Author: Mark Rudner
Edition: Model Aviation - 2014/09
Page Numbers: 129,130,131
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CL COMBAT - 2014/09

A weekend of firsts

by Mark Rudner [email protected]

As I write this, today is June 9, 2014, and I’ve recently returned from the Limfjords Competition F2D World Cup in Aalborg, Denmark. It was a great contest with a high level of flying, beautiful weather, and smooth organization throughout. Moreover, it was a weekend of several firsts.

First, this was the first time that I have camped out at a contest. In the US, camping at a Combat contest is not unheard of, but I would say it is an exception rather than the norm. In Europe it seems to be the opposite, with a large number of competitors usually camping at the field. When I found out that my fellow club members and I would be camping in Aalborg, I was initially worried. Where would I work on airplanes? What if the weather was bad and I didn’t sleep well? Would my flying be affected? What would we eat?

Although some amenities — such as a shower with hot water — were missing, it was convenient to be able to roll out of bed/bag in the morning and be right on the field. Plus, the Aalborg Aviators club has an amazing clubhouse with a fully stocked kitchen, two bathrooms, and a workshop situated between the Combat and Racing circles. Competitors could open a tab in the kitchen and get food and drinks throughout the competition. This was hardly “roughing it.”

During the daylight hours, which at this time of year extend well past 10 p.m., a patio with picnic tables and a sunshade made a perfect spot for setting up airplanes and prepping engines. At approximately 8 p.m. on Saturday, the club put on a barbecue that couldn’t be beat. By 9:30, the food was gone and it was time to go into the workshop and prepare equipment for Sunday, and by midnight, everything was ready. I didn’t get up until the next morning when I got a wake-up call from the sun at 4:30 a.m. In all, camping at the contest was a good experience. The camaraderie added a nice dimension to the weekend.

Another First

Another first of the weekend was the organizers’ use of a fully electronic scoring and contest-management program developed by Alex Prokofiev. The software package has been used extensively in the US for the past couple of years, and an earlier version has been used for many years in Russia. The automatic-draw feature saves an incredible amount of time and work compared with the manual (numbered Ping-Pong ball) system. The program also allows the organizers’ laptop to function as a Web server, giving everyone on the field the opportunity to instantly access the latest scores, upcoming matches, and other important announcements from any Wi‑Fi‑enabled device (smartphone, tablet, etc.). It may take time for competitors and organizers to use this new system to its fullest potential, but it is an overdue step into the 21st century.

First International Electric Combat Competition

The final first of the weekend was the running of the first international Electric Combat competition. Although I would have liked to participate, I decided to maintain my focus on F2D in order to best prepare for the upcoming World Championship. The Electric Combat matches were flown in a new experimental format. Each match consisted of two 2-minute heats, with a 1-minute battery-change break in between. Each pilot was allowed one airplane per heat, and the scoring was otherwise similar to F2D (100 points per cut, two points per second of airtime). Cumulative points from the two heats were used to determine the winner.

From my perspective, the format was well suited to the current technology. The shorter heat periods encouraged pilots to use maximum power (rather than flying slower to try to conserve battery life), which led directly to more exciting action in the air.

A few weeks before the competition, Ole Bjerager (one of my fellow club members in Copenhagen) decided to get an Electric Combat setup together and asked what parts to buy. Based upon previous experiments, I recommended that he visit the HobbyKing website and order the following:

  • Motor: NTM Prop Drive Series 35-36A 1,800 Kv / 875 W ($21)
  • ESC: HobbyKing 50-amp Blue Series Brushless Speed Controller ($25)
  • Battery: Turnigy nano-tech 1,300 mAh 4S 45–90C LiPo Pack ($19)

At a hobby store in Copenhagen, Ole found some 7 x 6 e-propellers, brand unknown. To start and stop the motor, he used a 2.4 GHz pistol-grip transmitter/receiver combination, which is standard on RC cars.

In one of the photos, you can see how Ole mounted all of these parts in a standard F2D model. With this configuration, the conversion from glow to electric can be made in roughly 30 minutes. The thin plastic sheet that covers the electronics bay restores the shape of the wing well and provides a convenient access hatch for getting at the components inside.

Ole’s models had great power and speed; however, with a few extra ounces of weight as compared with a good F2D model, he could not make extremely sharp, snappy turns. On the other hand, the electric motor seemed to maintain speed better through the corners than its internal-combustion counterparts. Endurance was an issue for Ole. At full power, he was only able to get 1:15 to 1:30 minutes on a single charge.

Lothar Hentschel slightly reduced his top speed to increase his total flying time. Given the high top speed, Ole’s model might have been reasonably competitive for F2D Fast, where matches tend to be shorter. In the end, the rankings were:

  • Electric Combat: 1st Lothar Hentschel (Germany); 2nd Ole Bjerager (Denmark); 3rd Leo Voss (Netherlands).
  • F2D main event: 1st Stanislav Chornyy (Ukraine); 2nd Boris Jalunins (Latvia, now living in Germany); 3rd Henning Forbech (Denmark).

Stas Chornyy’s two young children, Ivan and Dmytro, came in second and third in the Junior age division. Morten Friis Nielsen of Denmark took first place. Despite their youth and size, both Ivan and Dmytro showed good fundamentals in their flying. If they keep practicing, I’m sure they will become tough opponents in the coming years.

That’s all for now. Fly hard and keep cutting streamers.

Sources

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.