CL: Combat
THE 1990 NATS gave over 40 Combat fliers a chance to do their thing-Fast, Slow, FAI, and 1/2A Combat. The big-money contests have put some pressure on the number of Nats entries of late. The Bladder Grabber just three weeks before grabbed quite a few fliers. The FAI World Champs two weeks prior took some more vacations. But the fliers who made it to the Mid-American Air Center came to fly-and fly they did. With ample time available, every event used a full double elimination, which gave full-house fliers at least eight matches. By my count, over 200 matches were flown. That gave the fliers and spectators all the action they wanted or could handle. By Saturday afternoon everyone was tired and flown out, and the winners were happy.
Control Line Nationals: Combat
WE ARRIVED at Westover Saturday night and got lost en route to the motel, but finally found it. On Sunday, early arrivals took advantage of the open fields for fine tuning and test-flying their models. Event Director Mike Urban arrived in the afternoon and tackled the job of setting up the flying circles. The Air Force had sort of knocked down the tall grass, but two circles had yet to be mowed and marked. Eric Gunn, Steve Kott, Gil Reedy, Mike Urban, Steve Wilk, Pat Currier, Terry Wenberg, Bob Moller, Vince Mankowski, and Joe Fustolo got the job done. Other key people who had a hand in making the event successful included John Lowrey, Phil Cartier, Roy Glenn, Neil Simpson for Super Slow Combat, and Herb Johnson, an RC Scale flier who did a lot of high-quality judging.
Control Line: Combat
MONDAY MORNING was hot and humid. The Combat action started in earnest at 10 a.m., when the four Juniors entered started their flyoff. These pilots may be small, but they flew some big matches. All the Juniors were sons of veteran Combat fliers, so they had their acts together. Their equipment worked, they got good starts, and they flew some fine matches. Mike Carlson went all the way to first place, followed by Mat Arunski in second, Ryan Blair in third, and Skyler Skelly in fourth.
BumbleBee Mk. II
WELCOME BACK, Combat fans. Take some time off from bashing airplanes and look over the latest in foam-wing Combat airplanes. Combat has been around quite awhile, so most Combat planes tend to be very similar. The BumbleBee II wraps the typical wing and stabilator around a new and practical foam wing structure. The result is an 18 oz. machine that can fly with the best balsa ships. The Bumblebee was developed out of necessity. I hate framing up wings, but I love to try new designs. The foam wing is much easier and quicker to build than a conventional wing. An added advantage with balsa prices soaring lately, the Bumblebee is considerably cheaper to build.
Wildcat Profile
AS ONE OF THE MORE formidable aircraft that dominated the Pacific theater in World War II, the Wildcat needs no introduction to the dyed-in-the-wool modeler. Built by the Grumman Aircraft Corporation in the late Thirties and early Forties, the planes-also known as F4Fs-became the backbone of the U.S. air-war strategy in the Pacific, and were also used by the British as land-based fighters in the Mediterranean campaign. Although the Japanese planes had an edge in performance, it was the Wildcat, with its ruggedness and stamina, helped along by good tactics, that ultimately carried the day.
