RC Combat Nats recap
by Don Grissom [email protected]
We had a great summer of Combat this year, and going again to the Nats in Muncie, Indiana, was the highlight of my summer. Indiana in the summer is usually hot with occasional bad storms, so it was a surprise when we had some of the best weather I have ever experienced at the Nats.
One issue at past Nats was that, because the event was held at the AMA site and not a club site (where there are usually volunteers among the crowd), the judging would need to be handled by the pilots. Because we all launch at the same time, there would be no one to judge at the Nats.
Before the Nats started, the RC Combat Association (RCCA) contacted the Civil Air Patrol in Anderson, Indiana, which is a short drive west of Muncie, and arranged to donate to the organization if it would provide some cadets to help judge.
In addition to their judging duties, we were able to provide the cadets with some introductory flights. The AMA donated an airplane and other items to help them get into RC flying. This was a great opportunity to develop more interest in RC Combat as well as other types of flying. I hope that they can join us again next year. They were a great help and kept us ahead of schedule all week.
We had a great turnout—18 pilots—for this year's Nats. So many signed up for Gnat Combat that we added this event to our contest because we were able to finish early each day. We spent the first two days flying Slow Survivable Combat (SSC), Open B, and Gnat Combat.
In SSC, we had 18 pilots and the scoring was very high—the top five each scored more than 3,000 points. The SSC contest wrapped up with David Smithgall in third place with 3,796. Second place went to Andy Runte with a score of 3,912, and the winner was William Drumm III with a score of 4,456.
Next up was Open B. Because we only had nine pilots, we flew all-up for the event. David Smithgall came in third with a score of 2,336. In second place was William Drumm III with a score of 2,924. Eric Gilkey won with a score of 4,125, which was a strong finish.
We were also able to complete Gnat Combat during the first two days. Eight pilots participated; in third place was Michael LaPacz with 2,720. Second place went to Bill Geipel with a score of 2,946, and Andy Runte won with a score of 3,508.
The last two days of RC Combat Nats consisted of Scale and Limited B Combat. Scale was the smallest group of the week with only seven pilots. Although Scale is fun to fly and to watch, the time it takes to build these airplanes is a big issue. I hope that we can see more pilots compete next year. In Scale this year, third place went to Tim Gillow with a score of 1,572. Second place went to David Smithgall with a score of 1,644. Eric Gilkey, who really put on a good show with some high-scoring rounds for a total of 3,700, placed first.
Limited B participation was strong, with 13 pilots. I can see that this event might replace Open B in the future, because many people prefer its slower speed to that of Open B. Finishing third was Andy Runte with a score of 3,600. Second place went to William Drumm III with a score of 4,304. Eric Gilkey again won with a score of 4,858.
It was a great event made even better by fantastic weather and terrific pilots with whom to fly. If you haven't had a chance to come to the Nats, this would be a great time to put it on your calendar for next year. If you would like to see some pictures and read more about the event, visit the NatsNews newsletter for July 15–18, 2014.
Winter Projects
Another year is nearly over and it is almost time to start building for next year. One of my biggest projects this winter will be building more scale airplanes. One issue this year was that fewer kits were available for those who don't have the equipment to cut their own airplanes. I hope to soon have information about suppliers.
SOURCES:
- Anderson Civil Air Patrol, Composite Squadron 223, Great Lakes Region, Anderson, IN
[email protected] https://sites.google.com/site/andersoncivilairpatrol/home
- NatsNews (see Nats newsletter for July 15–18, 2014)
- RC Combat Association (RCCA)
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
