I HAVE RECENTLY had to clear out my
old workshop in the family home in Daly
City, California, because of the impending
sale of the home. There is an extra vanload of
old magazines in my garage. They date back
to the mid-1970s and were neatly stored in
binders.
The old Model Builder magazines contain
some fascinating reading related to CL
Combat written by Dirty Dan Rutherford on
his manual typewriter. Today’s college
students have probably never seen a manual
typewriter, or an electric typewriter for that
matter. Dirty Dan thought it was humorous
when he discovered that he could hold down
the “x” key on his new electric machine to
cross out words and sentences he wanted
to delete.
I found many interesting photographs and
writings by Charlie Johnson in MA. It is
fascinating to see many active Combat pilots
as they looked some 30 years ago. Greg Hill
was just a kid, Chuck and Muffy Rudner were
hippies, Steve Hill wore bell-bottom pants,
Howard Rush wore a clown suit, and Mike
Hoffelt built some incredibly labor-intensive
Mono-Boom models.
Many of those shown have long since
retired from Combat, yet many remain
involved to this date—albeit with white hair
or no hair at all.
You can find some innovative ideas in
these magazines that were being tested in the
1970s, one of which was a molded-fiberglass
LE and bladder compartment made by Steve
Sacco of New England. I first saw these at the
Riverside National Championships in 1977
and thought they were unique and creative.
Current F2D World Champion Igor
Trifonov used a similar idea this past year to
earn a repeat title. He molded his LEs from
Also included in this column:
• Pete Athans’ new “foamie”
models
• More about ZALP engines
• Fuel shutoffs
• Combat in Northern
California
The molded-Kevlar-LE model
flown by F2D World Champion
Igor Trifonov of Russia.
Mike Whillance of the
United Kingdom likes to
add color to his models
so his pit crew can find
them easily after a crash.
The inboard view of the Danish fuel-shutoff device.
Kevlar and incorporated a carbon-fiber TE
and center rib.
Volodymyr Vesych of Ukraine also used
a molded-carbon-fiber LE on his models and
a nonadjustable molded engine mount. At
one time these were available through GRS
models.
The use of composite materials allows for
more consistency in model weights from one
aircraft to another. All balsa airplanes and
combination balsa-and-foam airplanes differ
from one to the next because of the varying
densities of wood components. You might
not think foam would vary in weight, but it
does from batch to batch.
I found a tremendous number of
construction articles for numerous Combat
designs for 1/2A, FAI, Fast, and Slow events
in these old magazines. These days most
pilots just buy aircraft and use their modelbuilding
skills only to repair damaged
airplanes. I will spend hours reading these
treasured old magazines.
I also had to clear out a fleet of neverbeen-
flown Matador and Samurai models. I
remember spending quite a few hours
building each aircraft in 1977 just before I
moved to Los Angeles. These days it would
be hard to find that amount of time to put into
each model, given how much I fly and
damage equipment.
When I picked up the handle again a few
years later, the foam era had begun so those
models remained in storage all these years.
Perhaps they will fly in the near future with
vintage SuperTigre or Fox engines as “a trip
down memory lane.”
These days it is rare to see an all-balsa
model. Combat pilots 30 years ago had to
build their own airplanes unless they had a
son like Jim McFadden who built
Creamsicles for his dad Norm. I think he had
to do it for room and board.
Pete Athans has, of late, resurfaced with a
reinvigorated zest for building his owndesign
foam F2D models. I was among those
who was skeptical of this venture, wondering
why anyone should or would bother with
building all-foam models when he or she can
buy excellent equipment from the Ukrainians
or Russians.
I am impressed with the models Pete has
designed. They are fast, light, and have
accurate flying characteristics. This is a
serious effort and could prove itself in the
2008 US Combat Team Trials. Peter is using
the new Cyclon PC9 and PC8 engines to
whip his foamies through the sky.
I do not know where the Team Trials will
be held, but rest assured that it will be one
tough shoot-out. There are plenty of pilots in
the United States who have the capability to
compete and be successful on an international
level.
Securing a spot on the American team is
an honor by itself. In some countries all you
have to do to make the national team is raise
your hand and say, “I want to go.”
I have done further testing on the ZALP
engines and have found them to be fully
competitive with anything on the market. I
entered the Red Flag F2D contest in Phoenix,
Arizona, in November 2006 and had some
good results with the ZALPs, finishing
second in the Saturday and Sunday contests.
Darrin Albert flew well and won both
contests. Tom Siegler finished third on
Saturday and Greg Hill finished third on
Sunday.
The ZALPs were faster than most of the
engines there and equal to the best. I now
own six of them and have found the
machining to be fantastic and the clearances
to be consistent.
An example is the depth of the piston to
the top of the cylinder, which was .003 on all
six engines. ZALP builder Vlodomyr Fulitka
sends them out at .006 through the addition
of two .0015 head shims, but I like to add
another .004 worth of shims so the final head
clearance is .010.
I have not yet experimented with a
lower head setting. That is my next move
in trying to get a little more speed out of
these power plants.
As I mentioned in the January column,
ZALP engines are being brought into the
country on a limited basis by Bob Whitney
([email protected]). He is charging roughly
$160 plus the shipping and some bank
transfer charges he had to incur.
The six engines I have are running an
honest 18.2 or 18.1 seconds for eight laps. I
should be able to get them down to 18.0 with
some additional propeller work and maybe
dropping the head button a bit.
If you do decide to order a ZALP, make
certain that you inquire about the availability
of the head-clamp removal tool that is
necessary to take the engine apart. They sell
for $25 and have a socket on one end that fits
the glow and the prop nut. This should be a
one-time purchase unless it gets lost.
You should also get a few more head
shims. They come at .0015 and allow for some
fine-tuning of the compression.
One of the subjects of conversation at the
2006 F2D World Championships was fuelshutoff
designs that could be adapted to the
currently available RTF models. The guys
from Denmark, led by Henning Forbech, have
developed an interesting device that looks
promising. Henning had a good World
Championships and tied for fifth place.
The spring-loaded bellcrank slides toward
the pilot when the model is flying and then
slides toward the outboard wing, pinching off
the fuel line when there is no tension. This
system allows the pilot to retain full control of
the model while gliding in for a landing.
Some of the line-tension devices create
problems for the pilot while trying to land
because of the extra stress put on the leadouts.
The H&R bellcrank shutoffs eliminate this
problem. You can expect the Europeans to
continue with the development of simpler,
low-cost shutoffs that will be adaptable to
existing models.
I have recently been in touch with some new
pilots in Northern California who are able to
obtain state-of-the-art models and engines
through the mail. Patrick O’Halloran and Paul
Eagar pool their money to order equipment
from Eastern Europe.
That is one way to save on shipping and
bank-transfer charges. I trust that they will
have good luck in getting everything to work.
I have put Patrick and Paul in contact with
my old flying partner Ed Bridant from the
Flying Tigers club, who has recently taken up
the handle again. He has been playing with
1/2A and F2D models.
I hope they will revive Combat in that area.
Northern California was once a hotbed of
Combat activity that slowly faded into
hibernation. Perhaps Ed can find some of
those snoozing Flying Tigers and get them to
hunt streamers again.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/03
Page Numbers: 138,139,140
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/03
Page Numbers: 138,139,140
I HAVE RECENTLY had to clear out my
old workshop in the family home in Daly
City, California, because of the impending
sale of the home. There is an extra vanload of
old magazines in my garage. They date back
to the mid-1970s and were neatly stored in
binders.
The old Model Builder magazines contain
some fascinating reading related to CL
Combat written by Dirty Dan Rutherford on
his manual typewriter. Today’s college
students have probably never seen a manual
typewriter, or an electric typewriter for that
matter. Dirty Dan thought it was humorous
when he discovered that he could hold down
the “x” key on his new electric machine to
cross out words and sentences he wanted
to delete.
I found many interesting photographs and
writings by Charlie Johnson in MA. It is
fascinating to see many active Combat pilots
as they looked some 30 years ago. Greg Hill
was just a kid, Chuck and Muffy Rudner were
hippies, Steve Hill wore bell-bottom pants,
Howard Rush wore a clown suit, and Mike
Hoffelt built some incredibly labor-intensive
Mono-Boom models.
Many of those shown have long since
retired from Combat, yet many remain
involved to this date—albeit with white hair
or no hair at all.
You can find some innovative ideas in
these magazines that were being tested in the
1970s, one of which was a molded-fiberglass
LE and bladder compartment made by Steve
Sacco of New England. I first saw these at the
Riverside National Championships in 1977
and thought they were unique and creative.
Current F2D World Champion Igor
Trifonov used a similar idea this past year to
earn a repeat title. He molded his LEs from
Also included in this column:
• Pete Athans’ new “foamie”
models
• More about ZALP engines
• Fuel shutoffs
• Combat in Northern
California
The molded-Kevlar-LE model
flown by F2D World Champion
Igor Trifonov of Russia.
Mike Whillance of the
United Kingdom likes to
add color to his models
so his pit crew can find
them easily after a crash.
The inboard view of the Danish fuel-shutoff device.
Kevlar and incorporated a carbon-fiber TE
and center rib.
Volodymyr Vesych of Ukraine also used
a molded-carbon-fiber LE on his models and
a nonadjustable molded engine mount. At
one time these were available through GRS
models.
The use of composite materials allows for
more consistency in model weights from one
aircraft to another. All balsa airplanes and
combination balsa-and-foam airplanes differ
from one to the next because of the varying
densities of wood components. You might
not think foam would vary in weight, but it
does from batch to batch.
I found a tremendous number of
construction articles for numerous Combat
designs for 1/2A, FAI, Fast, and Slow events
in these old magazines. These days most
pilots just buy aircraft and use their modelbuilding
skills only to repair damaged
airplanes. I will spend hours reading these
treasured old magazines.
I also had to clear out a fleet of neverbeen-
flown Matador and Samurai models. I
remember spending quite a few hours
building each aircraft in 1977 just before I
moved to Los Angeles. These days it would
be hard to find that amount of time to put into
each model, given how much I fly and
damage equipment.
When I picked up the handle again a few
years later, the foam era had begun so those
models remained in storage all these years.
Perhaps they will fly in the near future with
vintage SuperTigre or Fox engines as “a trip
down memory lane.”
These days it is rare to see an all-balsa
model. Combat pilots 30 years ago had to
build their own airplanes unless they had a
son like Jim McFadden who built
Creamsicles for his dad Norm. I think he had
to do it for room and board.
Pete Athans has, of late, resurfaced with a
reinvigorated zest for building his owndesign
foam F2D models. I was among those
who was skeptical of this venture, wondering
why anyone should or would bother with
building all-foam models when he or she can
buy excellent equipment from the Ukrainians
or Russians.
I am impressed with the models Pete has
designed. They are fast, light, and have
accurate flying characteristics. This is a
serious effort and could prove itself in the
2008 US Combat Team Trials. Peter is using
the new Cyclon PC9 and PC8 engines to
whip his foamies through the sky.
I do not know where the Team Trials will
be held, but rest assured that it will be one
tough shoot-out. There are plenty of pilots in
the United States who have the capability to
compete and be successful on an international
level.
Securing a spot on the American team is
an honor by itself. In some countries all you
have to do to make the national team is raise
your hand and say, “I want to go.”
I have done further testing on the ZALP
engines and have found them to be fully
competitive with anything on the market. I
entered the Red Flag F2D contest in Phoenix,
Arizona, in November 2006 and had some
good results with the ZALPs, finishing
second in the Saturday and Sunday contests.
Darrin Albert flew well and won both
contests. Tom Siegler finished third on
Saturday and Greg Hill finished third on
Sunday.
The ZALPs were faster than most of the
engines there and equal to the best. I now
own six of them and have found the
machining to be fantastic and the clearances
to be consistent.
An example is the depth of the piston to
the top of the cylinder, which was .003 on all
six engines. ZALP builder Vlodomyr Fulitka
sends them out at .006 through the addition
of two .0015 head shims, but I like to add
another .004 worth of shims so the final head
clearance is .010.
I have not yet experimented with a
lower head setting. That is my next move
in trying to get a little more speed out of
these power plants.
As I mentioned in the January column,
ZALP engines are being brought into the
country on a limited basis by Bob Whitney
([email protected]). He is charging roughly
$160 plus the shipping and some bank
transfer charges he had to incur.
The six engines I have are running an
honest 18.2 or 18.1 seconds for eight laps. I
should be able to get them down to 18.0 with
some additional propeller work and maybe
dropping the head button a bit.
If you do decide to order a ZALP, make
certain that you inquire about the availability
of the head-clamp removal tool that is
necessary to take the engine apart. They sell
for $25 and have a socket on one end that fits
the glow and the prop nut. This should be a
one-time purchase unless it gets lost.
You should also get a few more head
shims. They come at .0015 and allow for some
fine-tuning of the compression.
One of the subjects of conversation at the
2006 F2D World Championships was fuelshutoff
designs that could be adapted to the
currently available RTF models. The guys
from Denmark, led by Henning Forbech, have
developed an interesting device that looks
promising. Henning had a good World
Championships and tied for fifth place.
The spring-loaded bellcrank slides toward
the pilot when the model is flying and then
slides toward the outboard wing, pinching off
the fuel line when there is no tension. This
system allows the pilot to retain full control of
the model while gliding in for a landing.
Some of the line-tension devices create
problems for the pilot while trying to land
because of the extra stress put on the leadouts.
The H&R bellcrank shutoffs eliminate this
problem. You can expect the Europeans to
continue with the development of simpler,
low-cost shutoffs that will be adaptable to
existing models.
I have recently been in touch with some new
pilots in Northern California who are able to
obtain state-of-the-art models and engines
through the mail. Patrick O’Halloran and Paul
Eagar pool their money to order equipment
from Eastern Europe.
That is one way to save on shipping and
bank-transfer charges. I trust that they will
have good luck in getting everything to work.
I have put Patrick and Paul in contact with
my old flying partner Ed Bridant from the
Flying Tigers club, who has recently taken up
the handle again. He has been playing with
1/2A and F2D models.
I hope they will revive Combat in that area.
Northern California was once a hotbed of
Combat activity that slowly faded into
hibernation. Perhaps Ed can find some of
those snoozing Flying Tigers and get them to
hunt streamers again.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/03
Page Numbers: 138,139,140
I HAVE RECENTLY had to clear out my
old workshop in the family home in Daly
City, California, because of the impending
sale of the home. There is an extra vanload of
old magazines in my garage. They date back
to the mid-1970s and were neatly stored in
binders.
The old Model Builder magazines contain
some fascinating reading related to CL
Combat written by Dirty Dan Rutherford on
his manual typewriter. Today’s college
students have probably never seen a manual
typewriter, or an electric typewriter for that
matter. Dirty Dan thought it was humorous
when he discovered that he could hold down
the “x” key on his new electric machine to
cross out words and sentences he wanted
to delete.
I found many interesting photographs and
writings by Charlie Johnson in MA. It is
fascinating to see many active Combat pilots
as they looked some 30 years ago. Greg Hill
was just a kid, Chuck and Muffy Rudner were
hippies, Steve Hill wore bell-bottom pants,
Howard Rush wore a clown suit, and Mike
Hoffelt built some incredibly labor-intensive
Mono-Boom models.
Many of those shown have long since
retired from Combat, yet many remain
involved to this date—albeit with white hair
or no hair at all.
You can find some innovative ideas in
these magazines that were being tested in the
1970s, one of which was a molded-fiberglass
LE and bladder compartment made by Steve
Sacco of New England. I first saw these at the
Riverside National Championships in 1977
and thought they were unique and creative.
Current F2D World Champion Igor
Trifonov used a similar idea this past year to
earn a repeat title. He molded his LEs from
Also included in this column:
• Pete Athans’ new “foamie”
models
• More about ZALP engines
• Fuel shutoffs
• Combat in Northern
California
The molded-Kevlar-LE model
flown by F2D World Champion
Igor Trifonov of Russia.
Mike Whillance of the
United Kingdom likes to
add color to his models
so his pit crew can find
them easily after a crash.
The inboard view of the Danish fuel-shutoff device.
Kevlar and incorporated a carbon-fiber TE
and center rib.
Volodymyr Vesych of Ukraine also used
a molded-carbon-fiber LE on his models and
a nonadjustable molded engine mount. At
one time these were available through GRS
models.
The use of composite materials allows for
more consistency in model weights from one
aircraft to another. All balsa airplanes and
combination balsa-and-foam airplanes differ
from one to the next because of the varying
densities of wood components. You might
not think foam would vary in weight, but it
does from batch to batch.
I found a tremendous number of
construction articles for numerous Combat
designs for 1/2A, FAI, Fast, and Slow events
in these old magazines. These days most
pilots just buy aircraft and use their modelbuilding
skills only to repair damaged
airplanes. I will spend hours reading these
treasured old magazines.
I also had to clear out a fleet of neverbeen-
flown Matador and Samurai models. I
remember spending quite a few hours
building each aircraft in 1977 just before I
moved to Los Angeles. These days it would
be hard to find that amount of time to put into
each model, given how much I fly and
damage equipment.
When I picked up the handle again a few
years later, the foam era had begun so those
models remained in storage all these years.
Perhaps they will fly in the near future with
vintage SuperTigre or Fox engines as “a trip
down memory lane.”
These days it is rare to see an all-balsa
model. Combat pilots 30 years ago had to
build their own airplanes unless they had a
son like Jim McFadden who built
Creamsicles for his dad Norm. I think he had
to do it for room and board.
Pete Athans has, of late, resurfaced with a
reinvigorated zest for building his owndesign
foam F2D models. I was among those
who was skeptical of this venture, wondering
why anyone should or would bother with
building all-foam models when he or she can
buy excellent equipment from the Ukrainians
or Russians.
I am impressed with the models Pete has
designed. They are fast, light, and have
accurate flying characteristics. This is a
serious effort and could prove itself in the
2008 US Combat Team Trials. Peter is using
the new Cyclon PC9 and PC8 engines to
whip his foamies through the sky.
I do not know where the Team Trials will
be held, but rest assured that it will be one
tough shoot-out. There are plenty of pilots in
the United States who have the capability to
compete and be successful on an international
level.
Securing a spot on the American team is
an honor by itself. In some countries all you
have to do to make the national team is raise
your hand and say, “I want to go.”
I have done further testing on the ZALP
engines and have found them to be fully
competitive with anything on the market. I
entered the Red Flag F2D contest in Phoenix,
Arizona, in November 2006 and had some
good results with the ZALPs, finishing
second in the Saturday and Sunday contests.
Darrin Albert flew well and won both
contests. Tom Siegler finished third on
Saturday and Greg Hill finished third on
Sunday.
The ZALPs were faster than most of the
engines there and equal to the best. I now
own six of them and have found the
machining to be fantastic and the clearances
to be consistent.
An example is the depth of the piston to
the top of the cylinder, which was .003 on all
six engines. ZALP builder Vlodomyr Fulitka
sends them out at .006 through the addition
of two .0015 head shims, but I like to add
another .004 worth of shims so the final head
clearance is .010.
I have not yet experimented with a
lower head setting. That is my next move
in trying to get a little more speed out of
these power plants.
As I mentioned in the January column,
ZALP engines are being brought into the
country on a limited basis by Bob Whitney
([email protected]). He is charging roughly
$160 plus the shipping and some bank
transfer charges he had to incur.
The six engines I have are running an
honest 18.2 or 18.1 seconds for eight laps. I
should be able to get them down to 18.0 with
some additional propeller work and maybe
dropping the head button a bit.
If you do decide to order a ZALP, make
certain that you inquire about the availability
of the head-clamp removal tool that is
necessary to take the engine apart. They sell
for $25 and have a socket on one end that fits
the glow and the prop nut. This should be a
one-time purchase unless it gets lost.
You should also get a few more head
shims. They come at .0015 and allow for some
fine-tuning of the compression.
One of the subjects of conversation at the
2006 F2D World Championships was fuelshutoff
designs that could be adapted to the
currently available RTF models. The guys
from Denmark, led by Henning Forbech, have
developed an interesting device that looks
promising. Henning had a good World
Championships and tied for fifth place.
The spring-loaded bellcrank slides toward
the pilot when the model is flying and then
slides toward the outboard wing, pinching off
the fuel line when there is no tension. This
system allows the pilot to retain full control of
the model while gliding in for a landing.
Some of the line-tension devices create
problems for the pilot while trying to land
because of the extra stress put on the leadouts.
The H&R bellcrank shutoffs eliminate this
problem. You can expect the Europeans to
continue with the development of simpler,
low-cost shutoffs that will be adaptable to
existing models.
I have recently been in touch with some new
pilots in Northern California who are able to
obtain state-of-the-art models and engines
through the mail. Patrick O’Halloran and Paul
Eagar pool their money to order equipment
from Eastern Europe.
That is one way to save on shipping and
bank-transfer charges. I trust that they will
have good luck in getting everything to work.
I have put Patrick and Paul in contact with
my old flying partner Ed Bridant from the
Flying Tigers club, who has recently taken up
the handle again. He has been playing with
1/2A and F2D models.
I hope they will revive Combat in that area.
Northern California was once a hotbed of
Combat activity that slowly faded into
hibernation. Perhaps Ed can find some of
those snoozing Flying Tigers and get them to
hunt streamers again.