Control Line Combat — Rich Lopez [[email protected]]
Workshop organization
The beauty of being involved in a hobby/sport that involves miniature aircraft and engines is that you can work on the airplanes in a small amount of space. Many aeromodelers have to share space in the basement with washers, dryers, and stored holiday-decoration boxes.
If you set up in the garage, cars, gardening equipment and tools, and extra furniture want to encroach on the model-hangar area. I share space in the garage and have to constantly clear out the junk so there is enough room to work comfortably on the project at hand.
My garage contains a mishmash of cabinets and counters that the original owners discarded and I converted to modeling-supply storage. There is no system to what is in the drawers; I simply dumped stuff into each compartment as the need arose. However, there are several spaces I use on a regular basis that must be organized so that critical tools are readily at hand.
I have an old desk that I use to work on models, mount engines, or do anything else that needs to be done. The two drawers contain tools and items that get regular use.
Directly opposite the desk and behind the old office chair I use is an old kitchen cabinet that I converted to pit-box storage, tool access, and modeling-supply area. I made a couple of tool holders to keep the most useful tools within arm’s reach.
There is no special layout or design to tool holders, since each aeromodeler has his or her own preferences in terms of favorites. Take a good look at the accompanying photograph to see if this setup might work for you.
I made the wooden tool holders because I got tired of walking over to the tool chest to fetch a particular item, only to find, when I got back to the project, that it was the wrong size or had been misplaced after the last use.
Take some time and think about which items you use regularly. Give them a space that is easily accessible for you; that way you can maximize shop time.
Model transporter
When I began flying in my teen years, I stacked my aircraft on top of each other in the trunk of my 1962 Ford Falcon. Sometimes I used padding between each airplane and sometimes not. Silk- and tissue-covered models ended up with extra holes and dings.
Later I found that I could cut cardboard boxes to hold several aircraft vertically. These boxes did wear out after a while, though.
Bill Maywald showed up at the flying field with a clever model transporter made from 1/2-inch PVC pipe. He used a number of "T" and elbow fittings to set it up so that it would comfortably hold six airplanes. Bill added pipe insulation to ensure the models would not sustain damage while in transport or sitting in the garage.
I did not glue the two crossmembers, so the transporter can be taken apart and quickly reassembled.
World Championships bulletin and travel
Bulletin 0 for the 2010 FAI CL World Championships, which will be held in Gyula, Hungary, is available. It details who the organizers and judges are, what the timetable is, and gives contact information.
This is not a cheap contest for the national aero clubs to send their representatives to. Each competitor in F2A (Speed), F2C (Team Race), and F2D (Combat) is charged 250 euros, and the F2B (Precision Aerobatics) pilots have to pay 265 euros apiece.
Bill Lee has been appointed the US team manager and has set up a website to give team members and supporters the latest information and let them know what the requirements are for travel. This is going to be an incredibly expensive trip for our F2D team.
The euro is currently just under $1.50, and the distance to Hungary will involve costly airfare. If you have come into a windfall of financial resources and are in a philanthropic mood, the F2D team could certainly use a donation to defray some of the costs.
You can send checks to Colleen Pierce at AMA Headquarters. Make certain that you indicate that these funds are for the F2D 2010 CL World Championships team.
Foam vs. wood
The first pilots who flew Combat used balsa models covered with tissue, silkspan, silk, or nylon. These airplanes were then fuel-proofed with several coats of butyrate or nitrate dope. Some pilots used just enough dope to seal and tighten the covering material, while others used as many as ten thinned coats to make their aircraft pretty.
The process of covering and fuel-proofing took a fair amount of time to complete, since there was drying time involved. I spent many hours covering and "dolling up" an airplane with colorful trim, only to have it last less than 30 seconds in a match.
Midair collisions with balsa models were sometimes spectacular, with bits of wood and tissue floating to the ground. There were so many of these pieces that rebuilding was often out of the question. Balsa aircraft were light and, depending on the design, might have flown well.
It is hard to say who developed the first foam Combat models. Riley Wooten and James Mears of Lubbock, Texas, were two of the pioneers in the use of foam. They even disguised some of their first airplanes with paint schemes to resemble balsa models.
Riley said that he tested the prototypes in secret so that there were no embarrassing moments if the models failed to perform. The discovery of his use of foam came to light only after a midair collision created a "snowfall" that was unfamiliar to regular contest pilots and spectators. He went on to market a model called the "Vampire."
Steve Hills, who grew up flying with the Lubbock group, can be considered one of the pioneers of foam use in Southern California. He, along with his flying buddy Pete Athans, dominated competitions with a no-name design that was eventually called the "SlySir." Bob Bearden produced a limited quantity of both the FAI and Fast versions.
Tony Guest developed a foam design called the "Shrika." I recall seeing one flown in San Jose, California, and being extremely impressed with its performance.
In Northern California, Rich Brasher developed the Rotation Station design. He was an aggressive and skillful pilot who used the ability to get a kill with a foam leading edge to win numerous contests.
FAI F2D seems to be the most popular Combat class and is predominantly flown with RTFs. These would have to be considered hybrids, since the models utilize both foam and balsa. The advantage of capturing the string and getting a kill with the leading edge in Fast Combat becomes a disadvantage in F2D, since the objective is to get multiple kills.
Pete Athans has developed his F2D design to the point where his airplanes seem to have an advantage in flying. Some of the weaknesses found in competition have been corrected, and although I don’t think there will be a rush to build the Athans design, it is a viable alternative to store-bought models.
Phoenix Red Flag
Mike Willcox was victorious at the November 2009 Phoenix Red Flag F2D contest in Arizona. Alan Deveuve could have won, but there was a tactical error and a disqualification in the final match.
Lester Haury finished third. Greg Hill, the other 2010 US team member, finished in fourth.
Sources
- Colleen Pierce
5161 E. Memorial Dr. Muncie, IN 47302 (765) 287-1256, extension 252
- Bill Lee’s CL World Championships site: www.2010clwc.org
- Miniature Aircraft Combat Association: www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
