2010 Combat! 

2010 Play-by-Play

by Brian Campbell

October 2nd turned out to be a really gray day regarding the weather. It was overcast and the light was poor to the point where the planes' colors where not very visible from below. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Heat 1 began with six pilots, but Boots, Lorin and Corky did not get off to a good start. Boots had no streamer, Lorin got airborne but came down soon after and Corky got up but soon lost his streamer for some reason. There were no cuts scored so for the heat Carl, Tom and Brian scored 160 points each, Corky and Lorin 20 each and Boots 0 points.

Heat 2 and Carl did not make the start. Brian decided to make some alterations to the trim of his plane and ended up crashing into the scotch broom. Corky got a good cut on Tom, taking about 4 feet off his streamer, while Boots and Lorin managed to keep out of trouble during the heat. Corky scored 260 points, Boots and Lorin 160 each. Tom, with some streamer remaining, scored 144 points. Brian got 20 points for making the start and Carl scored 0.

Heat 3 and Brian could not get the streamer to deploy in time, so he took no interest in the heat. Corky and Boots both had cuts on Lorin and Carl, but which way round is not known. Tom kept out of trouble again and got a basic score. Corky and Boots scored 260 points each, Tom 160, Carl 68, Lorin 20 and Brian 0 points.

Heat 4 and six planes in the air at the start, all with streamers for a change! At this point I would like to say that things got hectic in the final heat of the year with the poor light conditions. All of the pilots were trying to improve their scoring and the flying was very close. As the planes were crisscrossing and passing in a small area, Brian began to try and fly the wrong plane with the inevitable result. (The word "idiot" was used by Bruce, which completely describes what I did). In the meantime Corky got another cut, this time on Boots. Carl fell by the wayside and Tom and Lorin had uneventful flights. Scoring for heat 4: Corky again with 260 points, Tom and Lorin with 160 each, Boots with 112 points, Brian and Carl with 20 each.

(Brian's plane was found 30 feet up not far into the trees and was retrieved on Tuesday with the aid of one of Mr. Stihl's pieces of equipment. If he had a field charger with him and some cyano to re-glue one aileron hinge, it could have gone flying again that day as there was little real damage to the plane.)

So the scores for the day were Corky with a well deserved 800 points, Tom played it cool and scored 624. Boots worked hard for 532 points, Lorin with his old type Guttersnipe scored 360. Carl scored 248 points and Brian somehow picked up 200.

So we have a winner for the year and way out in front is Tom with 2,816 points! The hard charging Boots, with his late start to the season, came in second with 2,496 points. Corky pulled up a place from last month to third with 2,294 points. Brian dropped down two places from last month to fourth with 2,184 points. Carl kept going to keep his fifth place with 1,700 points. Part-timer Lorin did well to score 620 points. Jim scored 180 points and Chris came in with 160.

All in all, a good season, although scores were down again like last year compared to the high scoring 2008 season. We lost April due to weather and there were some iffy months following. It's hard to score when the planes are obliged to tow vinyl.

More pilots are wanted to make the combat season more competitive. Tom, our winner, came from nowhere this year compared to last year. It just goes to show that experience is not necessarily going to give a top place. There is a lot of luck needed as well.
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September and the weather was overcast but dry for a change, so crepe paper streamers were the order of the day with the potential for higher scoring, and so it was.

Heat one and please excuse the fact that with only the five pilots there, it was difficult to track what happened to everyone during the heat. For some reason Corky did not score anything so I must presume he did not get airborne in time for the heat. Of the remainder, Brian was asleep at the switch again and soon lost all his streamer to either Boots or Tom and was obliged to land. Carl must have had the same thing happen to him as he lost his streamer to one of the other two and also landed. Boots and Tom scored a cut each but not on each other it seems. Boots and Tom received 260 points each, Brian and Carl 20 points each and Corky 0.

Heat two and Carl's streamer did not deploy properly so he landed. Tom did not get up for some reason. Brian got a cut on Corky, leaving him just enough to keep flying to the end of the heat. Boots flight was uneventful. Brian scored 260 pointsts, Boots 160, Corky 44, Carl 20 and Tom 0.

Heat three had problems for this writer. I had chosen to top up my TX a little between heats with a field charger, only to find that when I needed it for the heat, there was no power. With the case opened up it was plain that the fuse had blown and I could not make repairs in time for the heat. Corky and Carl were obliged to land, Boots scored a cut and Tom managed to finish the heat. Boots scored 260 pts, Tom 40, Corky and Carl 20 points each and Brian 0.

Heat four and this time Tom managed a cut on Corky it would seem. Carl did not score and Boots and Brian managed to get up and finish the heat by keeping out of trouble. Tom scored 260 points, Boots and Brian 160 each, Corky 50 and Carl 0.

As you can see, Boots was the big winner of the day with 840 points. Tom has kept plugging away and scored 560 points. Brian, even with his misfortunes, managed to pick up 440 points; Corky not so good with only 114 points and Carl even worse with only 60 points.

The running total for the year so far is: Tom somehow still retains his lead with 2,192 points. Brian still has second place, but only just, with 1,984 points; Boots is now close behind with 1,964. Corky hangs on to fourth place with 1,494 points and Carl has slipped to fifth place with 1,452.

If Boots keeps flying in October (the last Combat Day for this year) the way he is at the moment, then it is possible for him to win the annual contest!

The Combat Pilots could use some spectators to help with the launching, timing and observing to see that fair play is maintained.
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August 7th and what is it with AUGUST and the Kitsap Peninsula? It rained the night before after a long spell of sunshine and continued to rain on and off through the Saturday combat. Vinyl streamers were required so the pilots were not looking for streamer cuts with this material. However there was a surprise later.

Heat 1 had five planes get off to an uneventful start, but after "stop combat" was called and pilots were preparing to land, Tom and Carl had a minor collision causing Tom's plane to land/arrive away from the runway which meant he lost most of his points. Tom scored 20 points and Carl, Boots, Corky and Brian all scored 160 points each.

Heat 2 and early-on Boots took all of Carl's streamer by cutting the string so Carl was obliged to land. After that, the surprise was that Corky managed to cut or break some of Boots's streamer so two cuts were called for the heat. Everyone landed safely this time. Corky scored 260 points, Boots 224, Tom and Brian 160 each and Carl scored 20.

Heat 3 and Brian's streamer deployment system failed miserably and he was obliged to land. Corky had control problems and his plane ended up in the north end plantation area. The others landed safely at the end of the heat. Carl, Tom and Boots scored 160 points each, Corky scored 20 and Brian none.

Heat 4 and Brian got his streamer deployment to work only to have his engine quit shortly after take off, landing in the scotch broom at the south end. Corky was flying his spare (second) plane and got into control problems again. The plane came down near the one he lost in Heat 3 at the north end. Meanwhile Tom also had control problems and his plane came down in the taller trees on the far side of the runway. Carl and Boots had uneventful flights scoring 160 points each. Tom, Brian and Corky each scored 20 points.

August 7th (continued)

Scoring for the day was Boots 704 points, Carl 500, Corky 460, Tom 360 and Brian 340.

Running totals for the year so far has Boots's big score for the day bringing him into contention at a solid 5th place (1,124 points). Corky, with his misfortunes, has dropped to 4th place (1,380 points). In 3rd place is Carl with 1,392 points, Brian holds on to 2nd spot with 1,544 points and Tom is still the leader with 1,632 points.

There are two more events to go this year. If Boots keeps up with his high scoring action, this year's contest is going to be a close run thing. Only 252 points cover the first four places and Boots is only 256 points behind Corky. I for one have not had any control problems with the 2.4 GHz frequency and will make sure my engines are in better tune and the streamer deployment system I use is more failure proof.
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July 3rd and the day started with a lot of gloom at the field (contrary to the weatherman's forecast,) but it did cheer up later.

Heat 1 had all six pilots up on-time, only to be defeated by the low clouds. Brian's streamer was the first to fall off due to the damp, followed by four others. Boots was the only one to retain his streamer for the full four minutes. No cuts, so Boots received 160 points and the rest 20 points each.

Heat 2 and again no cuts. Boots and Tom had streamer problems and Lorin had control problems, "landing" in the scotch broom this time. Carl, Corky and Brian scored 160 points each for complete flights. Lorin, Boots and Tom received 20 points each.

Heat 3 became very interesting. Lorin and Corky had a very near miss with their planes. Their streamers became entangled and Corky lost all of his. Lorin lost half of his but managed to complete his flight. Meanwhile Boots had a small cut on Brian's streamer, Brian and Carl had cuts on someone(?), and Tom managed to land with all of his streamer. Corky scored 120 points, Lorin 200, Brian 224, Carl 260, Boots 200 and Tom received 120.

Heat 4 and Lorin failed to fly at all; Brian got up late and made no cuts, so no points for them. Tom made a cut, presumably on Boots who landed for lack of streamer. Corky and Carl made complete flights. The scoring was 260 points for Tom, Corky and Carl 160 each, Boots 20, and Lorin and Brian received no points.

Totals for the day: Carl 600 points, Corky 460, Tom 420, Brian 404, Boots 400 and Lorin 240.
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June 5th and the weather was great for a change. Six pilots showed up (eventually), although four of them with only one plane.

In heat one Corky, Brian, Tom, and Lorin got airborne okay and the dance began. Shortly after the start Tom got a good cut on Brian leaving only 3" of string behind the plane (a real close one), so Brian had to land. Tom flew well with all of Brian's string and streamer wrapped around his prop and plane. He was harassed by Corky but to no avail. Corky's engine quit before the end of the heat so Tom was the decisive winner. During the heat Lorin's plane had a disconnect problem between the elevator servo and the control run and gravity took over. Lorin received 20 points, Brian 20, Corky 20 and Tom 260.

Boots showed up in time for heat two. Jim's reserve plane had a frequency clash with Tom's (Ch. 54) so Jim had to sit this one out. Four planes in the air and there was the awful "crump" of a mid-air collision between Tom and Boots which finished them for the day. Corky and Brian kept at it but no cuts so they came down with nominal points. Tom and Boots received 20 points each with Corky and Brian each receiving 160.

Heat three and down to three pilots. Jim was able to fly his reserve now that Tom's plane was no more. No cuts and uneventful except that Corky's plane being so fast some of the streamer fell off and he lost 40 points. Jim and Brian received 160 points each and Corky received 120.

Heat four with the same three pilots. Jim had a did-not-finish for some reason and Brian managed to keep out of the way of Corky to the end of the heat although there were some close moments. Jim received 20 points with Corky and Brian receiving 160 each.

Totals for the day were Lorin 20 points, Boots 20, Jim 180, Tom 280, Corky 460 and Brian 500.

Lessons learned: it's best to have at least one reserve plane and try to avoid a frequency clash to keep flying. This is where 2.4 GHz scores well. Check that all control run connections are secure and the engine is solidly mounted.
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April's Combat Day was rained out but May 1st was an eventful day, even with only (initially) 4 pilots. Chris Bessex joined in for the first heat with an electric model.

In heat 1, Tom sneaked up on Brian (when he was not paying attention) and snipped off 10 feet of streamer. Brian received 120 points, Tom 260, Carl 160 and Chris 160. In heat 2, Tom got a cut on Carl, but then most of his streamer fell off. Brian received 160 points, Tom 152 and Carl 112.

In heat 3 Brian and Carl suffered a mid-air collision. Carl's plane lost its wing (which is still out there somewhere) while the fuslage screwed itself into the ground near the scotch broom. Brian's plane lost two wheels and a damaged wing where Carl's plane attacked it from below and then nose-dived into the trees.

This is where the use of the "Locator" system helped in finding the plane. Once near where we thought it had come down, the Locator indicated it was further to the left of where we were going. Tom found it by going in the direction indicated. Without this system we would have walked past it by about 20 feet. The result of heat 3 was Brian 20 points, Tom 160 and Carl 20. As there was no competition for Tom in heat 4, it was cancelled.

Totals for the day were Tom 572 points, Brian 300, Carl 292 and Chris with 160.