Control Line Combat - 2011/03

F2D rules change
[[email protected]]
Control Line Combat Rich Lopez
Also included in this column:
• Combat news distribution
• New England Cup of F2B
• Bladder Grabber
Above: Winners of the New England Cup (L-R): Lester Haury,
third; James McKinney, second; Alex Prokofiev, first.
Left: Brian Stas and his son, Matt, helped organize the New
England Cup and are developing into superb Combat pilots.
Dimitri Valkanov of Bulgaria was fourth at the 2010 World Championships—his best
finish ever.
F2D Rules Changes for 2011: The
change that will affect F2D (FAI Combat)
competitors the most is a reduction in the
size of muffler/silencer to 6mm from 8mm.
Experimentation with new muffler shapes
and modifications to existing units has
already begun around the world.
In Southern California Russ Hester
made some flanged inserts that fit into the
existing 8mm and extend into the muffler
chamber approximately 1/8 inch beyond the
flat outlet and into the tapered part of the
chamber. Then he flared the 1/8-inch
extension with a tool that is similar to a
center punch, so that it presses against the
tapered part of the muffler body. A sharp
tap with a hammer is enough to accomplish
this procedure.
Russ experimented with an old, broken
muffler and then a new one. Then we put
the new muffler on one of my ZALP
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engines and ran it. There was a noticeable
reduction in sound and only a slight speed
loss. We did not time the engine with both
sizes of mufflers during that session.
Chuck Rudner has made a similar
insert for a FORA muffler, and we got a
time of 18.39 seconds for eight laps. Only
20 minutes earlier we had gotten a time of
17.69 with the 8mm-outlet muffler. We
used the same propeller and the same fuel.
We believe that with a bit of
experimentation with propellers, we can
recover some of the lost .7 second.
Russ also made an insert with a stinger
that was roughly 11/2 inches long. The
engine ran poorly and the stinger idea was
promptly scrapped.
I did end up with the discarded stinger
and cut off a 3/8-inch slice that I press-fit
into the end of a muffler. I will try that to
see if it remains in place or blows out the
back end once the muffler heats up.
Combat News Distribution: I am writing
this column a day after the release of the
new Facebook format. Communication in
this day and age through smartphones,
Internet, Skype, Twitter, blogs, live news
feeds, and personal pages makes us
demand news instantly, regardless of topic
or where it occurs on the planet. Writing
letters has become a lost art, giving way to
text messaging in a new abbreviated
language that our English teachers of the
past must abhor.
I can write about topics that are not
subject to time constraints, since there is a
time lag of roughly three months before
they appear in print. However, several
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Web sites can provide you with current
information and quantities of photographs
that I can only dream of providing
through a magazine column.
The Combat fliers in New England
have a site that I suggest you look at, and
the modelers in the Pacific Northwest
have a good site that provides contest
announcements, results, reports, and
photographs. Also, Lester Haury sent me
a connection to a blog that has
construction tips for his kits.
The AMA provides daily results and
photographs, via NatsNews, during the
National Championships. There are sites
at which you can see what is going on in
Europe, and the FAI site features current
information and rules.
Cup of F2D: Mark Rudner and Greg
Wornell organized the New England Cup
of F2D, held the weekend of September
25-26, 2010, in Kingston, Massachusetts.
The flying site was Silver Lake Regional
School, which was secured by a local
constable and Combat pilot Brian Stas,
who happened to live across the street.
The flying can only be described as
“plush.”
The entry fee covered morning coffee
and pastries, drinks throughout the day,
lunch, fresh locally grown apples, and a
designer cake with a Combat theme to
celebrate the end of a successful
competition. Jeff Vader and his son took
photographs throughout the competition.
This contest could not have taken
place without all of the effort that local
pilots put forth. Mark Rudner has written
a full report acknowledging all of the
volunteers.
Alex Prokofiev won the competition
with some excellent, clean flying. James
McKinney broke a huge number of models
on his way to second place. Lester Haury
finished third.
Bladder Grabber: Although I could not
attend the 2010 Bladder Grabber in
Seattle, Washington, I heard that the 15
pilots who flew 1/2A Combat on Friday
had a great time. There were 19 entries in
the Fast event on Saturday and Sunday.
You can visit the Flying Lines Web
site, included in the “Sources,” to see the
entire list of entries and a great number of
action photos. The organizers tried a new
format, whereby all pilots flew a set
number of rounds before getting into the
final podium-placing matches.
The Beaver State Combat Team came
out of its lodge to show the world that it is
alive, well, and can still fly Combat. Gene
Pape won, with his teammate John
Thompson taking second.
Red Flag: David Owen of Tennessee won
the November 2010 F2D tripleelimination
contest in Phoenix, Arizona.
He is a former US World Championship
team member.
Andy Mears of Lubbock, Texas,
finished second, and Leonardo Silva, a
Mexican team pilot, was third. The 13
contestants had a great time and enjoyed
the beautiful weather and great
competition. MA
Sources:
Lester Haury contact info:
(832) 922-2595
http://streamershuttle.blogspot.com
Flying Lines
www.flyinglines.org
New England Combat News
http://necn.homestead.com
FAI
www.fai.org
European Control Line Model Flying:
www.go-cl.se/cl.html
Mark Rudner:
http://F2DNews.homestead.com/
Miniature Aircraft Combat Association
www.maca.hobby-site.com:3535
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