RC Combat

Terry Harmer of California built this Davis Manta fighter. The full-scale Manta was to feature counter-rotating props and promised superb maneuverability. THE TEXAS CLUB Combat Series is one of the largest round-robin Radio Control (RC) Combat campaigns held anywhere. The series is hosted by the Paris Radio Control Association, the North Dallas Radio Control Club, the Richardson Radio Control Club, the Greater Southwest RC Club, and the Metro East Radio Control Club, all in northern Texas. Using Radio Control Combat Association rules, one event is flown each month from March through November. I flew in the inaugural event for this season: The Elan Allen Memorial, hosted by the Paris Radio Control Association. Elan, a longtime Texan Combat flier and a strong RC Combat promoter, passed away earlier this year in a tragic accident. In addition to honoring Elan, the Paris club auctioned several donated items during the event with all proceeds going to the Elan Allen Fund. (You can contribute to the fund aiding Elan's family by sending donations to "Elan Allen Fund, in care of the First State Bank of Texas, Box 1000, Grapevine TX 76051.") Since the Texas Club Combat Series has been held for the past several years, the participation was great and the competition was fierce. In Class B Open, 33 pilots showed up to compete: that's just a few less than the number of pilots who participated in last year's Combat Nationals in Muncie! Although the Texas series is a "local" event, participation Wes "Sheepy" Parmenter with his Open Combat Sheepzilla at Elan Allen Memorial in Paris TX. Sheepy made it into the top 10. Cash "The Target" Hargett starts his model at the first meet in the Texas Club Combat Series. He placed sixth in the event. wasn't just local; almost half of the fliers came to Texas from out of state. All told, nine states were represented: Arkansas, California, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and—of course—Texas. And, like at the Nationals, several big names in RC Combat were there, ready to rumble for five rounds of combat. The weather was great, if a bit windy, and the clay soil had recently been softened by warm rains. That was a great bit of luck since there are several areas in Texas and Oklahoma (and I'm sure in a few other states as well) where baked clay turns flying fields into something resembling a paved parking lot. only harder! After five rounds of combat, several fliers, including myself, had run out of airplanes, but the final rounds were just as hotly contested as the first. At the end it was A.J. Scaholm, flying the Avenger model that he had designed, in first place with 2,116 points. In second place, and only 39 points behind, was Arkansas' Daniel Vaught. Dean "Tattoo" Tuinstra, co-creator of the SPAD designs, took third place using his SPADs, and Ben Morrow was nipping at his tail (and streamer) with his Lil' Bull design to take fourth place. Scale Combat was contested for the first time in the Texas Club Combat Series, although turnout was low for this portion of the event. Terry Harner, Cash Hargett, Colin McGinnis, and Chet Carpenter put on quite a show despite the fact that they were guaranteed no less than fourth place no matter what happened. They finished in the order I listed them, with Terry leading the pack with his unique Davis Manta fighter. Terry's use of the Manta —the full-scale design of which was built but apparently never flown — brings up an interesting question for the rule book about what constitutes a Scale design. However, no one worried about those types of issues during the event; the focus was purely on fun! On the manufacturing scene, there are some new Scale kits available. Pica Products (2675 N.E. 188 St., Miami FL 33180; Tel.: [305] 932-8008; Web site: www.picaweb.com) already has available '/12-scale versions of the P-51D Bubbletop Mustang, the Me 109G, the F-82 Twin Mustang, the F4U Corsair, and the Mitsubishi Zero. The company recently introduced a new, larger P-51B Razorback Mustang. Taking advantage of the increases in size and weight allowed in the new 2610 Scale Combat rules, the new Razorback Mustang is approximately 10% larger than the original bubbletop kit. Wingspan is 40 inches on the new kit compared to 35.5 inches on the earlier Mustang, but, more importantly, wing area has been increased from 220 square inches to 278 square inches—a 26% increase in wing area compared to the P-51D! The new kit has all the same Pica features: laser-cut wood. PETG vacuum-formed canopies, and all pushrods and linkages included. It retains the same Eppler 203 airfoil and patent-pending "Laser-Lock" construction, so the model promises to be as fast-building as all the other Pica designs. With the larger size, a larger engine is required, and the new 2610 Mustang takes a .21- to .26-size engine well. Hot on the tail of the new 2610 version of the Mustang will be the new Pica 2610 Curtiss P-40 Warhawk kit. Like the razorback Mustang, the P-40 Warhawk will be roughly 10% larger than Vi: scale to take full advantage of the new rules and have all the same features that the current Pica designs have. WarZone Models (17 Essla Dr., Rochester NY 14612; Tel.: [585] 227-0592: Web site: www.rccombat.com/warzone) has introduced a new Curtiss P-36 Hawk kit for Scale RC Combat. As are the P-47 Thunderbolt, the Ki-84 Frank, the F8F Bearcat, and the P-40 Warhawk already offered, the P-36 is constructed from cut foam for the fuselage and wings, with impact-resistant PETG cowls, clear vacuum-formed canopies, and balsa tail feathers. The Curtiss P-36 Hawk (or Mohawk if you prefer the British name for the design) spans 42 inches and has 300 square inches of wing area. One interesting thing about the full-scale Hawk is that it served as a fighter for more than a dozen nations during World War II, and it fought on the Allied and the Axis sides! The most famous example of this odd situation was probably the invasion of North Africa when US Navy F-4F Wildcats went into combat with Vichy French Hawks during the Torch landings. The spinoff of this wide use of the Hawk is that there are many interesting paint schemes available for your models; my favorites are some of the ones used by the Finnish Air Force. WarZone has also introduced its first Open Combat design: the P-51 Mustang. The Open Combat P-51 Mustang looks like a simple block foam model, but it is actually built differently from the WarZone Scale designs. The block fuselage is made from expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam covered with Coroplast™ . and Coroplast™ tail feathers are used. The constant-chord wings, which can span up to 48 inches, feature a leading-edge section of expanded polypropylene (EPP) foam. Much more forgiving than EPS, EPP bounces back after impact rather than retaining a dent like EPS. The square fuselage may not have the smooth lines of a Mustang, but why not have your Open design look like a Mustang from a distance? That is all for now. Until next time, fly safe, fly Combat, and be sure to check your six! AM