I have become bored with 3d and sport flying and was thinking combat may bring back the thrills
I have been looking at Lanier Ripper and the Battle Axe's is one better than the other or are there better ones out there? any suggestion will be appreciated

You might take a look at this thread, there was a little bit of a heated debate
between the 2 designers involved and some numbers on who/what plane is
dominating where.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_60...mpage_3/tm.htm

The Avenger or Battle Axe will be 2 very good choices to start out in rc combat.

Scott

Andy,

Welcome to combat! It's a ton of fun!

The Ripper and the Battle Axe that you've mentioned are both excellent planes. I personally think the Axe is the best plane for SSC, but I may be a little biased!

If you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them!

I would also reccommend joining the RC Combat Association, the AMA special interest group for combat. You'll meet other combat pilots, share ideas, and have a lot more fun!

Go cut some streamers!

The Battle Axe is decent, and is one of the easiest to get in the air quickly, but there are several other designs that will out-perform it, including the Avenger and the Phencepost from www.hattrickrc.com.

You can also put a better wing on the Battle Axe fuse and the plane will perform a lot better, the fuse is fine.

Hi Andy
I also want to "mix" things up.. I just bought a Lanier Ripper and a XLS 15A engine for my first combat plane. Im wondering if this will be a good starter setup??

I'm sure they will make you a great target..... er I mean pilot.

I'm sure they will fly just fine, maybe not quite as well as some of the others, but more than well enough to get you started in combat and give you a chance to look around at what others are flying. After all the plane is only part of the equation, the pilot and the ground crew can have an effect on the out come also (remember there are free points if you get in the air on time).

Martin

Lanier Ripper and a XLS 15A engine will make a good target??? what are the down falls of this combination compaired to "what others ( you) are flying"?

No matter what you fly at first, you're going to be a target

Overall I am impressed with my Magnum XLS 15. 18,000 RPM with a MAS 8x3 prop right out of the box! It was running so well on the first tank that I got sick of waiting and flew the plane. None of my other Magnums were ever this reliable this quickly.

For SSC designs, we all fly the SPAD HOR around here. For a combat class, they're wildly popular in this area. They're tough, easy to build, and IMHO reflect the true intent of the SSC class. They are competitive with themselves, tough in a midair against themselves. They're a little slower and not as maneuverable as some of these other designs, so you may want to stick with what everyone else is flying in your area.

Well, the Ripper really doesn't turn as well as many of the current designs.

But Matt hit the nail on the head. What you'll be flying against really matters. If everyone has HORs or Rippers, then they are both fine designs. If someone has an Avenger or a Phencepost or any number of the various things people throw together, you'll find yourself out-classed.

As for the new Magnum, they do run a lot better than the old ones, but the high speed needle can still leak once the engine ages a bit. I think the O-ring actually shrinks a little. It's easy to fix with some fuel tubing. Other than that, I'm personally playing around with the muffler outlet and head gaskets and other things to try to get them to run right around 17.5K with out using the throttle to slow them down.

I feel like a light bulb just went on in the back of my head.

Now I know why I did as well as I did in my first year of combat. All the other combatants said
I really flew well, but I felt most of the time I was just trying to stay in the air and would say
that I really didn't feel they were going after my avenger, they were flying an assortment
(a couple of germlins, a couple of slashers, a couple of home built and some SPADs).
A very experienced pilot with an avenger would have had a field day, me as a rookie,
I was able to hold my own.

What do you guys think of the Tufflight "Panther?" Or flying wings?

Thanks,

Darren

the spad hor is fine and cheap to start with and easy to fix. if you get real into SSC go to a meet or two and see whats flying.
we did the avenger and when set up right they do well but a little snappy for me. I think the Phence Post and plastic bat based planes may be the more durable of the better flying SSCs. Learn to cut your own foam wings and the rest is easy. most serious SSC guys bring 3 to six ready planes to a meet. attrition varies but when you have multiple planes all heading towards the last streamer in a heet... well stuff happens.
Nothing will out turn a flying wing such as Lee Liddle flies but they require a little finer set up.
but the fun more than compensates for some repair time and packing tape

Check out
RCCOMBAT.COM

The Panther was pretty good when it came out, but I haven't flown against one in quite a while. They are as durable as advertised though. They also give up some wingspan to many of the current planes. However, if flown to their strengths, they can give some folks trouble. If I recall, the Panter has a symetrical airfoil, while most combat planes don't. This means that they don't turn inside quite as well as some other designs might, but if you get good at outside loops and turns and use them at least 50% of the time, you can drive other guys nuts.

Flying wings in general have advantages and disadvantages. If you have time to build and maintain them, they can be built to turn with anything out there and are often faster than conventional planes. There is less parasitic drag, and you can put all the weight in to wing area. But you need to put in the time and have the attention to detail to keep them setup right and in trim.

On the down side, flying wings tend to be less tolerant of damage and harder to field repair and keep flying right. If you bend a pushrod or get something knocked loose, you're pretty much going to crash, while a conventional plane can fly around with a missing aileron and half the stab/elevator gone. Also, wings are often more sensitive to setup and things like small warps in the wing or control surfaces.

I've seen several guys build a small fleet of wings and fly great for a contest. Then, as the planes get the normal dings and dents and battle damage, they do nothing but struggle and start zeroing a lot of rounds since they can't seem to get anything to fly right again. Basically, a well-trimmed and setup wing can be a challenge to fly against. A wing setup by someone who doesn't really know their stuff is going to a target, if you can get to it before it augers in.

And finally, many flying wings don't lend themselves to replaceable parts well. In my conventional designs, I have everything in the fuse except for the aileron servos. This allows me to have lots of spare wings for just the cost of the servo. Fuses don't break nearly as often as wings do, so being able to interchange parts and replace wings gives me the ability to last though a long contest when I'm having a bad day mid-air wise. Some guys have developed flying wings where the wing portion is seperate from the engine pod, but it still seems to take them longer to change parts out, it looks more like something you'd do in the shop than between rounds.

What Montague said but for learning and just fun the Qhor type plane will allow other club members to join in sooner and combat is more fun with more flyers. its a fine cheap starting point.

Na ive got a stryker c with a sonic combat module its awesome try one

bet you can't cut my streamer!!! lol

yep there ain't no way with a stryker

I just might buy a stryker... with combat module... how about you?