Radio Control Combat
Greg Hose, 1312 NW 168th St., Edmond OK 73003
WHAT DO YOU get when you mix 55 pilots, more than 400 models, almost 700 individual sorties, three days of perfect weather, and 3.85 miles (that's right—miles!) of streamer material? An unforgettable Radio Control (RC) Combat Nationals!
Unlike last year, when rain and severe weather hampered flying every day, the 2002 RC Combat Nationals, held July 12-14, featured picture-perfect flying weather that allowed a full 10 rounds to be flown in Open Class B and Scale Combat. Although several of last year's top flyers were unable to attend this year's event, attendance was even higher than last year and the level of competition was just as great.
There were 17 crews/fliers (those who chose to fly in Scale and Open classes), allowing a total of 42 pilots in Open Class B and 27 pilots in Scale. I have a great deal of respect for those cross-over pilots simply because they are under constant pressure to fly. The only reward they receive for their efforts is the opportunity to have twice as much fun as everyone else!
Because of the sheer size of the group, each round was broken into four or five heats, with each heat averaging eight or nine fliers.
The first kill of the Nationals was accidental; two models doing test flights—the only models in the air at the time—came together unexpectedly. The tail of one of Jim Watson's beautiful F8F Bearcats was cleanly sliced off in a midair with an Open Combat design. Fortunately Jim brought enough Bearcats to finish the event.
The event opened with Open Combat, and the pace was immediately fast and furious. With the Open models flying much closer than in the Scale event, the action was incredible. All the big names in RC Combat were there, vying for first place, but the competition wasn't just between the fliers; it was also between the various designs. It seems that everyone has a different idea about how to best the competition in Open.
Of the 49 pilots competing in the Open class, approximately 22 different designs were flown. With little to hold back the designer's imagination, unique designs are the norm—not the exception. Modifying the designs to make them more competitive in this event seems to be an endless quest.
This year the long-span designs such as the Avenger 8.0, the Choker, and the Skull Bandit seemed unbeatable when they were flown by experienced pilots such as A.J. Seaholm and Mike Fredricks. But tweaking to try to get the edge is constantly going on in Open Combat.
A good example of this constant change was the winning Avenger 8.0 design flown by A.J. Seaholm. The "8.0" represents the fact that it is the eighth version of the original Avenger, but it turns out that even this was not completely true; A.J. had made some field modifications on the 8.0 design for his Nationals airplanes.
Record scores were obtained in the hotly contested Open class. At the finish, A.J. Seaholm (Prairie Village KS) came in first with 4,480 points. Mike Fredricks (Beaver Dam WI) was second with 3,916 points.
The big news was who was hot on the tail of these experienced fliers. Making his Combat debut at last year's Nationals and now with a full year of experience under his belt, 12-year-old Brian Gilkey (Shelby Township MI) finished in third place with 3,770 points.
Brian's father Scott didn't do quite as well in the standings as his son, setting the stage for some good-humored ribbing. Dan Vaught (Arkadelphia AR), Mark McCool (Nashota WI), and Ron Horton (Billings MT) finished fourth, fifth, and sixth, with only 12 points separating fifth and sixth place. It's incredible that all six top positions scored more than 3,000 points and averaged roughly three cuts per round flown!
Scale Combat was no less hotly contested. Last year it seemed that every round had an Il-2 Shturmovik in it. This year the Shturmoviks were still present, but it seemed that a Ki-64 Rob or a B5N Kate was flying in every heat.
Dan Vaught flew Il-10 Shturmoviks to a win with 3,564 points. Hot on his tail was Mike Fredricks flying his own Fairey Fulmars to second place with 3,200 points. In third, flying the Ki-64 Rob, was Ron Horton with 2,920 points.
Andy Panconillo (Muncie IN) finished fourth with his scratch-built B5N Kates, and Fairey Fulmar-flying father-and-son team Scott and Brian Gilkey took fifth and sixth places, with Scott ahead of his son by 96 points. One cut less for Scott or one cut more for Brian, and the positions would have been reversed!
Back in full force for the 2002 Nationals was the Canadian contingent of Victor "Thunder" Cherneski, Ted Banks, and Matt Toth. Always tough competitors, the Canadian group seems to have a blast at the Nationals and is great fun to fly with.
A new force to be reckoned with made its appearance: the first female Combat fliers at the Nationals. Jan "Sassy" Stout (Wichita KS) of SPAD fame and Tina Zieman (Robard KY) flew in Open Combat. Tina placed 11th, only 44 points shy of making the top 10.
Several kit manufacturers were at the Nationals with their new designs. TufFlight was out flying two versions of its new longer-span Predator X design with its 72-inch wing. Several Open competitors were flying the new Skull Bandit. A.J. Seaholm helped Warbirds Ltd. showcase its new Ki-64 Rob in Scale and his own Avenger 8.0 for Open.
The next RC Combat column I write for Model Aviation will go into more detail about some of the new designs flown at the Nationals.
At the awards banquet, Top Gun of 2001 was awarded to Mike Fredricks. It was a clean sweep as he took top honors in the National Points System for the season, winning Scale, Open, and combined class honors. Special honors were given to Dean Tuinstra and Colin O'Neil for their efforts in designing the SPAD Combat models.
I want to thank the companies and organizations that sponsored the 2002 RC Combat Nationals: the Academy of Model Aeronautics, Plastic Concept Planes, Stan Erwin/Skull Bandit, Flying Z Hobbies, PowerMaster fuels, TufFlight Models, Warzone Models, Wendel Power, and of course, the Radio Control Combat Association.
With an event such as this, everyone comes away a winner (maybe, a winner with a few airplanes to rebuild, but still a winner!). The numbers speak for themselves. I said it last year, and I will say it again: There is no substitute for the RC Combat Nationals!
See results in "Focus on Competition"
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
