February 2001 131
severAl InTeresTIng evenTs took place during the
2000 Combat season.
In July, the Academy of Model Aeronautics-sponsored Control
Line team made its way to Landres, France, to compete against
competitors from all inhabited continents in the Control Line
World Championships.
The US sent teams for Speed, Team Race, Stunt, and Combat.
Representatives for the Combat event were Tom Fluker, Mike
Willcox, George Cleveland, and Junior member Skyler Skelley.
The effort required to get pilots from across the US to one place
on the planet requires much planning and forethought. Thanks to
Bill Lee, for all of his hard work as team manager.
The French organizers went to considerable trouble to set up the
venue and provide flying circles worthy of a World Championships.
Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, and it dampened
the bulk of the competition. We suffered from rain, rain, and more
rain. At times it was difficult to get from one event to another,
because of the mud and puddles in the main pathways.
Although the main circles were beautifully laid out and
spectator-friendly, the competitors suffered from the lack of an
immediate practice area.
CONTROL LINE COMBAT
Rich von Lopez, 8334 Colegio Dr., Los Angeles CA 90045
Ukrainians Stanislav Chorny and Igor Milenin do battle in the finals of the CL World Championships. Chorny won the title.
The author brought these Redko engines back from France. They
are well-engineered and beautifully machined.
Bob Carver (L), who has sponsored the Bladder Grabber for
many years, congratulates 2000 edition champ Rich von Lopez.
132 M ODEL AVIATION
The organizers did provide a practice site,
which was approximately 10 minutes from the
main flying area. To use it, you had to pack up
your gear, throw it in the car, set it up at the
practice site, then return it to the main field.
The Combat pilots were told they could
not use the fields next to the Combat circles,
and that the contest circles could not be used
for practice during the lunch break. I
understand that you must be ready when you
arrive for a World Championships, but
practice sites are needed all day long, within
walking distance of the main circles.
The American team had an unfortunate
incident early one morning, before the
start of the day’s flying.
Mike Willcox had the last flight one
day, and he was first one on the list to fly
the following day. He had damaged models
from his last bout and he needed to clean
out his front-line engines, so he was happy
to have a night to get ready.
The problem arose when Mike decided
he needed to put up a couple test flights
before his match.
Since no test-flying was permitted on the
contest circles and the practice field did not
open until 8 a.m.—the same time as Mike’s
match—he decided to go out to the
countryside for a couple of quick flights.
The organizers had made it clear that the
only places to fly were the contest circles
and the official practice field.
One of the high-ranking organizers was
driving to the contest, when he spotted
Mike test-flying. Using his authority, the
official confiscated Mike’s models.
Mike protested his 8:00 match so he
could regain possession of his impounded
airplanes. After a great deal of worrying
and a very diplomatic apology, he was
able to continue later that day.
Mike looked really comfortable while
he was flying, and he put a string of five
straight wins together before his two
losses put him out. His effort was good
enough for a tie for sixth place.
With three wins, Tom Fluker finished
in a tie for 13th place. George Cleveland
and Skyler Skelley earned one win
apiece, for a 33rd-place tie. Skyler
represented himself well, and he was
impressive during all his bouts.
There was nothing new in the area of
model-airframe design or technology at this
contest. Pilots from a variety of nations
used store-bought Czechoslovakian- and
Ukrainian-made models. I suppose
everyone is pressed for time these days, and
it’s more cost-effective to purchase models
rather than build them.
Mike Whillance of Great Britain used
all-foam models. His aircraft had plenty of
wing area, and they flew with the best of
the Russian-style models. Mike’s dad Stan
likes to build, and he keeps Mike supplied
with models for use as whackers.
And whack them, Mike did—usually
two per bout.
Toward the end of the contest, you
could get all varieties of models for $20-
$35. Depending on how picky you were,
February 2001 133
you could come away with a whole fleet
for next to nothing. Transporting models
back to the US was the real problem.
Team Finland hired former World
Champion Slava Believ and his son Sergei
to pit and chase streamers. It was strange
not to see them participating as pilots.
Finland’s number-one pilot is Jari Valo,
who always has some of the fastest models
at the World Champs. He works very hard
at getting the most out of each engine, and
he takes great care with all the details. Jari
finished with only one win.
Boris Faizov of Russia is another
consistently fast pilot, and he has some of
the cleanest equipment you can find.
However, speed is not everything; Boris
went out early with no wins.
There were plenty of newly designed
engines to view and purchase, if you could
produce the greenbacks. The trend these
days is to put the venturi on the inboard
side of the engine, facing forward.
The Cyclon engines on the Internet had
inboard venturis facing rearward, but the
versions for sale in Landres were forwardfacing.
Zorro, KTN (Moscow), and Redko
engines were also sporting this new look.
The Redko went one step further by
incorporating an integral engine-mount
backplate, and doing away with mounting
lugs. Defending Junior World Champion
Alexander Gussev used the new Redko.
I was most impressed by the KTN and
the more-conventional Fora engine, from
the Ukraine. A couple of these seemed to
be developing more torque, and they
were being given propellers with more
pitch than we are used to seeing.
I watched 2000 World Champion
Stanislav Chorny during a number of
his practice flights, and I was interested
in the engines he was using. Before I
could make a deal, I learned that
George Cleveland was selling all the
engines Stanislav was using.
George is the owner of GRS Models,
2121 North Causeway Blvd., Metarie LA
70001; Tel.: (504) 443-4640. He has been
importing models and other hobby stuff from
the Ukraine, and what I have seen so far is
quite good in terms of quality and price.
Give George a call if you are
interested in Combat equipment. He is
supposed to import the Fora and make it
available in the United States.
I purchased two of the new Redkos from
Alexander Redko. I don’t need another
engine to run, but this design is quite unique
and it has been producing a great deal of
power on a variety of propellers.
The Ukrainians dominated this World
Championships, placing first and second.
Igor Milenin fell to his teammate
Stanislav Chorny in the final. Zorro
engine-builder Igor Zolnerkevitch of
Belarus took the third-place podium spot.
Former World Champion Loet
Wakkerman looked as though he might
make it the finals, but he fell short.
During the lunch break on the final day,
we were treated to a ladies’ Combat
demonstration by Laura Leino and Monique
Wakkerman. Both are very talented.
Serghei Dementiev of Moldavia finished in
a tie for 10th place, and he was awarded the
Junior World Champion title for his effort.
The competition was well-run,
although the rain delays made it difficult
to schedule viewing of particular pilots.
Stunt pilot Paul Walker had an
incredible effort with a four-engine B-17
bomber, in an event that is as subjective as
Olympics diving or gymnastics. Paul stole
the show! I don’t think anyone has ever
attempted to fly a multiengine aircraft in
this event at a World Championships.
Yes, this is a Combat column, but the B-17
is a Combat aircraft that runs on a bladder,
gets one-flip starts, and has a true Combat
pilot pit crew (Howard Rush). Paul lit up each
O.S. Max 15 on one flip almost every time.
Paul flew better than the ninth place
the judges gave him.
The French have not seen a B-17 fly over
their soil in many years. Some of the men
and women can probably still remember the
impact this aircraft had on their lives.
To add to the drama of the B-17, Bill
Werwage flew a spectacular Republic
Thunderbolt to sixth place.
In other news, I won the Bladder
Grabber, Gary Perkins won the Riverside
triple-elimination Fast Combat contest,
and Mike Willcox won the Houston
Combat Classic. MA
