Control Line Combat - 2008/01

THE UNITED STATES now has an F2D Combat team for the 2008
World Championships that will be held in Landres, France, in late July.
The members are Mike “Emo” Willcox, a former World Champion;
Richard Stubblefield; and Andy Mears. All three are from Texas.
Richard has been on the team multiple times and will do a good job
of representing the US. He also keeps hope alive for those of us who
qualify for senior-citizen discounts. This is the first time Andy has
represented the US as a pilot. He was on the team several years ago in
Germany as a mechanic for his son, Nick.
Unfortunately no
Juniors were entered
at this Team Trials,
so no one will be
going to France in
that category.
The process to
make the team was
long, and it required
intense practice and a
bit of luck. All three
pilots earned their
spots. The Llano
Estacado Model
Airplane Club of
Lubbock, Texas,
organized the Team
Trials, which was
held September 1-3.
You can visit its Web
site to get complete
information about all
aspects of the
contest.
Bobby and Andy
Mears, along with
Larry Driskill, did a
great deal of field
preparation long
before the bulk of the
contestants started to
arrive. Gene Berry,
James Mears, Wayne Welch, Bentley Page, Riley Wooten, and Larry
Driskill managed the event.
Pat Willcox spent countless hours in the center circle, keeping the
contest on schedule and the 39 entrants in line. Sheila Cranfill managed
the contest board and the results posting.
Team Trials usually start with the arrival of pilots from across the
country Thursday and Friday. A huge amount of test-flying takes place,
and this is the time you can check out the latest equipment.
Approximately 95% of the models are RTFs purchased from
Russia, Ukraine, or Moldova. They can vary from manufacturer to
manufacturer and from batch to batch. Many subtle differences can
make the difference between an okay model and one that is super.
The leadout placement can have a big effect on how a model
handles those west Texas winds. However, there is no substitute for
having a well-trimmed airplane that can handle flying upwind in a stiff
breeze. A couple pilots built their own “foamies.”
As far as engines used I saw many FORAs; some ZALPs; a limited
number of AKMs; some Cyclon PC7s, PC8s, and PC9s; and Mike
Willcox was running the latest version of the Profi.
I saw only two or three extraordinarily fast AKMs—in the hands of
Andrew Nadien and Greg Hill. Some of the new FORAs looked good,as did the new Profi. My ZALPs do not play
second fiddle to any of the other brands. The
Mears team of Bobby, Andy, and Nick have
worked all the bugs out of their Cyclon PC7s
and have them humming right along.
The only engines that seemed to have
problems were the no-longer-produced
FORA Lieder type. The previous version
worked well, as did the version that came
after this version. Pete Athans was the only
pilot campaigning the Cyclon PC8s and
PC9s, and he was highly competitive with
them.
So many different propellers are available
these days that the experimentation process
never ends. Lubbock is approximately 3,300
feet in elevation, if I am not mistaken, which
changes how an engine performs from sea
level. This means the propellers that work in
the dense sea-level air may not work as well
in the thin high-plains air.
I made minor adjustments to the head
clearance as well. This entailed my removing
one 0.0015 gasket to bring the compression
ratio up a bit. My engines did perk up, yet
they did not break glow-plug elements.
After all the testing was finished Friday,
we moved to Cagle Steaks for the
operational meeting. Larry Driskill did a
great job of explaining the operational
procedures using a nicely done Power Point
presentation that included a real estate
commercial as a bonus. (I think the real
estate developer paid to have the Power
Point presentation produced and wanted a
commercial included.)
The matrix number draw is the highlight
of Friday night’s meeting. The first matcheswere drawn for the start of the contest
Saturday morning.
Most of the pilots who entered the Team
Trials were present at the Friday-night
meeting. One flier who had entered was
absent but was placed in the draw. He
ended up being a no-show at the event, and
those pilots who were drawn against him
received wins.
I feel that all competitors should fly to
earn a win. The Team Selection Committee
needs to take up this matter as something
that needs to be corrected.
The matrix system was supposed to
eliminate the possibility of the same two
pilots flying against each other in the early
rounds. This was not the case this year, and
several of us were drawn to compete
against the same person in the first three
rounds. This is another item the Team
Selection Committee could review.
Other than those two items the contest
ran smoothly and rapidly. Many reflies
extended each round and there were a few
fly-away incidents, none of which were
close calls.
Several pilots have shown noticeable
improvement in their flying and pitting
skills. Among those are Mike Skinner,
James McKinney, Greg Hill, Lester Haury,
and Pete Athans. Lester has thought out
his pit-box layout so that every essential
tool is at hand.
Another bunch of competitors are goodenough to make the team and could be starters
on other countries’ national teams. Mark
Rudner always flies well, but he was suffering
from lack of practice because of cold weather
in the Northeast and his Massachusetts
Institute of Technology commitments. A
number of competitors used him as pit man
because of his experience and efficient work.
Noticeably absent from the trials were
David Owen and Darrin Albert, who are both
fierce competitors. The alternate pilot for the
team is Greg Hill of San Diego, California. He
is no stranger to flying on foreign soil; he was
the mechanic for his son, Holden, at the
World Championships in Muncie in 2004 and
Valladolid, Spain, in 2006.
The level of flying has increased through
the years, and almost every pilot at the Team
Trials had good equipment that started easily
and ran well. The top pilots had extremely
good equipment, but it is available to anyone
who wants to purchase it.
There are also many more F2D contests in
the US, which affords those who are
interested opportunities to fly in contest
situations. F2D has already turned into the
most popular event across the country; in just
a few years F2D will be flown almost
exclusively in some areas. We have gotten to
the point where we can travel to various parts
of the US and either ship the equipment to be
used at an event or buy models from a
modeler in the area or at the contest site.
One of the things we are going to have to do,
either through the Miniature Aircraft Combat
Association or through the Team Selection
Committee, is start a serious fund-raising
campaign to help defray the travel expenses
that go along with being a member of the
World Championships team. The value of the
dollar is at an all-time low against the euro
and France is an expensive place to visit, so
the cost of this venture will be high.
I sold some souvenir “VooDoo Combat
Team” T-shirts and intend to give all proceeds
to the team members. My effort might yield
enough funding to pay for a day’s car rental; I
guess something is better than nothing.
The shirts had a historical meaning in
Lubbock since Riley Wooten, who designed
the VooDoo, lived there at one time and was
present to autograph the shirts. I even had
Riley autograph a VooDoo, Sneeker, and
Demon kit for me. MA
Sources:
US Team Trials
http://lubbock-team-trials.tripod.com/