Radio Control Combat - 2011/03

ONE OF THE
growing areas of
Combat has been
electric-powered Slow
Survivable Combat (e-
SSC). I have noticed
that such models have
begun to show up at
more events. William
Drumm has been
working on such an
airplane that is showing
promise.
I am venturing into
e-SSC, and I hope to
test the durability
during winter club
Combat. I’m using a
Turnigy 35-36 1400 kV
motor, Turnigy KForce
40-amp speed
control, and Turnigy 4S
2650 battery.
After the initial test
flight it turned 16.8. I
bumped up the endpoint and it hit
18.1. I had a Phoenix Ice 50 ESC to
try, to set the rpm at 17.5 and see
how it feels during a round.
I was hoping that there was
plenty of juice available to hold
17.5 throughout the entire flight. I
was going to lose the unloading
in level and diving flight, though.
I finally got a nice day to do some
testing with the Phoenix Ice 50. I couldn’t
get my laptop up and running, so I set the
ESC to Governor mode to try first.
At first I couldn’t get it to go. I played
with the magnetic poles number and it
finally got turning—not a lot of rpm, but at
least it turned. I bumped the poles number
up again and got more rpm.
I did some math and figured that 14 was
the right number for the Turnigy 35-36
1400 kV. I tried putting in 17,500 for the
full throttle setting, but it changed it to
17,465 as with the other throttle settings.
I figured that the middle rpm setting of
17,000 would allow me to slow a little, to
Also included in this column:
• Magnum 25 XLS first
impressions
Electric Slow Survivable Combat
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Combat Don Grissom
Above: The Magnum engine is available
with two needle-valve configurations.
This one is built into the carburetor, and
there is a remote-needle-valve version.
Above: An early look at the design for
William Drumm’s e-SSC model. Electricpowered
Slow Survivable Combat is
growing in popularity, and
it is hoped that we will
see some at this
year’s Nats.
Left: Ron Edwards’ Magnum-equipped Open B
MiG performed excellently, even with a rich
needle-valve setting for break-in.
Many pilots at the West Coast 2010 RCCA event ran the new Magnum
engine in Open B Combat.
March 2011 119
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120 MODEL AVIATION
match the speed of a drone, and 14,000
turned out to be just about right when
coming in for a landing. I tached the motor
before I left for the field and it was at
17,520. The rpm data reads 17,465 for most
of the time, with spikes up to 17,570.
I definitely liked the way the model
flew. It pulled well through loops and
turns—much better than my initial test
flight.
Now I’ll test setting the ATV (adjustable
travel volume) back until the rpm hits
17,500. I’m thinking that the Governor
mode is going to be better for feel for the
entire round.
Thanks, William, for the information. I
hope to see e-SSC aircraft in the air at the
Nats this year.
An issue that came up last year was the
discontinuation of the O.S. 25FX engine.
The replacement AX was priced higher
and less powerful.
Following is an update from Todd
Melton, the Southwest District
representative of the RC Combat
Association, on the new Magnum XLS 25,
available from Global Hobby Distributors.
“It has been over a year since the
combat community learned that the O.S.
25 FX was being replaced with the AX
model 25. I remember all of the concern
and discussions regarding the lack of
available 25 size engines for 2010 combat.
“It seemed that the new AX engine was
designed more for sport flying than
Combat. How could we be expected to pay
so much for an engine designed to turn
16,000 RPM only to have it broken in a
round of combat?
“I was a little discouraged and turned to
the Magnum 28 RNV. I thought I’d give it
a try after having such good results from
the Magnum 15 XLS.
“The announcement of the Magnum 28
RNV being discontinued prompted some
of us to contact Magnum in November of
2009. Mike Greenshields (Product
Manager for Global Hobby) listened to our
concerns and assured us that Magnum
would be developing a new engine suitable
for our sport.
“Several of us contacted Mike with a
laundry list of features we would like to
see in a new 25 size engine. Mike assured
us we were being listened to.
“‘You all should know I really have
been informing the factory of your
comments, etc. I don’t know yet exactly
what the new engine looks like but I know
they are working on it and that they’ve
considered everything you’ve said.’
“And so we waited.
“Months went by with only rumors of a
possible future release date for the
Magnum 25 XLS. Some pilots repaired
their older engines. Some bought 25 size
engines from any manufacturer that would
sell them.
“E-bay was busy with used O.S. 25 FX
sales as all the available engines traded
hands from sport pilots to engine hungry
combat pilots. I even bid on a few myself.
“In April of 2010 we were lucky
enough to get a sneak peek at the factory
prototype Magnum 25 XLS. Mike supplied
the prototype for a demo at one of our
spring combat events.
“To say the demo was exciting would
be an understatement. We watched the
prototype turning over 19,000 RPMs pull a
combat plane around with ease. The
engine was test flown by several lucky
pilots before it was taken away at the end
of the day.
“Then in June of 2010 came the close
out sales for the Magnum 25 XL. Those
engines flew off the shelves and satisfied
the mid-season engine requirements for a
bunch of us. Could it be that they were
preparing to release the new XLS for sale?
“Finally the long anticipated
announcement of the new Magnum 25
XLS came near the end of this year. A
few guys went and bought the first ones
that arrived at the local hobby shops.
“Shortly after the release came the
Black Friday holiday sales. Every single
engine for miles around was snatched up
for combat. Some of the new engines
were bought for next year’s combat but a
few of the new engines made it into our
most recent combat event.
“In December we flew the last 2010
RCCA combat event here on the West
Coast. The event turned out to be a great
proving ground for the new Magnum 25
XLS. It all started with practice and
break-ins during the week before combat.
“Normally before a combat event the
field is dominated by combat pilots
making last minute adjustments, tuning in
engines, trimming new planes, and
generally preparing for the coming battle.
This event was no different.
“I happened to be at the field getting
my equipment dialed in next to several
other pilots. One of my fellow pilots (Ron
Edwards) brought out two brand new
Magnum 25s to break in next to me while
I was running up my new Magnum 15
XLS for the first time.
“We fueled, put the glow igniter on,
and gave them a start. Both of the brand
new engines ran perfect right out of the
box. We gave the engines the typical
combat style one tank break-in run and
then considered them ready to fly.
“Ron launched his new Magnum
equipped Open-B Mig next to my SSC
version. Both of the new planes had great
power and the engines performed
excellent even with a rich needle valve
setting for break-in.
“There were two pilots in the combat
event that had equipped their planes with
the new Magnum engine. Both pilots were
running with the stock muffler and 9x4
props. Their planes were fast and kept
right up with other planes equipped with
combat style mousse can exhaust systems.
“I spoke with several of the combat
pilots after the event about the new
Magnum engines. The new Magnums
were well accepted and will likely
become a popular engine choice for next
year’s combat planes. Even the die hard
pilots loyal to one brand or another
promised to give the new Magnums a
try.” MA
Sources:
RC Combat Association
www.rccombat.com
Global Hobby Distributors
(714) 963-0329
http://magnum.globalhobby.com
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