Control Line Combat - 2009/09

IN THE MAY
column, I made a
mistake in giving
Richard
Stubblefield credit
as being the first
Miniature Aircraft
Combat Association
(MACA) number 1
pilot for the 1974
Top 10 rankings.
Upon reading that
column, Chuck
Rudner promptly
picked up the
telephone and
informed me of my
error, claiming that
I had disrespected
him as MACA
number 1.
The following
Sunday, Chuck
brought a copy of
the Volume 2,
Number 2, February
1975 MACA
newsletter to the
flying field and
presented it to me.
There was a young
man with a dark
beard and full,
bushy head of hair
on the cover, who
vaguely resembled
the current Chuck
Rudner. Inside the
newsletter, he was
listed as the number
1 Combat pilot for
1974.
Houston World Cup: Twenty-five North American pilots traveled
to Houston, Texas, for the Memorial Day weekend, to compete in a
World Cup contest. Pat Willcox had petitioned the AMA for a
waiver from the shutoff rule for this event, to give pilots from
across the country a bit more time to get their systems working.
Nevertheless, several pilots used operable systems. Alex
Prokofiev showed his electronic units. The first reports are that his
device is good and will undergo a few more refinements.
Mike “Emo” Willcox finished in first place in Houston, Lester
Haury was second, and Bill Duane finished in third place. Emo is
the 2002 World Champion and a perennial US F2D (FAI Combat)
team member, so it is not surprising that he won.
Emo has done a tremendous amount of work trying to promote
Combat around the world and has produced several high-quality
videos. He studied video production, so his integration of music,
special effects, and a variety of camera angles make his videos
informative and entertaining.
I have listed Emo’s Web site address at the end of the column
in the source listing. It contains the videos he has created and a
number of photographs from the Houston World Cup.
Lester Haury is one of the best-prepared
competitors in the country. He knows the
value of having all of his models
standardized and having his support
equipment well laid out and easily
accessible.
He also pays close attention to how his
engines feel and flip over. Lester can tell
you instantly if the engine is dry or flooded
or if the glow plug is bad.
This sort of knowledge comes only from
countless hours of practice and engine
starts. You, too, can get to the point of
knowing your engines well enough to start
them with just a few flips of the propeller if
you pay close attention to how they turn
over.
Engine Bearings: Most modern Combat
engines from Russia or Ukraine come with
good-quality bearings that provide many
hours of reliable service. I usually run Fora,
Zalp, or Cyclon engines for competition
and practice. After a day of practice-flying,
I make it a point to generously oil each
engine I ran; I use 3-In-One brand oil for
this application.
Having flooded the engine with oil, the
first start of the day sometimes takes more
time, because you need to burn off all the
excess oil. This is a small price to pay for
having long-lasting bearings and engines
that have internal parts that do not rust.
Although the rear main bearing rarely
comes in contact with dirt from the external
environment, the same cannot be said of
the front bearing. Most engines these days
have dust-cover-type thrust washers, which
are designed to keep dirt out of the front
bearing.
In spite of using a dust cover, dirt
somehow manages to find its way into the
front bearing’s ball races. This happens
more often if you crash from time to time
or fly at a dirty and dusty site.
I like to pop off the dust cover during
each flying session, so I can inspect the
bearing and clean dirt buildup off of it. I
slowly rotate the crankshaft back and forth,
and feel for rough spots or “ticks” in the
bearing. If you encounter a tick or rough
spot, try to flush out the bearing with
something similar to WD-40 or brake
cleaner.
If the tick does not go away, it is time to
remove the bad bearing and install a
replacement. Both the Foras and Zalps have
reverse-thread retaining rings that hold the
bearings in place.
Be careful when removing the ring; you
need to pretend that you are tightening it to
unscrew it. You can often use a flat piece
of metal or a coin to accomplish this task.
Once the ring is removed, find a nut driver
that fits down the crankshaft space in the
crankcase that can be used to tap the
bearing out.
Don’t try to tap out the bearing before
heating the front of the crankcase with a
propane torch. I hold the crankcase by the
mounting lugs with a pair of pliers, heat it,
and then insert the nut driver to tap out the
front bearing. You can immediately fit the
new bearing in place if you have it
mounted on the crankshaft and use it to
guide it in place.
Since the bearing will fit firmly on the
crankshaft, I do not try to remove it until
the engine has completely cooled. On
occasion, I have had to tap the crankshaft
gently from the inside of the crankcase so it
will come off the bearing.
You can also tell if there is a bad
bearing if you hear some unusual noises
that weren’t there before. Chuck Rudner is
great at detecting these strange sounds.
Your engine will immediately come
back to full strength once it has a new
bearing. Chuck would tell you to replace
the rear main bearing, since you have the
engine apart anyway.
In April, I had the opportunity to attend
the Western Associated Modelers’ (WAM)
first contest of the year, called “Fund Day.”
The club is located in Woodland,
California, which is just northwest of
Sacramento.
The 1/2A and 80 MPH events were
listed. Combat had been missing from the
roster of event categories for many years,
so I could not pass up the opportunity to
attend the competition.
It is tradition that the appointed event
director for the year provides the trophies
for his or her particular discipline on Fund
Day. All the entry fees went to the
organization, to help defray its costs.
Only four of us entered the two Combat
events. Andy Prior won 1/2A, I was second,
and Ed Bridant was third. I won the 80
MPH event, Lee Letchworth was second,
and Ed Bridant was third. I hope this will
be the start of a Combat revival in Northern
California.
Live Streaming Contest Coverage:
Henning Forbech and his buddies in
Denmark have come up with a way of
covering competitions in Europe via live
streaming video. I am not sure how all of
this works, but I do know that they set up a
video camera in a tree that overlooked the
contest circle.
I have not watched any contests as they
have happened, but I will make it a point to
mark my calendar and set my alarm clock
the next time they do this. The Web site is
listed in the “Sources” section. MA
Sources:
MACA
www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535/
Alex Prokofiev’s electronic shutoff:
www.e-shutoff.com
Mike Willcox:
http://web.mac.com/emomedia/Evil_Emo_
Creations/Welcome.html
Live streaming contest coverage:
www.f2d.dk/konk/stream.htm