combatpigg

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Ever flown RC Combat that has been engineered to make this ratio 1 to 1 or better...?
Where you typically fly a dozen or more 10 minute rounds with the same plane until sun down ...?
Be honest with your replies.

Old Erkki

Greetings from Finland

I am slow builder it takes about 20 hours to build one WW II combat plane. Some people say that they can build simple combat plane in five hours. Then the work have to be serialised. And usually they are electric versions.

The heat lasts 7 minutes and I am happy if plane survives three heats so one building hour for one minute of combat flying.

Worst case is when having a straight hit and all the pieces fly to different directions and pilot have to search engine, tank, receiver, battery and servos separately. After some not so serious hits plane can be repaired. Broken wing or fuselage can usually be repaired with polyurethane expanding glue. If damage is too serious the it is possible to save and recycle some part like tail feathers, aelerons, engine, electronics etc.


That Dauntless was on the limit. It was possible to repair, but I decided to recycle parts.



Spit was easy to repair just half of hour work and it is still able and ready for next heat. Only problem is. that I kind of love it and do not want lose it.

Old Erkki

combatpigg

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Good day Old Erkki.....I think that is a pretty honest estimate of what it takes behind the scenes to get an hour's worth of combat.
The weight and speed of the 15 glow powered models is too much.
I used to fly the AMA 704 semi scale WWII combat "Demolition Derby" style combat at a local club because it was "the only game in town."
When I flew combat at my own field we used 15 PAW Diesels with 8 x 6 props on 4 foot span / 500 square inch styrofoam wings. They fly slow enough to give the pilots time to avoid most mid air collisions and if they do collide at relatively slow tight manuevering speed they usually bounce off each other with minimal damage and keep on flying.
The nest step down in power and size was to use Norvel or AP.061 glow engines on low nitro fuel mounted on 36 inch span flying wings that weighed 12 or 13 ounces RTF.
We found that these engines are not more difficult to handle than larger ones...if we safety wired the mufflers to the engine block and used fuel with at least some castor oil.

Same deal as far as limited damage goes and the quality of the dog fighting was much better than watching 704 style "high speed jousting" contests with a bunch of 80 - 90 mph models .

Just my thoughts....thanks for "weighing in" with your experience and have fun...!

nmldr

Just some food for thought...if you're looking for more survivable RC combat I would recommend the newer E-1000 class that is explained on the RCCA (RC combat association) website
Just limited to a 1000mAh battery pack. I've been flying a modified version of Mike Fredrik's Arrow from years ago that was designed originally for .061 glow engines you describe. Heath Bartell who writes the RC combat column for Model Aviation also sells a very good 3D printed kit for the E-1000 class as well (Search for HB1 RC combat)
E-1000 has been growing in popularity in my neck of the woods & the survivability of current designs along with the speed of the builds makes it fairly attractive. The innovation in designs has been fun to see through the years and the performance of these little planes is remarkable. I've been flying 4 of them for the past several years and finally toasted a wing that needs replacement at my last contest.
Andy "Dr. Kamakaze" Runte
-TEAM KAMAKAZE-
RCCA #876, North Central District Rep
AMA # 273119

combatpigg

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nmdlr.....Thanks for the info...!!
I imagine small and light "1/2A Electric Planes" is a better way to go. One obvious major drawback with glow and diesel is the time spent controlling the mess...especially when time comes to patch up the planes.
I'm curious now and will make a point of looking into the details about what you guys are flying..

aspeed

Late to the party. The guys in my old club trace the Stryker onto the 1/2" pink styrofoam for their planes. No streamers, just fly until there is one. They repair them with a hot glue gun which is on for the whole time. I don't think the time is one to one, because of charging times. They get a few heats going per session. I got one but will just play with myself?... it's a 3 hr. drive. Photos ? KW Flying Dutchmen

combatpigg

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I've flown "strafing runs" at helium party balloons
The "art of combat" is to see how long you can go after just the streamers instead of simply "bellcranking" the other guys plane.
This requires some skill, discipline and cooperation.
Most of our midairs occur at the end of the day.
The slowest RC Combat I've flown is with PAW .15 diesels towing 550 sq inches of white stryrofoam wing / 2 pounds flying weight. I use old retired AMA Fast Combat planes outfitted with fins and elevons
Some of the strategy is to conserve altitude and always look for chances to recover lost altitude after an attack