Radio Control Combat - 2006/05

122 MODEL AVIATION
THE FIRST SCRAMBLE in RC Combat
in 2006 occurred on January 28 in the
skies above—where else?—the great state
of Texas. The North Dallas RC Club
hosted Operation Bodenplatte for 2548
Scale Combat.
The weather is always a factor in
Combat meets—that’s not likely to change
until we can figure out a good way to hold
them inside. Even in Texas, winter weather
can be marginal. True to form, a cold rain
front crossed all of Texas and Oklahoma
the morning of the meet.
Delayed by the rain, which slowed to a
“dribble” by noon, the combatants showed up as the skies cleared.
In all, four Combat fliers—Lee Liddle, Cash Hargett, Ed Kettler,
and Scott Stockwell—braved the damp conditions for the
inaugural meet.
Because it was the first meet of the year, a number of new
airplanes had their Combat debut. Cash brought two Hat Trick
Zeros and a JK Aerotech P-47 Thunderbolt. Lee Liddle brought
his new Fw 190 design and Scott Stockwell brought a new
electric-powered Mustang!
After taching the airplanes to make sure they met the new
14,500 rpm limit, the models launched into the cool 60° air. My
apologies to any Northerners I may have shocked there. Yes, we
do call 60° “cool” in January, but the North has much more
comfortable summers.
With only four fliers—as I mentioned, it was a marginal day—
the opportunities to score were slim. Only one midair occurred,
which is possibly a record low number for a sanctioned meet.
Appropriately for Operation Bodenplatte (a German offensive
launched during the Battle of the Bulge), it was an Fw 190/P-51
collision.
At the end of the day Lee Liddle was on top of the pile with
1,612 points. He made three cuts in one round—no mean feat in a
Combat round with only three other airplanes in the air! Cash
Hargett was in second place and Ed Kettler took third.
Although Scott came in last with his electric Mustang, his
standing was more a reflection of his early departure that caused
him to miss the last three rounds than on any performance issue
with his model. Reportedly his Mustang kept up with the
“slimers” (glow fuel/internal-combustion-powered trainer/Combat
aircraft) quite well.
Cash Hargett brought some nice-looking models for the meet.
His JK Aerotech P-47 was powered by an O.S. .25 FX turning a
10 x 3 propeller with 5%-nitromethane fuel. Cash used lowtemperature
UltraCote to cover the foam portions and Coroplast
sections of his model.
For future Combat meets with poor weather, Cash reminds
other fliers that “if you can hunt in the rain, work in the rain, and
fish in the rain, you can fly in the rain!”
Also included in this column:
• Electric-powered Combat is
here to stay!
Cash Hargett used low-temperature UltraCote to cover the
foam and Coroplast on his JK Aerotech P-47.
Lee Liddle made three cuts in one round with this new Fw 190.
Combat pilots at the sparsely attended Operation Bodenplatte included (L-R) Lee
Liddle, Cash Hargett, Ed Kettler, and Scott Stockwell.
Operation Bodenplatte went on despite foul weather and a low turnout
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Combat Greg Rose
It is appropriate that one of the airplanes
that flew in this year’s first Combat meet
was electric. Electric Combat is drawing
an immense amount of interest within the
RC Combat community. As in the rest of
the RC community, electric power is
clearly here to stay. The question is no
longer whether E-Combat is here; the
question has become what direction will it
take?
The Mustang Scott flew in Operation
Bodenplatte is one possible path: an
electric version of an existing (albeit
provisional) event. His model flew
competitively with models powered by
.25-sized engines.
Fitting electric into existing events has
the advantage of not splitting active
Combat fliers between too many different
Combat events; however, another viable
approach is a new Combat “E-vent”
designed with the forte and limitations of
electric in mind.
Along these lines, a number of
electric-powered Combat variations have
been discussed, built, and tested, at least
on a limited scale. A rapidly evolving
arena of RC Combat with electric Slo-
Bats, electric versions of Limited B, 2548
Scale provisional classes, and many other
ideas have been discussed.
One area that has generated quite a bit
of interest has been semiscale World War
II fighters with profile fuselages. E-
124 MODEL AVIATION
Combat demonstrations of this concept
were held at the Lone Star Nationals and
Dixie Nationals in 2005.
The event held at the Dixie Nationals
pitted 10 pilots flying semiscale World
War II fighters weighing between 9.4 and
16.0 ounces (with batteries) against each
other. Details about this event class are
dynamic, with considerable discussion on
the Radio Control Combat Association’s
Web site: www.rccombat.com.
Part of the reason why the
development has been so fast is the rapid
building time for these models, even
when they are scratch-built. If something
doesn’t work quite the way you want, you
can construct an improved version in a
few evenings. That’s an attractive option
for a Combat aircraft.
It is along the lines of this developing
event that Great Planes has put thoughts
into action by introducing a line of Fun
Force Sport Fighter EP ARF kits. The
new kits include the P-51 Mustang,
Focke-Wulf Fw 190, Mitsubishi Zero,
and Grumman F6F Hellcat.
The P-51 and the Fw 190 span 33.5
inches and have 301 square inches of
wing area. The F6F spans 34.8 inches
with 339 square inches of area, and the
Zero packs 354 square inches into its
34.5-inch span.
All four Fun Force kits are designed to
be powered by the same Speed Force 370
brushed BB motor mated to a 5:1 gear
drive. The semiscale profile fuselage
models are made from Expanded
Polystyrene (EPS) foam reinforced with
carbon-fiber tubes and are nicely
prepainted.
I now have my first electric-powered
Combat model in the works. I am
admittedly a “slimer.” All of my
experiences revolve around glow-fuelpowered
airplanes. As do many other
Combat fliers, I have a lot to learn about
this developing aspect of RC Combat.
That’s all for this issue. Until next time,
fly safely, fly Combat, and be sure to
check your six! MA