CL Combat
WHAT might have been a low-key Nats in a sleepy part of Washington State turned out to be one of the most fun and exciting Nationals in memory. It was quite a drive for Jim Gall coming all the way from New Jersey, as it was for John Kupinski who drove solo from Michigan. Many others took the easy way out and let a jet do the hard work. The Combat flying site was probably the best we've had in the past decade with beautiful grass, good parking, and stores and restaurants just a few blocks away. The weather started off rather cool and drizzly during the air show on Sunday. It was hot on Tuesday and hotter on Wednesday, followed by lots of wind Thursday-and nice weather for Fast Combat on Friday and Saturday.
Control Line: Combat
COMBAT's third annual Money Nats was held in Los Angeles, CA during April. Mark Smith ended up the big winner, pocketing $1,000 in cash for his nine-win and two-loss record. Once again, as he'd done in winning the last AMA Lincoln Nationals, he flew some solid matches, losing one to Norm McFadden (who was third) and the other to Dos Porter. Mike Petri took home the Carver stereo for his second-place effort. Norm received a K&B 5.8 along with the plaques that all winners were awarded for his third-place finish.
Control Line: Combat
TOP 20: The Miniature Aircraft Combat Association (MACA) announced its official Top 20 for 1988. My last column had a sneak preview of the top few places, but now it's official, and we have the entire list. The number following the flier's name (and state) is his season point total: 1) Michael Willcox (TX)-152, 2) Paul Smith (MI)-135, 3) Richard Stubblefield (TX)-127, 4) John Stubblefield (TX)-113, 5) Don Cranfill (TX)-96, 6) Ed Brzys (MI)-90, 7) Mike Thiessen (Canada)-80, 8) R. Zeidenthius (OK)-79, 9) Alan Deveuve (TX)-74, 10) Steve Kott (MI)-59, 11) Tom Fluker (TX)-56, 12) Mike Palermo (IL)-56, 13) Dave Stewart (AZ)-56, 14) Jerry Sabin (IL)-52, 15) D. Morris (IA)-50, 16) Pete Plunkett (MN)-49, 17) Bob Nick (NC)-48, 18) Luis Lopez (DE)-47, 19) W. Underwood (MD)-47, 20) Jeff Johnson (KS)-42.
Control Line: Combat
UNFORTUNATELY Doc Passen has had to cancel his 1/2A Money Meet which had been scheduled for the Labor Day weekend. Doc has a lot of business obligations both professionally and in modeling that were very pressing-too pressing to allow him to run the 1/2A meet. Besides his normal line of CL kits which have been selling quite well, there is now a series of RC Combat planes which are meant to be used the way we fly CL Combat. The RC market is so much bigger that if they follow his instructions with respect to flying style (mix it up, and no 200-ft. streamers!), he should be able to retire soon just on the profit from kit production.
AMA Nats: CL Combat
ONCE again the Combat fliers got the prime real estate at the National Combat Championships. Where other events were off in other parts of the region, the Combat fliers enjoyed the greatest exposure to the spectators with an excellent flying site near the AMA Nats HQ and concessions. There was enough practice area for dozens of circles, although very few fliers did much practicing because of the intense heat and humidity. Temperatures were generally in the high eighties, with several days well into the 90º range with very high humidity, too. It wasn't as bad as two years ago in Lake Charles where new record temperatures were set, but it took about 10-15 mph off top speeds, which actually made for better matches although being hard on engines and contestant endurance. Except for a few raindrops on one day, the temperature and humidity were the only detracting factors, as the wind remained at a very low level.
