Control Line: Combat
USUALLY, the last thing that is said in Combat construction articles is: "install fuel system and test fly model." Enough people have trouble getting simple suction tanks to work, much less a pressure tank or bladder/pacifier system. Pacifiers have been around a long time, maybe 25 years or more. A lot of people give Riley Wooten credit for the development work-or at least in popularizing it. Pen bladders can be included in this same group, but have lost popularity because they've become scarce and the ones still available have deteriorated. Actually, pacifiers are getting hard to find-at least in a form usuable for Combat. Many are filled with jellies or are moulded around the plastic ring. I've heard of people buying substitutes from scientific stores where they're used in another application. Surgical tubing has pretty much taken over where once the pen bladder ruled. It's cheaper, lasts longer, and is available in many sizes. The term "bladder" is nowadays taken to include the surgical-tubing tanks.
Control Line: Combat
FOR SALE: Combat planes that handle like camels. Being the bargain-hunter that I am, I couldn't pass up eight pretty decent-looking models at bargain-basement prices. They're nice looking, light, and well-built-but they don't handle very well. I remember their former owner had pretty fair luck with them, but I decide he must have been putting a lot of "arm" in as he was flying. They won't wiggle, and they turn about like a stock Voodoo. There is about 11/2-in. difference between inboard and outboard wings, plus a huge cutout for plug clearance and gorilla-sized hands to extract same. The extra 11/2-in. on the inboard side is about one inch too much and makes the model yaw way out in the turns and flop around. Some of the effective outboard lift is also being destroyed by the large cutout around the cylinder head.
Control Line: Combat
MOST of the pictures this time are from the Buckeye (AZ) Regionals, which all of us hardy souls attend faithfully. Not much is going on in the rest of the country in January, so there is usually a good assortment of Combat types that makes the trek. I got to see how nice the Fast and Slow versions of the Eagle model tracked and turned. There was nothing but snow in Denver, so David Henderson came to Buckey to get some sun and run over the rest of the crowd in Slow Combat. The Eagle Slow Combat model is available from Bob Nicks (Triangle Hobbies, 1211 Brookgreen Dr., Cary, NC 27511; telephone 919/467-6270). One set of foam wings with plans is $7, and additional wing cores are $6 each. Plans for either the Fast or Slow model are only $1.50. Bob has the rest of the goodies you'll need, like surgical tubing and a trick uniflow chicken hopper tank (which goes for $8, or 3 for $20).
Control Line: Combat
BY NOW, most of you must have heard the news that the world as we know it will end as soon as the last few Fox .36s leave the factory. Articles in some of the newsletters I receive predicted everything from the demise of Fast Combat to locusts in your fuel. It's not all that bad, folks! The casting is being modified for a muffler and carburetor. The front bearing will also make an exit. De-RC the new engine, and it'll probably be almost as good as the Mark 3s and 4s. (Maybe not; excuse me, I'm going to check for locusts in my fuel!) A shortage of new engines might prompt a few of us to dig through the tons of unused engines and parts in our garages.
Control Line: Combat
I SPENT some time around the Memorial Day weekend visiting some old friends in Eugene, OR and also attending the Northwest Regionals. I also was re-indoctrinated by Rich Porter. Two years ago, I nicknamed Rich the "Northwest Terror," and I believe everyone who knows him would agree. He's the guy you've probably read about that flys Aerobatics with a 500-sq.-in., TD-powered model or a .60-powered plane that is bigger than his car! Rich also thought of a few new ways to fly Combat. The one way that really gets regular Combat guys excited is the "let's make something happen mode," where the object is to make head-on passes at your opponent. I thought it might be amusing if someone else were his opponent-but not me, of course!
