Control Line: Combat
NEW GOODIES: If you're one of the many who just miss out on all the trick goodies, then probably your time has now come! The replacement ABC piston/liner sets for the Fox engines are almost ready for delivery. Some of the local SoCal fliers were using them during a recent get-together, and the performance seems to be on a par with the McCollum setup. The price should be around $75, which will also get you a Venturi connecting rod-or about $20 less if you want to take a chance on the stock rod breaking and ruining your day. The last I heard was that Pete Athans was the distributor for this high-tech setup. All the price/delivery details should be worked out by the time my next column hits the streets, but if you just can't wait you can watch the MACA (Miniature Aircraft Combat Association) newsletter-or contact Pete.
Control Line: Combat
COMBAT FLIERS are lucky to have a fairly indepth cottage industry established which furnishes them with all manner of materials needed to fly Combat on all levels. Doc Passen, who is the Doc behind Doc's Generix Kits, has expanded his line of kits to include even more variety than before. The performance level of his model designs is slightly below what a pro might use, but it doesn't really matter since pros build their own designs. There's the Hot Dog for Super Slow Combat, the Wasp for Fast, and the Klipper for Slow, as well as the 1/2A Shadow for the .049 crowd. Doc is a master at gussying up a Plain Jane model to look like a World War II fighter. The sport flier will love the variety of designs, and the more polished competition modeler might humble some of the pros with these one-click-slower designs.
Control Line: Combat
FROM THE LAND of perestroika: Mack Henry is offering a number of items produced in the Soviet Union that, although designed for FAI Combat, may be of use in all Combat events. For $4, Mack will send you a packet containing a very lightweight bellcrank, a control horn, and molded nylon hinge fittings. They're contest-proven and will shave grams off your model's weight as well as speed the building process. Ready-to-use fiberglass props from Latvia are available for $4 each. All that I've tried so far have been perfectly balanced. The prop seems to be one of the best on the market for the Nelson or other F2D Combat engines. It comes with a fairly large hole in the center that's just right for the Nelson mini-spinner prop nut. If you use this prop on a Rossi-size crank, it'll either require a bushing or have to be carefully centered on the shaft.
Control Line: Combat
PROP PROBLEMS: Last time I mentioned that we were trying the fiberglass Taipan 8 × 6 as an inexpensive alternative to the wood props normally used in Fast Combat. We had a failure with a blade flying off when we ran it up on the Hoffelt .36R, which might be understandable because of the terrifically high rpm this mill puts out. However, we've had another failure-this time on a Fox Mark V which doesn't rev nearly as high. Both props had air bubbles in the hub area-nearly 30% of the area, which doesn't help a prop to stay together. Both props were from the same production lot, so it could be that only this one batch had problems.
Control Line: Combat
UP in the Great White North, the Canadians had their own Combat team trials this past July to select a team to compete in the CL World Championships to be held in France this summer. Pat MacKinzie, Ron Malcolm, and Dave Lovgren will be the 1990 Canadian team. Ross Melhuish is the alternate member, failing to make one of the top spots for the first time since Combat became an official FAI World Championship event. Paul Smith reported that both Malcolm and Lovgren used Nelson-powered, all-foam Monarchs, and that he and Steve Kott did the pitting. Pat MacKinzie also used Nelson power, but had Russian-style models constructed of balsa/hardwood/foam composite materials. Melhuish used his familiar 1980-Doroschenko-style models, but in Paul's report he mentioned the streamer-hook weakness that had not been effectively cured.
