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Posts: 1023
Joined: 7/18/2003
From: Dunnunda, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline
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quote:
To those that have flown combat <snip>
Reading this, I could hardly believe how accurately you've summed up what the combat experience feels like to those of us who feel this way about it. It was like hearing an inner voice describing control-line combat witnessed through my own senses.
quote:
but the need for almost constant building and repairing chases me away now and then only to return for a while every couple of years. It's like a drug......
To a man, can we "junkies" identify with this or what!!! Four (4) minutes of adrenaline pumpin' tactical tyranny and counter torment preceded and proceeded by hours, and hours,....and hours of construction!
As in Europe, FAI F2D is the event in this part of the world. Our simile for AMA Fast, called Open, isn't very well patronised even at a National level.
Having flown C/L combat since the late sixties, here are a couple of model names you'll possibly remember? Two which come readily to mind were Bill Netzeband's FAI design "Twister" and "Fast Richard's" (also FAI) "Tearalong" from the US, although most designs flown locally here were of Brit origin such as Mike Davis's "Dominator", Frank Dowling's "Liquidator", "Ironmonger", "Warlord" and "Streamer Eater" often inspired courtesy of "The Aeromodeller" and its included 'free plan' centre liftout.
The parts in your following post about just hanging on, figure 8's to recover and being glad when it all came to a sudden unintended halt rang home. The very first time I flew a Russian F2D design with a circa 30k rpm F2D engine back in 'bout 1990 my experience was identical, sans the crash. I couldn't wait for that bladder to drain and was cursing myself for having filled it with a full syringe! My inevitable crash came not much later in the day when mentally tiring from the unused to speed and losing it vertically overhead in the glare of a summer sun at its zenith, I misjudged the pullout from a wingover - of all manoeuvres. As it turned out, consistantly crashing them until practice and familiarity conditioned one to their performance and speed was a common experience. Every single regular combat flyer friend of mine 'shared' exactly the same humbling balsa crunching introduction to the step up which came with a hot F2D engine and the then Soviet inspired revolutionary new designs.
Whether it's one of these, which I 'fess up are too fast for me these days without fullfilling their prerequisite demand for currency, or a simple slow combat ship a la George Aldrich's legendary "Peacemaker", C/L combat still remains for me the penultimate thrill and most enjoyable form of aeromodelling. 
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All Forums >> Radios, Batteries, Clubhouse and more >> Control Lines >> Combat anyone? 
Combat anyone? - 
The lap speeds were so low that I HAD to do some figure 8's just to keep from falling down. The 8's then got out of shape and drifted over and around the circle so I'd revert to laps again for about 3 circuits. At that point dizziness suggested more 8's. Any thoughts of bouncin' 'er about the sky under my watchful eye disintegrated in those first few laps and 8's. I was only a pawn in the machine until the fuel ran out. As fate would have it the damn thing came in on me as I wasn't able to watch what side of the circle I was on and got high and upwind while maneuvering. The snap when it reached the end of the lines broke one line and it corkscrewed itself into the deck and blew up in a lovely cloud of foam confetti..... 
and we both quickly pancaked in. " Damn! I'm glad that's over!" we said in unison.
RE: Combat anyone? - 
