Radio Control Combat - 2008/03

132 MODEL AVIATION
Also included in this column:
• Basic RC Combat rules
• Mid America Combat
Championship
• Club Combat days can
attract newcomers
The new columnist tells us why he flies Combat
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Combat Don Grissom
Above: A total of 26 pilots participated in
the one-day Mid America Combat
Championship SSC contest in Jackson
TN.
Right: This is what Combat fliers call a
“furball.” Most incidents occur in this
configuration, but it allows for easy
targets!
Below: The flightline at the 2007 Mid
America Combat Championship was a
busy place. Photos by Alex Treneff.
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.
03sig5.QXD 1/24/08 3:05 PM Page 132132 MODEL AVIATION
Also included in this column:
• Basic RC Combat rules
• Mid America Combat
Championship
• Club Combat days can
attract newcomers
The new columnist tells us why he flies Combat
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Combat Don Grissom
Above: A total of 26 pilots participated in
the one-day Mid America Combat
Championship SSC contest in Jackson
TN.
Right: This is what Combat fliers call a
“furball.” Most incidents occur in this
configuration, but it allows for easy
targets!
Below: The flightline at the 2007 Mid
America Combat Championship was a
busy place. Photos by Alex Treneff.
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.
03sig5.QXD 1/24/08 3:05 PM Page 132When 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, as far
north as Wisconsin, and from coast to coast.
For the second consecutive year Wisconsin
was the winner when it came to the number of
heats flown; the state boasted more than
170,000 in 2007.
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 WestTennessee 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 others’
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. MA
Sources:
RC Combat Association
www.rccombat.com
West Tennessee RC Flyers
www.wtrcf.org
HillTopFlyers
www.hilltopflyers.com