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
I HAD A very busy month of June attending the big British contest at Three Sisters, an 80-mph meet, the Bladder Grabber, and a local competition figure-eight contest. The British meet featured the usual bad weather, with wind, rain, and cold (the Three Sisters), but made up for it with some very good competition. Britisher John James flew the best match of the meeting against Slava Beliaev, with Slava taking three cuts right off and John coming back to take five from the Russian to win! Besides the great competition, there was a supermarket of things to buy such as engines, props, and model kits.
Control Line: Combat
NOT JUST FOR COMBAT. You'll notice that one of the photos this month features a rather confusing array of items (available through Art Gross, 12516 Maplewood Ave., Edmonds, WA 98026; Tel. 206/743-9332). The hand belt sander combines the practical use of a sanding block with a continuous belt so that you can use all 54 square inches of the paper. An easy-to-use locking device allows quick removal and replacement of the proper type and grit so you won't have ten different blocks lying around. By spraying some silicon on the paper you can keep it from loading up, and, thanks to the ability to unlock and rotate the paper, the residue just falls off when it goes around the corner. Art demonstrated this technique at the Bladder Grabber, and when your get you sander, you'll find out it works just as well.
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.
