2012 was a great year, with many RC Combat events across the country. After many years of decline, Combat participation has begun to stabilize.
This past year featured 45 contests flown across the country, totaling 4,493 rounds. Texas again had the year’s highest scores. Of the pilots participating, 86% flew Slow Survivable Combat (SSC), which continues to be the most popular event. With the addition of Gnat this year, we hope to see new pilots participating because the Gnat airplanes are simple to build and fly.
Five classes of Combat were flown last year and once again the top pilot in three of those classes was William Drumm III. He ended up on top for SSC, Open B, and Limited B. He placed second for most Combat rounds flown. Bob Loescher took home the prize for most rounds flown, with a total of 268.
First place in Scale 2948 went to Kirk Adams. Kirk flies in the Maryland and Virginia areas, where Combat has grown these past few years.
Although it is only flown in the northwestern part of the country, there is still much support for 2610 Combat. Last year, eight pilots flew 2610, with the top prize going to Jerry Haines.
Congratulations to all of these winners, and I am looking forward to another great year.
Wing Assembly
When I started preparing for another year of Combat, I decided that I would go ahead and get some additional airplanes ready. This is a good time to go through the basic supplies and tools that we use when assembling the wings.
The first, most-common material needed is the glue for gluing the foam wing parts together. I currently use Gorilla Glue, which is polyurethane glue. One issue with Gorilla Glue is that it will expand, which means you must apply tape, sand it, or cut the excess off of the wing after it dries. Trying to wash the excess off with water will cause it to expand even more.
Another type of glue that people use to glue in spars is all-purpose adhesive caulk. It will not expand like Gorilla Glue, but it takes longer to dry.
When I put the wings together, I tape over the glue to let it dry. One solution to Gorilla Glue’s expansion problem that someone came up with was to tape over the glued section then use a Woodpecker tool to make small holes in the tape, which allows the glue to expand through the holes without pushing the wood or fiberglass spar out of the hole. When it is dry, you can easily pop out the glue that pushed through the holes with a saw or sander.
Most pilots use a bidirectional filament tape on their wings. It is great on the LEs and TEs and is also used to cover the spars in the wing. There are many sources for the tape, including TreneffRC.com or FindTape.com. Local places such as office supply stores carry Scotch Extreme Packing Tape or your local Ace Hardware can order a tape called Hurricane Tape.
One advantage of the online sites is that they sell it in larger and wider rolls. Some people use the 4-inch-wide tape on the wing spars and LE. Don’t cover the entire wing in this tape, because it is a lot heavier than covering tape or vinyl.
Another use for the bidirectional tape is on the aileron hinges. To give them more freedom of movement, I cut the tape into 3 or 4-inch lengths, two per hinge. Take the two pieces and overlap them 1/4 inch, placing them sticky side to sticky side. Place one side of the tape on the top of the wing where the overlap is over the edge. Attach the other half to the aileron.
At this point, place another hinge, but this time attach the tape to the bottom of the wing and reverse the direction of the hinge. You will need to do this approximately six times per wing.
When it comes to airplane covering, you can use low-heat covering, but most people use vinyl or tape. The vinyl we use comes in many colors and can be purchased online. Some sign shops will sell rolls. You want to use a lightweight vinyl such as Oracal 641.
Vinyl is good to use on Scale airplanes because it comes in military colors. Regular tape does not come in color tones such as silver or sand. I use a color-coding tape that is roughly 2.2 mil thick. Companies such as Fast-Pack.com and Uline are good choices when ordering.
It is a nice idea to come up with a color scheme that is different from other airplanes that will be flying. It will make it easier to see your airplane in the air. You also want to use different colors for the top and bottom of the wing. It will make it easier to see your airplane in the air.
