular basis is available to anyone who is interested. I prefer my own models to those I can buy, but I will use the purchased aircraft to keep in practice. You need to compensate for slower reflexes as you get older; being well-practiced will allow you to use those reflexes to the maximum.
There is an old saying that goes something like, "Luck is where preparation and opportunity meet." Although the RTF models are quite good, you need to look at them carefully and give them a few test flights to take out any warps. At our practice field in Los Angeles, someone always has a portable generator so that a heating iron can be plugged in to unwarp models.
Memories of building
In the olden days, when Combat fliers Stubblefield and Cleveland were mere boys, you had to pin balsa structures together and wait for the Testors or Ambroid to dry before you could go on to the next building step. I guess we had a lot of time on our hands, and we knew the meaning of the word patience.
Then we would painstakingly cover these balsa structures with silkspan or, if we had the money, silk or nylon. The fuel-proofing process was long and required numerous coats of butyrate or nitrate dope. The fumes these substances emitted must be responsible for at least some of the senior moments I have begun to experience or some of my long- and short-term memory loss. These fumes may also be responsible in part for a bit of my hearing loss; they rose from the garage up into the main part of the house, which was followed by Mom yelling at me for creating the nauseating odor in her house.
These old silk-covered VooDoos became our artwork, with many emotional ties. At times I even talked to the models as I was covering and doping them. I wonder if the dope fumes caused me to talk to my airplanes. With so much time tied up in each model, you were reluctant to fly practice matches since you needed to save the model for an upcoming contest. Ah yes, those were the good old days.
Making RTF models last — recommendations
I have a couple of recommendations for making the RTF models last longer and preventing unnecessary crashes:
- Inspect covering seams
- The seam areas of the covering need to be tight and well sealed. Thin strips of Fascal were often used to go over all the seams.
- Reinforce the leadout area
- The leadout lines need to be attached securely and reinforced so that when a catapult or a rough landing jars the area, the lines will not pull free.
- Strengthen the nose and firewall
- Many RTF ships use soft balsa or plywood that is not well glued in place. Remove and reglue these areas with aliphatic resin and add small hardwood doublers where the engine and tank will be mounted.
- Add hardwood anchor points
- Add small blocks for the leadout anchor points so the attachment is into hardwood. These reinforcements take only a little time and may save you from losing the model.
- Check controls and linkages
- Make sure the control surfaces and hinges are secure and that the pushrods do not bind. Bent or loose wire in the bellcrank area will cause erratic control and may lead to a crash.
- Balance and trim
- Check the balance. Many RTF models have a center of gravity (CG) that is too far aft. Move weight forward if necessary, and trim the model so it flies predictably.
- Field repairs and hardware upgrades
- I like Fascal because of the quality pressure-sensitive adhesive that comes on it. This makes it ideal for on-field repairs.
- Check the pushrod-to-control-horn attachment piece. Some Russian and Czech models come with a brass fitting with a setscrew; I have experienced several failures of that brass piece. A reliable fix is to use a wheel collar and a 4-40 Allen-head screw. Du-Bro makes several sizes of wheel collars—measure the pushrod before you go to the hobby shop.
These precautions will help you avoid the awful feeling of trying to give your model up- or down-control, only to learn that it does not want to respond. This is often followed by a quick thunk into the ground and lots of laughter from your friends who are watching.
Covering failures and crash consequences
Several of us have experienced the covering peeling off or tearing in the middle of a flight. If you are lucky, you will be able to fly out the tank of fuel and land the model without damage. If you are not so lucky, the model will kick into the ground with a thunk and you will hear the sound of laughter.
I don't like to disassemble my engines unless I absolutely need to. If an engine hits the ground, chances are good that it will have dirt in it. A crash will also cost you the propeller ($3–$5) and maybe much more, depending on the damage to the model.
Contests, engines, and results
The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) 2001 Control Line Combat Team Selection Program was set for August 31–September 2, 2001 in Houston, Texas. The Houston group put in a bid and received a majority vote to host the trials. At stake were three spots for Open members and one spot for a Junior member to represent the United States in the World Championships, to be held in Germany in 2002. The dates and particulars had not been finalized at the time.
Mike Willcox has been working hard to promote FAI Combat in the United States, and he established a World Cup contest in the past three years. This year it took place in Houston the weekend of April 28–29. There were 21 entries for this strictly by-the-rules contest.
The Houston group held a 1/2A contest the Friday before the FAI World Cup event. Mike Willcox won, followed by Lee Liddle in second and Don Cranfill in third. All three podium finishers used the Cyclon .049 from Alexander Kalimkov of Novosibirsk, Russia. Alexander is a world-renowned speed flier who is creative in his approach to engine designs. The workmanship on his Cyclon engines is excellent—the machining and precision fit of parts is something to be admired. I have several generations of his .15-size engines, which are all quite good. His .049 has changed the way we do business in 1/2A Combat.
Top finishers in the FAI event were:
- Richard Stubblefield — first
- Roy Krupa — second
- Mike Willcox — third
- Lee Liddle — fourth
- Tom Fluker — fifth
Richard Stubblefield is an amazing competitor. He has the drive to win and keeps his skills polished to do so, in spite of being a senior citizen who does not use corrective lenses for his vision. He should be on everyone's list for entry into the Combat Hall of Fame.
Equipment notes from the winners:
- Richard Stubblefield used a Fora engine mounted on a Wakkemann-type model.
- Roy Krupa used a KTM inboard-intake engine.
- Mike Willcox used the new inboard-intake Cyclon he obtained on a recent visit to Ekaterinburg, Russia.
This is a well-run contest that you may want to put on your calendar for 2002.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
