RADIO CONTROL COMBAT
Greg Rose, 1312 NW 196th St., Edmond OK 73003
Although clubs across the US are active in Radio Control (RC) Combat, sometimes there is an event that dwarfs the normal club activities; if the weather cooperates, the huge effort made by the Contest Director (CD) and the hosting club can pay off as a spectacular event. It did for organizer and CD Doug Haacke and the Billings Flying Mustangs Club, with the First Annual Scale RC Combat Western National Championships.
The contest allowed the use of "Montana Rules" (based on the AMA 704 event, but with modified guidelines allowing slight increases in wing area, engine size, and dry fighting weight to compensate for the higher altitude). About two-thirds of the contestants were "lowlanders" who mostly flew stock 704 equipment. The contest's huge purse—$2,000 in cash, five radios, and 10 kit/engine combos—drew 33 pilots, who brought more than 120 models!
Pilots came from as far away as Turkey. Bret Anderson, who hails from Clinton, Utah, flew back from his station in Turkey to attend the meet. He didn't place in the top 10, but he won the "Farthest Traveled" award. At least eight states were represented, including:
- Washington
- Wyoming
- Wisconsin
- Idaho
- Utah
- Michigan
- Montana
- California
Combat started out fast and furious and kept the pace; a total of 34 seven-minute rounds had to be packed into the weekend. That's a lot of combat flying!
After two days of near-cuts, cuts, near-midairs, and midairs, Earl Seaholm (Billings, MT) won first place. Flying a Zigg's Corsair (that he had gotten the day before) and his scratch-built Cub, Earl waited until the final seconds of the final round to get the cut that vaulted him into first place. Besides being an excellent flier, he was an excellent sportsman. Despite the $1,000 top prize, he loaned his Cub to Ron Horton (also from Billings), who flew it into second place!
Although I'm sure that Ron is an excellent flier, cries of "Beginner's luck!" rang out when he placed second in his first Combat event. Maybe someone forgot to tell him that beginners are supposed to be cannon fodder.
Eric Hawkinson had a rough first day, but tore through the skies on Sunday to grab third place. He flew a P-40 of his own design. Eric's wife lent a hand at the meet when she brought a cut against him to the attention of a judge who had missed it!
Fourth place went to Jim Fech (Cody, WY). He was one of four fliers who drove up from Wyoming for the meet. Jim brought his son Mike (the youngest flier in the meet) and two flying friends, Bard Lane and Mike Sperry. This was the Wyoming contingent's first sanctioned meet, and although they were new to the event, they flew well and showed teamwork. Sperry's only model, a Zigg Zero, was taken out early by a midair, but he cannibalized the aircraft to keep Jim's model in the contest.
I know I've said this before, but the way to perform consistently well in combat is to be prepared. A perfect example is fifth-place winner Mike Fredricks (Beaver Dam, WI). A seasoned 704 flier, his comfort with the event and with the Zigg Zero design that he has campaigned for several years gives him a deceptive calm, which can hide his aggressive flying techniques. Although fifth place may seem low for such a skilled flier, only one kill separated him from first place!
Wyoming wasn't the only state that sent a squadron of fliers; five contestants drove from Idaho. This group had two father/son teams—a good example of the large number of these pairs seen in the 704 event.
Colby and Wynn Hone didn't place high in the standings, but they grabbed attention for their workmanship and constant smiles, even after a midair knocked them out of the running. They seemed to be having too much fun to notice. Dale and Jared Sebring also brought a flight of scratch-built beauties; another scratch-builder, Wayne Van Orden, took seventh place—the best showing for the Idaho team.
Jeff Weiss of AirKill Products was the highest-placing kit manufacturer, grabbing ninth place. He showed up with the largest fleet of models of any contestant, but didn't need any backups; his model went the entire meet virtually unscathed.
Mark McCool (Nashotah, WI) won the "Unluckiest Man at the Meet" award. On the first day, he was plagued by engine and fuel problems and missed all but one or two heats. On Sunday, he tore out of the basement with his Collins Scientific Fw 190 and won 10th place with one day's worth of flying.
What happened to Doug Haacke, event CD and organizer? He placed a respectable sixth in the standings—not bad for the "Busiest Man in the Meet," a title that every CD earns for his hard work. Doug asked me to make sure that I thanked event sponsors, including local and national supporters. As Doug said, "You guys are the greatest!"
Sponsors
- Airtronics
- Air-Kill Products
- Zigg's Originals
- Great Planes
- Local sponsors: Pizza Time, the Billings Gazette, station KTVQ, Pepsi-Cola
Plans are already in the works for the second Scale RC Western National Combat Championships in 1998, so plan to attend this great event if you can!
Manufacturing news
There is bad news on the manufacturing scene for 704 modelers. Marvin Banka Models (17 Rutledge Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618; tel. [609] 883-1490), which has offered precut kits and foam-core wings for any Gus Morfis design, will no longer be able to work with balsa. Marvin had an allergic reaction to balsa dust, and the nature of the allergy forced him to stop working with balsa. However, he will be able to continue supplying precut foam wing cores for Morfis designs, and he may expand his non-balsa-related kit-making abilities. Marvin's a nice guy, and I wish him the best of luck in overcoming his health problems.
Personal note
If you check the top of this page, you will see that I have moved! A whole column could be written about the joys of transporting models and family 1,000 miles, but I'll spare you the gruesome details. I do have a few fewer "works in progress," and "hangar rash" is now the norm, but things went fairly well in general. I've already found a nice club with a field only 2 1/2 miles from my house! Please send pictures of your Combat events.
Until next time, chase streamers whenever you can, but be sure to check your six!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
