CONTROL LINE COMBAT
Rich von Lopez 8334 Colegio Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045
MACA (Miniature Aircraft Combat Association)
Anyone serious about flying Combat or getting involved in the event should consider joining the 20-year-old Miniature Aircraft Combat Association (MACA). MACA is an organization of mostly American Combat enthusiasts, with a few members from other countries. It is the voice of Combat pilots to the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA).
- President: Phil Cartier (also longtime Combat columnist for Flying Models)
- Newsletter: The MACA News, published monthly by Chuck Cline, contains editorials, technical articles, product evaluations, contest reports from around the country, advertising for hard-to-obtain and custom products, District Vice President reports, and updates on the MACA Top Twenty.
Membership costs $15 per year. Send membership information and payment to: Ross Leighter, Treasurer 3007 Pirates Cove, Aurora, OH 44202
Be sure to include your AMA number, AMA category (Junior, Senior, Open, or Contest Director), and your telephone number.
MACA Top Twenty — 1993
The MACA Top Twenty recognizes the best Combat pilots in the country based on competition results during the year.
- Richard Stubblefield
- David Owen
- Tom Fluker
- Joe McKenzie
- Jim Grady
- Bob Morse
- Allen DeVeuve
- Bob Burch
- Lou Scavone
- Mike Evans
- Jake Schultz
- Neal Rose
- Andy Minor
- Iskandar Taib
- Jim Morway
- Jordan Segal
- Bob Mears
- Mack Henry
- Larry Driskill
- Paul Baluch
EVENTS AND NEWS
December 31: 1/2A Combat Fun-Fly (Secret Beach Site)
On December 31 we held the fourth annual 1/2A Combat fun-fly at a secret beach site. What better way to end the year than flying Combat? Southern California may have floods, fires, civil unrest, and earthquakes, but it also offers some of the best weather in the Northern Hemisphere — few places allow Combat flying in December.
Participants this year included Steve Hills, Peter Athans, Don Repp, Chuck Rudner, Mark Rudner, and myself. We spend about four hours on plush, carpetlike grass flying 1/2A Combat; the tradition began in 1990 and will continue. Informal practice at the flying field precedes the beach flying — ocean air and great sunshine make it a pleasurable way to end the year. The last kill of the year was at the hands of Pete Athans.
Bladder Grabber Triple Elimination Fast Combat Contest
The Pacific Aeromodellers Club (British Columbia) lists the Bladder Grabber Triple Elimination Fast Combat Contest on June 25–26, 1994. The event is held at Harvey Field in Snohomish, Washington.
Contacts:
- Norm McFadden — Tel.: (206) 745-1314
- Dan Rutherford — Tel.: (206) 481-5760
If you have never been to a Bladder Grabber, don't miss it — the competition is keen and the prizes make the trip to the beautiful Pacific Northwest well worth it.
International Modelers Show (Pasadena, CA) and Zurich Sportglasses
The International Modelers Show arrives in Pasadena on the second weekend of January. I attend every year looking for new products to make building and flying easier.
This year I stopped at the Newman Optics booth to check out Zurich Sportglasses (Zurich USA). These safety sunglasses can be worn right over prescription glasses, which immediately caught my interest. Boyd Newman, company president, provided literature and specifications for these high-quality wraparound sunglasses.
Key features (from Newman Optics literature):
- Designed by optician Bruce Holden; molded from optical-quality GE Lexan.
- Qualified to carry the ANSI Z80.3 safety glass designation.
- Filter/block the majority of harmful light: high percentage of UV-A and UV-B blocked, and substantial IR reduction.
- Distortion-free 180° wraparound design reduces glare, wind, and side-entry UV, improving comfort and reducing squinting.
- Lenses go through a multi-step hard-coating and cleaning process, followed by advanced coating procedures to improve scratch resistance, durability, and optical quality.
- The design and processing yield optical quality comparable to much more expensive sunglasses and are well-suited for model pilots (improved color acuity, depth perception, and protection from fuel splash or debris).
I bought a pair and tested them over my prescription glasses; I give them a positive endorsement and recommend them to pilots who wear corrective lenses and those who don't.
Newman Optics 5083 Ridgedale Drive, Ogden, UT 84403 Tel.: (801) 476-1177
PEOPLE, NEW PILOTS, AND EQUIPMENT
New Combat pilots are the lifeblood of the hobby-sport. Without new pilots we would die out quickly. In Southern California we have a crop of new pilots cutting their teeth on 80-mph Combat before moving into Fast Combat; some have already graduated to Nelson-powered equipment and will be a force in the future.
Local pilots keeping the sport alive include John Keneally, Stan Sweat, Brian Coquette, and Frank Simms. They may not yet have national reputations, but they are what keeps us going. I have sold some excess equipment to our rookies so they can put it to good use. Frank Simms has made pit boxes for Combat use and beautiful glow-plug caddies for both Nelson and standard glow plugs.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
