Radio Control Combat
Don Grissom [[email protected]]
Welcome to all the RC Combat pilots out there. This is my first column for MA, and I want to thank this publication as well as the members of the Radio Control Combat Association (RCCA) who gave me their support. I also thank Greg Rose for the many years he wrote "Radio Control Combat."
Some in the RC Combat community know me from the work I do within the field. I live near Atlanta, Georgia, in Conyers. I am 34 years old and have lived in Georgia all my life.
I started flying RC approximately 10 years ago and began flying RC Combat roughly five years after that. I am the administrator of RCCA's Web site and a member of the HillTopFlyers club near my home. We have roughly seven members who fly Combat locally, and some who will travel throughout the South to do so.
When I was considering ideas for my first column I thought about what people really know about Combat and why anyone would want to fly it. Combat is the most exhilarating five minutes you can spend flying.
You can see everything from great chases to crashes that sometimes do not even damage the aircraft. That is one reason it is such a great spectator sport. It is comparable to auto racing in that the spectators are looking for crashes, whereas the contestants are looking to win. Hey, there are even some pilots who have their own pit crews.
There are many rules and types of Combat, but I will present some of the basics. RC Combat was designed as a way to have fun and enjoy the thrill of flying in a dogfight. In a heat you begin by towing a 30-foot streamer behind the airplane. The objective is to retain as much of the streamer as possible while trying to cut the ones towed by your competitors' models.
Most contests will have between five and 10 airplanes in the air at any one time. Each time you cut another contestant's streamer, it is as though you had shot down the enemy's aircraft and is referred to as a "kill."
You receive points for each kill and you try to score as many cuts as you can on any streamer during a heat. Although you may lose some (or all) of your streamer, you can continue to engage the other contestants until the end of the heat.
There is more than one type of RC Combat, which can be confusing when you first look into it. When you try to determine which one you want to fly, go see what others at your club or in your area are flying. Having someone with whom to fly on a regular basis makes it easier to get started and gives you someone to practice against.
In my area we most often fly Slow Survivable Combat (SSC). SSC began in 2003 and has grown to become one of the most frequently flown contests during the year. This can be attributed to the low cost of airplanes as well as faster repair time.
There are rules limiting weight, engine size (and price), and more in SSC. Pilots will fly anything from a flying Wiffle bat to airplanes made from a kitchen cutting board. You might find it hard to believe that we fly some of the aircraft we do. Many designs are available online to help you build from scratch, and there are some you can purchase in kit form.
In Open class, the most common category is Open B. It has been flown for a number of years and is still a favorite of many pilots. Many of the same airplane designs from SSC are used for Open B.
The main difference is the engine size; in Open B, any engine up to .30 cu. in. is legal. This allows the models to fly much faster than in SSC and allows them to perform better in higher winds, which can sometimes be a problem for SSC airplanes.
Scale is an event I have flown only a few times. For a spectator it can be exciting to watch. It is nice to see two warbirds pursuing each other across the sky, but it's even more fun to fly.
There are currently two Scale classes: 2610 and 2548. Scale airplanes take more time to build, but there are some commercially available kits on the market. If you have enjoyed Open or Limited class, this would be a great way to go.
Rules and more information about these events and the RCCA can be found on the organization's Web site. Please see the source listing for the address.
Looking back at last year's schedule, there were contests as far south as Florida and as far north as Wisconsin, from coast to coast. For the second consecutive year, Wisconsin was the winner when it came to the number of heats flown.
There were some great contests across the country last year. One of the largest was the Mid America Combat Championship in Jackson, Tennessee, hosted by the West Tennessee RC Flyers in June. This one-day SSC-only event had 26 pilots flying eight rounds of Combat.
Most of the pilots arrived the night before to get some practice and to test their equipment. One of the best parts of Combat is the friendships you will enjoy with others from across the country. The night before the contest we had what has become a tradition in the South: a barbecue dinner. We had a great time getting to know new people and listening to pilots boast about how they would win the next day.
It was a good day for the contest with few weather problems. The field was nice and there was a great area for Combat.
The event ended with Lee Liddle taking home the prize and Mike Fredricks placing a close second. Tim and Alex Treneff ran a great contest and I hope to return this year. If you plan to attend a meet, this would be a great one to put on your schedule.
I hope to see some of those fliers again at the first contest of the year in Loganville, Georgia, on March 22.
One of the questions I'm frequently asked is how we can get more people interested in flying RC Combat. Sometimes it can be difficult.
During the Combat season we have "Club Combat" days. Unlike normal contests, the scores and times are not kept. As time allows, we fly roughly four times during the day and have a little fun chasing each other's streamers. We don't interfere with normal open flying at the field.
We can attribute most of the Combat fliers at our club to Don Pruitt. I have often seen him offer his airplane to members for a trial flight. They may fly a little and say it is not for them, but some become interested.
If you do not have many people flying Combat in your area, this is a good way to get people to help you practice. You may even be able to start your own contest.
Sources:
- RC Combat Association
- West Tennessee RC Flyers
- HillTopFlyers
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
