AMA Nats 1983: CL Combat
CL Combat
Charlie Johnson
Combat at the Nationals is always great. It may be a terrible dirt-and-rock site as we had in California, or intense heat and armadillos as in Texas, but the contestants always come through and put on a good show. The weather in Chicopee couldn't have been better and the flying field — even with its resident badger — was certainly satisfactory. This time, however, there was a breakdown with the officials. The deadly slow pace during a few events tired us all out, and some of the decisions made during the meet might change the event forever.
Slow Combat (Junior and Senior)
In the beginning there was Junior and Senior Slow Combat on Monday. It took most of the day to run off four Seniors and seven or eight Juniors. That should have been a tipoff that things were going to be pretty slow the rest of the time. All events were run using the alternate-elimination system, which allows first-round losers a flight against other losers; the winner of that match goes into the next round on equal footing with first-round winners. All contestants get at least two flights even if they lose both matches.
Some of the Juniors and Seniors came to fly Combat—and others came to have fun. With the exception of Eric Parker (as a Gary Frost understudy), the rest of the winning field in both Fast and Slow was made up of the usual top finishers. Junior Combat still draws enough entrants to make it its own class, but Senior, with only four entries, possibly needs re-evaluation. A combined Senior/Novice class (which would combine the Seniors and beginning Open fliers) was discussed. A lot of ideas were kicked around at the Nats, all aimed at doing something to give the Seniors a break.
I went over to FAI Team Race on Tuesday to give them a hand, since they were very short of timers. I timed the heats and took pictures of the final, then rushed back to Open Slow Combat thinking I'd be lucky to catch the semi-finals. As I dashed up I saw a really good match going off and asked someone if that was the final. I was greeted with a big laugh — it was the ninth match of the first round! It was nice that I didn't miss much—but not so nice when we went home at 8:00 p.m. after being on the field for 12 hours. The pace was—actually, there was no pace; the matches just happened once in a while. The spectators abandoned Slow Combat about 5:00 p.m., and even the hardcore decided dinner was better than camping on the field. The MACA meeting had to be moved up an hour or two, since most of the officials would still be at the site.
What the event lacked in speed, it made up for in spectacular flights. Don Cranfill first caught my attention in a match with Larry Driskell. In the first half of the match Larry chased Don all over the sky, but at the pit the positions changed. Don went on to chase everyone else out of the sky, including final opponent Jim Gall, who'd been doing a very fine job all day and evening.
There was an initial protest about the bladder tanks being used in Slow, but they were allowed to run (as in the past two Nationals). Models with both hard and soft tanks ran really well. Quite a few people had tanks made by Dick Tyndall or Bob Nicks. Cranfill's group had neat, hinged bladder-holders that could be quickly opened to insert an already-filled bladder during pit stops. I don't remember any of the high-horsepower planes making it the full five minutes without a pit stop.
One of the techniques used in Combat to avoid giving up a cut once you're ahead is to fly low and inverted. The pilot hopes the opposing person can't fly inverted very well and will stuff his model in the ground. Unless you have an airplane fast enough to fly up the tail of the inverted one, the only other strategy is to stand on the edge of the circle and wait for the opposing pilot, who will be coming around inverted and usually on the edge of the circle. The only choice for the inverted person is to either go outside the circle's edge or to flip back upright. There was a protest over this during one match, when the inverted pilot was forced to go outside the circle. Unfortunately, nothing was resolved during the meet and the protest was later withdrawn.
Controversies and Protests
The Event Director had decided that any protest would be decided by a jury, as is done in FAI Combat. The theory sounded fine when put to the contestants, but in practice it left a lot to be desired. The final in FAI Combat was flawed by a disagreement over the number of cuts made by each pilot. The senior judge for Gary Frost said he saw three cuts on the opponent's streamer. The backup judge said she saw two and didn't see the third. In the case of cuts, the benefit of the doubt traditionally has been given in favor of the greater number of cuts (the theory being that you're more likely to miss one than to see an extra). That's the way judging has been at previous Nats and at this one. Pat Willcox thought he'd won FAI for the second straight year. Most of the spectators did, too. The judges saw it 3–2 in favor of Gary Frost, which meant he won.
Until this incident, the judge's decision concerning cuts was always final. Procedures could be protested — but not cuts. The Event Director, Bud Bodzioch, called a jury to hear the protest that Pat filed. The jury decided that the match should be reflown the following day. Gary Frost won again, according to the judges.
End of story? Not quite. If the judge's decision is no longer final, every match in the future could be protested. Every race, pattern, or whatever could be protested because the judge's decision is not final. A jury is usually made up of disinterested parties; several on this jury had seen the match. There were lots of us who watched the match, but only two who were judging. Neither the Event Director, the circle marshal, nor the president of the AMA should be able to overrule their decision. If the possibility of a pressure group affecting the outcome of a match becomes part of the new system, it might be better to ask for a show of hands from the spectators to choose the winner and save some judging money.
Fast Combat
Gail Fischer from Geo Magazine was out to see Fast Combat on Friday morning. She wanted pictures of the intensity she'd observed during a brief stop to see FAI on Wednesday. Fast was a real pussycat — not much intensity at all; everyone just flew his match. Only one round was flown on Friday so all 32 people would be left for Saturday. It took Rich Lopez and me about four seconds to figure out that if we caught our flights back to the West Coast on Saturday evening, we'd miss almost all of Combat! So, with much yelling, we got Combat going on Saturday.
Run from one circle to another; the contestants were always ready. Great pit boss Bob Beardon had all the circles ready to go. Finally, a quick pace; the contestants loved it. We were twenty minutes ahead of schedule after the first round, and more time was picked up after each succeeding round. Finally, it was down to Leonardo Silva and Steve Kott for third and fourth. Leonardo borrowed a plane and they had a little engine trouble; Kott took advantage of the misery and got him.
The final for first was between Gil Reedy and 1980 Combat winner Phil Cartier. Phil and Gil flipped a coin to see who got the services of third teammate Don Holbrook. Gil won the toss, so I offered to launch Phil's plane. Both pilots started their own engines and the launches waited for a signal from Rich Lopez. Equal air time for both, so it was up to the pilots. Phil's 520-sq.-in. model out-turned the smaller, Fox-powered model. The TWA .36 in Phil's plane didn't sound very fast, but it yanked it around quite well. As in all good Combat matches, there was a nice mid-air collision that ended the match — at least, that's what a lot of the spectators thought. Phil was not the match with more cuts, which is the way we like to see them end unless there's a kill.
Observations and Conclusions
- The level of competence among pilots was much higher than at any previous Nats. The matches were great, and skill was probably more important this time than equipment.
- Foam models dominated Fast Combat. The "leading-edge kill" is just too important to pass up.
- Except for one Super Tigre and one TWA, the engine field was mostly Foxes. The same situation existed in Slow Combat and to a great extent in FAI.
- Bill Lee made up a bunch of props that Fluker, Stubblefield, and Willcox used that really worked well — they look like a super-modified Taipan 7-4.
- There were a lot more Nelson .15s in FAI, but a Rossi won it. The Force, in its various versions, seemed to be the plane to beat.
Let's hope some of the rules get worked out so they don't get in the way of the flying at Reno next year. The contestants also deserve a faster and more efficient schedule, as well as streamlining the processing the night before. We need to worry more about the spectators, too — the circle was just too far away for spectators or participants to see well. All that applause is lurking inside of them, just waiting to be released by a spectacular match! Winning a trophy is nice, but some appreciative applause from the peanut gallery is very nice, too.
Thank you, all of you judges — you bore more than your share this time.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
