RADIO CONTROL COMBAT
Author
Greg Rose — 1312 NW 196th St., Edmond, OK 73003
Event overview
There is nothing like Paris in the springtime—Paris, Texas, that is! Every spring the Paris R/C Association hosts the first event in the North Texas Round Robin series of Combat meets. Paris bills itself as the second-largest Paris in the world and even has its own version of the Eiffel Tower—65 feet tall and topped in true Texan style with a 10-foot-wide cowboy hat.
This year the Paris R/C Association hosted what deserves to be called the premier event in the Round Robin. Contest director Kelvin McFadden did Texas proud by running the largest Radio Control (RC) Combat meet in Radio Control Combat Association (RCCA) history.
The weather cooperated—if you ignored the winds during the meet and the rains that soaked the field a few days earlier. The Texas clay, which can bake rock-hard under the right conditions, was mercifully soft and spared several engines, including one of mine.
A total of 69 pilots registered for the event—more than twice as many as last year’s Paris meet and even surpassing the 2002 RC Combat Nationals in Muncie, Indiana. Most pilots—56 in total—flew in Open Class B, which was flown with five heats in each of the six rounds. With 11–12 pilots in each heat, the meet produced a target-rich environment that resulted in some of the highest-scoring rounds ever and an incredible level of midair carnage.
Tight safety control enforced by Paris R/C Association members kept it a safe event; all of the 60-plus midairs occurred well out over the flying field and far from the flightline.
One record set at the meet was for high score in a single round: Don Howard of Ponca City, Oklahoma, cut 10 streamers in the first round. Within minutes he had earned a new handle—Don "Ten-Man" Howard.
Participants
- 69 pilots registered
- 12 states represented:
- Arizona
- California
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Nebraska
- Tennessee
- Texas
Notable competitors included A.J. Seaholm, Daniel Vaught, Ben Morrow, Andy Panoncillo, and Mike Fredricks.
Open Class B results
Competition in Open B was fierce. Don "Ten-Man" Howard took an early lead with his 10-cut round, but other pilots posted strong eight- and nine-cut rounds. Final standings (top five):
- Ben Morrow — 2,876 points
- A.J. Seaholm — 2,760 points
- Don "Ten-Man" Howard — 2,624 points
- Eric Wenger — (finished just behind Howard; needed 4 more points to tie for third or 5 more to take third)
- Daniel Vaught — 2,592 points
2610 Scale
The second day featured new airplanes and many of the same pilots. The 2610 Scale RC Combat event drew 14 pilots—more than triple the number that attended the inaugural 2610 event the previous year.
Mike Fredricks, flying his well-known Fairey Fulmars and using their long wingspan to advantage, took first place in Scale with 2,024 points. Andy Panoncillo (Indiana), flying a B5N Kate, finished less than 100 points behind in second. Local flier Lee Little took third with 1,474 points flying his dark-blue Skyraiders. Don Howard and Neal Rohrke placed fourth and fifth, flying Fulmars and Il-2s respectively.
SSC (Slow, Survivable Combat)
Making its first appearance at Paris was the provisional RCCA SSC (Slow, Survivable Combat) event, which drew 37 pilots. Mike Fuller won SSC with 2,888 points—about 900 points ahead of runner-up Mike Fredricks. Third through fifth were Bert Dodson, George Cleveland, and Don Howard. By placing fifth in SSC, Don "Ten-Man" Howard became the only flier to place in the top five in all three events at Paris.
SSC has attracted a Scale component, but unlike 2610 Scale and Open B Combat, SSC scale models are designed to mix it up with SSC "open" designs. SSC rules do not require a scale outline as 2610 Scale does. For "SSC Scale," wings are enlarged and fuselages are thinned and simplified so a reasonable facsimile of the prototype can still meet SSC requirements.
The "survivable" aspect of SSC means midairs are not usually the final flight for a model; collisions often result in a slow spin into the ground after much speed is bled off. SSC still demands lightning-fast eye-hand coordination similar to Open classes and 2610 Scale. Expect to see more of SSC as it grows in popularity.
Closing
The Paris event was fantastic and may be only a glimpse of things to come as RC Combat continues to grow in popularity.
That's all I have room for this time. Until next time, fly safely, fly RC Combat (everyone else is!), and don't forget to check your six! MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
