sePtember 30, 1990, the first Scale US
Open RC [Radio Control] Combat Meet was
held at Milan City Field in Milan, Michigan.
Four pilots showed up for the event
and—typical of Michigan in the fall—it
rained all day. We stayed at the field for
several hours, huddled under the small roof
at the radio-impound stand, and waited for a
break in the rain that never came.
We talked about the future of RC
Combat, and we wondered out loud when
we would get our first Nationals (Nats).
Our question was finally answered
almost a decade later—the morning of July
5, 2000—when the first RC Combat Open
class model was launched over the rainsoaked
AMA International Aeromodeling
Center at Muncie, Indiana.
Despite morning rain for the first two
days of the event, the 2000 Nats RC Combat
event was a huge success and a milestone
for the RC Combat movement.
The unofficial event drew 47 registered
pilots for Scale Combat and 28 registered
pilots for the Open class event.
The weather forced a reduction in the
total number of combat sorties flown.
However, the Scale and Open classes had an
impressive combined tally of 580 sorties by
the end of the event.
That’s a lot of flying in two afternoons
and one morning!
When the dust had settled (actually, when
the puddles had dried), Jeff Harvey (Richmond
IN) had finished first in Scale Combat, and
Jerry Virnig (Horicon WI) and Mike Fredricks
(Beaver Dam WI) placed second and third.
Ron Horton (Billings MT) was first in
the Open B class event, and second and
third places went to Joe Chovan (North
Syracuse NY) and Mike Fredricks.
At the end of the event, the Radio Control
Combat Association (RCCA) presented the
official awards for the 1999 Combat season.
Bob Wallace (Avon CT) received the
Scale Class 2105 Champion Award for
1999. Mike Fredricks received the Scale
Class 2610 Champion Award and the Open
Class Champion Award for 1999.
The 1999 Grand Champion Award, for
highest point total in all events combined, was
given to Mike Fredricks. His first-place showing
in two of three categories placed him in firm
possession of the honor. Congratulations, Mike!
You can’t hold an event this large without
addressing many “Thank You” notes.
A big thanks to all the people who spent
time tucked away in a corner of the AMA
National Model Aviation Museum preparing
streamers, because it was too wet to make
them outside; to Dave and Karen Sootsman,
Greg Rose, 1312 NW 196th St., Edmond OK 73003
RADIO CONTROL COMBAT
The other Scratch-Built Beauty. David West’s three MiG-7s for the Nationals were built
mostly of Coroplast™. Each weighs 21.2 pounds, spans 44.8 inches.
The Scratch-Built Beauty contest is a tie! Jim Bodnar’s BV155B V2 high-altitude fighter
was reduced 10% from 1/12 scale. Spans slightly more than 60 inches.
Daniel Vaught of Fayetteville AR checks the engines on his Fw 189C twin before launch.
Notice that the pilot and pit crew are using protective headgear.
January 2001 137
who maintained radio impound and frequency
control; to Todd Anderson, who volunteered
to be line marshall; and to Tracey Newcomer,
who kept track of the scores and set up the
score sheets for each round.
Thanks to Chris Shepherd, who was
Open Class Contest Director, and to RCCA
president Scott Anderson, who was Scale
Class Contest Director and event manager.
A special thanks to the Nats Combat
sponsors: AMA, Air-Kill Products,
Airtronics, APC Propellers, Check Six Plans,
Combat Goblin Models, Combat Wombat
Models, Hat Trick Models, Hitec RCD, Pica,
PowerMaster Fuels, Triple Threat Hobbies,
and TufFlight Models.
Thank you to AMA Technical Director
Steve Kaluf and AMA District VIII Vice
President Sandy Frank for their active support.
Finally, a very special thanks to the
hardworking officers and members of the
RCCA, without whom the event would not
have been possible.
scratch-built beauty: For the first time,
it’s a tie. Appropriately, both airplanes flew
at the Combat Nats, but they represent
vastly different construction techniques.
Jim Bodnar of Kettering, Ohio built the
German Blohm und Voss BV155B V2
ultrahigh altitude fighter. Only two fullscale
prototypes of this aircraft were built
(and the BV155B V3 used a slightly
different engine).
The design’s span was so long that even
reduced a full 10% from 1/12 scale, the model
has a wingspan of slightly more than 60 inches.
Cut from blue foam and reinforced with
carbon fiber, the entire model is covered in
lightweight fiberglass laminated with epoxy.
Despite its size, the MVVS .26 enginepowered
model only weighs two pounds, 10
ounces.
Jim says that the rate of roll is surprisingly
good for such a long wingspan, because of the
large aileron area on the design.
The other Scratch-Built Beauty was also
a high-altitude fighter design—the Sovietdesigned
MiG-7, built by David West of
Streamwood, Illinois.
David is a prolific scratch-builder and
designer, and I believe this is his third design
to win the Scratch-Built Beauty award.
David was faced with a problem a few
weeks before the 2000 Nats event: he had
lost all the airplanes he was planning on
taking to the Nats at local events.
Having previously scratch-built a balsa
MiG-7, David modified his design so it
could be constructed mostly of Coroplast™
(corrugated plastic).
Coroplast™ has been used in several
Open-class designs, and it has proven
sturdy, low-cost, and quick to build.
Slightly more than four weeks after he
started on the design, Dave left for the Nats
with three MiG-7 fighters! Each model was
powered by a Norvel .25, and weighed in at
approximately 21⁄2 pounds.
“A Russian engine in a Russian airplane,”
said Dave. “What could be better?”
Not having the ultralong span of the
German design, Dave enlarged his plans 5%
from 1/12 scale, resulting in a 44.8-inch span
and a 31.2-inch length. The highly tapered
wings, typical of Soviet fighter designs of the
era, have 306 square inches of wing area.
To get around the problem of tip stall on
the wing, David’s design had a gradual
transition to a higher-lift airfoil at the
wingtip, rather than washout (which is hard
to build into a Coroplast™ wing).
According to David, his MiG-7s performed
well at the Nats, and one even survived a headon
midair with Mike Fredricks’ Ki-64.
Using Coroplast™ in a Scale design
drew a great deal of attention at the Nats; so
much so, that Dave posted his plans on the
RCCA Web site, in the “workshop” section.
You can download a set of MiG-7 plans
(and several other designs) free, by visiting
the site at www.scalecombat.com/rcca.asp.
the Combat nationals was a great event; be
sure to join us in 2001. Until then, fly safe, fly
Combat, and be sure to check your six! MA
