jody63

my club is having a funfly/combat in october.so far the only rules is a motor in the 40 size and around a 50 inch span.this is just going to for fun so no strict rules,just for some laffs.I have a old os 40 that i can use.what would recomend for a plane?I am looking for something cheep and fast.Keep in mind that the wingspan and motor size r only recomendations,we really have no rules.Any help would be great!!!!!!!!

Oodles

Pick out a SPAD on SPAD to the Bone--Simple to build--cheap and tuff as woodpecker lips

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

If you're serious about picking off streamers, then you want to go with some wing span. 6 feet is a nice round number that even .15 sized engines can pull around pretty well. With a .40, you could show up there with a flying wing design with a lot of span and clean house.

yl5295

My Feedback: (1)

For a fun-fly I would go with a Quickie 500. Nothing to really do with combat but it will excel at all of the other events. A long wing span combat type plane will never catch a Q-500 so the only chance for a cut is when the Quickie makes a pass at it. At 120MPH the quickie pilot gets to decide who to throttle back on to try to make a cut. I put up a Magic extra with a Mag 52 against a 2610 one time just fooling arround and I definitely had the upper hand and could decide when to engage and when to run away.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Next time you see a chance to fly some combat at an AMA sanctioned event, show up with your quickee

Montague

Heh, overly fast planes typically don't do well at combat contests. Some of us even have a whole bag of tricks to nail the "go fast" crowd, since they basically can't turn worth a darn, so once a fast plane starts a pass, you can easily predict where it will be and when it will be there for an easy cut. A little faster is nice, a lot faster is not worth it.

Since you have a 50" wingspan limit, I agree that a SPAD is probibly going to be the best and easiest way to go. But do try to pack in as much wing area as you can, and keep it light. Low wingloading is the key in combat.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

No, they don't have a span limit, that's why I think he would do well to build a pair of 3 foot wings and join them for a 6 footer. At a get together like he is describing, he would probably become a local combat legend [8D]!!

Montague

I took that line from the OP to be a wingspan limit.

If it's NOT a wingspan limit, then yes, I totally agree, lots of span is the way to go. Even if you don't use sticky on the wings, long span planes turn better. Wingloading is king. Given two planes with the same wingloading, the longer span wins out.

Lou Melancon

Jody63,
We fly combat in Atlanta. Please check out www.georgiacombat.com for some information on current competitive combat designs. If I can offer any assistance I will be glad to help. We fly .15 engines on 64" planes with around 550 square inches. The planes weigh about 2-1/2 lbs.

jody63

thanks for all the info! The 50 inch span is just a sugestion,it really will be a run what u broung and hope theres something left to take home![8D]It should be alot fun.I still would like to be the one chasing everyone elseplease keep the info cumming cause u guys know what it takes from a plane to be great at this.Hats off to all that help in my Quest to be (THE LAST PLANE FLYING).lol

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Trying to fly combat with heavy, fast planes has been tried, and it is still popular at the club level. I think so out of ignorance. The action is more like high speed jousting, or a game of chicken and less like dog fighting. The random chances that the heavy planes have at each other are fewer and the action is clumsy and sloppy. When they DO manage hit either each other or the ground, there is so much kinetic energy because of the speed and the weight that expensive equipment damage is very common. The interest in ruining equipment and going through planes is what keeps most guys with limited time and money away from this sport. The key to keeping the cost down and the action good is to fly large, lightly built planes with limited power. Over a tall grass field, our 1/2A planes rarely reach dirt and they are powerful enough to tow 25 foot of streamer at 40 mph. In your case, for a one shot deal, if you aren't handy with styrofoam and don't want to build a woody because of the time and effort, then the spad makes the most sense. If you're a half decent pilot, just go there with a PBF and everyone else will leave you alone!

aimmaintenance

Thats exactly what I buid for combat. .40 motors with a 48" span. I've gotten current design to roughly 4.5 pounds 768 sq. inches. 13.5 oz per sq ft. Foam is a great way to go for bash around planes. I can build 5 planes out of 1 sheet of 2" and 1 sheet of 3/4".
2"= $20
3/4"= $12
gorilla glue= $8
sheet of coroplas= $10 (what I use the coro for is ailerons and elevators)
TOTAL $50
5 planes= $10 a piece
Approximate build time = 10 hours each ready to fly

Capn America

My Feedback: (3)

I built a spad devistatator for the exact same purpose. Cheap, tuff easy to repair and can fly slow or fast. With the v tail it turns on a dime. used micro hs-81 servos except on the alerons. 48" span. I flew one of A's foamies last round and did well with it but i think i like the spad a little better.

Clean

Go to your next club meeting and see if you can't get them to do an all SPAD event. There are better performing airplanes out there but none of them are as cheap and easy to operate with as the SPADs are. When we gravitated away from the SPAD event, we also lost interest in combat. We used to do Gremlin combat but after all the impressive snow showers just the rebuild time got everyone off. With a SPAD you are looking at 3 hours for a full rebuild and they rarely are full right offs. So, to keep combat going and fun in your club, I'd get them all doing Daggars/Darts and start playing combat now, my club plays combat every Friday night (and whenever they can get enough guys up there). By fall you'll be old pros.