CONTROL LINE COMBAT
Don Repp 540 Berry Way, La Habra, CA 90631
INTRODUCTION
Since I'm not quite as famous as some of my fellow columnists, I'll tell you a little about myself. I was born and raised in southern California, where I have lived most of my life. I've been flying control line airplanes on and off since I was about eight years old, venturing into all forms of CL, and I have a great appreciation for those who succeed at it regardless of the discipline. My personal favorite is Combat. I am presently an AMA CD, and I hold the office of MACA (Miniature Aircraft Combat Association) District 10 vice president. I have been associated with several AMA chartered clubs over the years, holding office in several—most recently, president of the southern California club, Knights of the Round Circle.
I usually compete in eight to 12 Combat contests a year, including AAA regional, AA and AA local, AMA or Fast Combat Money Meets, and the 1/2A World Champs here on the west coast. I also fly almost every weekend and participate in a lot of practice matches in 1/2A, 80 MPH, and FAI.
A BLAST FROM THE PAST
Ed Bridant's excellent photos of Alan DeVeuve and Mitch Cleveland locked into a match in a way most of us would rather not experience—but probably have at one time or another—were taken at the last Team Trials in Vacaville, California.
TOP GUN
In spite of the really extreme weather in this part of the country, the first big meet of the year, the Top Gun Shoot-Out in Tucson, Arizona, went off without a hitch. Thirty contestants from all over the country flew triple-elimination Fast Combat in one of the smoothest-run contests I've ever attended.
The weather was beautiful for a bit of test flying when we arrived on Friday, and cool and cloudy on Saturday. Rain on Sunday morning let up during the first round and held off until after the finals. The turnout seemed to be down slightly, but the quality of equipment and the skill of pilots seemed to be up a notch.
Richard Stubblefield was hot from the beginning—making five kills on Saturday and going on to take the win. Mark Smith flew very well to finish second, and Dave Stewart, who was undefeated until the very end when he lost three matches, finished third.
Ken Manchester placed fourth, still flying very well after winning the Morgan Hill meet, and Alan DeVeuve and Greg Hill rounded out the top five.
All in all, it was a great contest with very well-organized and hardworking contest management, 30 contestants who flew two days of top-notch Combat with very good equipment, and a deserving top five collecting the spoils on Sunday evening.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
I received a small brochure from Tomas Mejzlik, a member of the Czechoslovakian Combat team, listing a whole bunch of neat modeling goodies. It contains items for most of the FAI disciplines (Combat, Speed, Stunt, and free flight). The items for FAI combat (F2D) are quite interesting. Available items include:
- Engines with mufflers (to meet the 1993 rules change), in both diesel and glow versions
- F2D Combat model kits
- Ready-to-fly (RTF) models in three different designs
Rich Lopez and Chuck Rudner brought back several similar prebuilt Russian planes from the World Championships last year, and we've been flying them quite a bit—doing engine and muffler tests and a few test hops for fun and practice. They are very competitive—obvious from the World Championship results—lots of fun to fly, and at $32 plus shipping (cost includes a set of aluminum motor mounts) they're a great buy.
Also in the brochure are most, if not all, of the accessories needed to get these jewels airborne, including:
- Bulk reels of line or individual premade sets
- Preassembled fuel bladders
- Bellcranks and pushrods
- Control horns
- Spare mufflers (rubber or aluminum)
- Flying handles
- Pre-tied streamers
There are also seven types of carbon/Kevlar-molded glass props available, designed by past and present world-class fliers. On the last page there is a complete listing of spare parts for the engines he sells, with prices.
A couple of Rich's photos taken at the last World Championships show some of the goodies available onsite, and as luck would have it, many of us now have the opportunity to pick up some very competitive F2D equipment at reasonable prices. If you're not planning to compete at the team trials, you still might want to consider buying a couple just to play with or to fly practice matches with. We are putting together an order now, so I should be able to give you an evaluation of these items in a future column.
If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the list, you can write to Tomas Mejzlik, Jurkovicova 19, 638 00 Brno, Czechoslovakia. You can also send a SASE to me, and I'll send you a photocopy.
Till next time...
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
