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C/LCombat F


lying a good contest: all the talk about training doesn’t do much good until a pilot puts it to use in a contest. Of course, if all you want to do is fly some Combat a contest really isn’t necessary. A like-minded group of 3–4 flyers can get out every flyable weekend for weeks in a row. Just fly pickup matches. You’ll soon find this kind of flying is more fun if everybody takes it seriously. Treat each match as much as possible as you would a contest. Move the matches along with a plan. Four flyers with two planes can do 12 matches in an hour and half or so, even with complete destruction in every match. This kind of flying tends to have fewer midairs. 8–10 matches per midair is common, so a couple of planes can give weeks of flying.


The first step in preparation begins at the end of the previous flying session. Go back over your checklist for the pit box(s), the tool chest, spare props, and other paraphernalia. Clean up the planes and make any minor re- pairs. On planes that need it, loosen the mount to plane bolts to keep the motor block from getting permanently squished. If you didn’t do it at the field, rinse off the engines and flush them out with alcohol or kerosene and lube with air tool oil if needed. Kero works fine for lube between flying sessions. If a motor is going into storage use a long term lube such as air tool oil. Most house- hold/garage oils tend to evaporate and stick up the motor. And of course, leftover fuel is the absolute worst thing to leave in there for more than a few days.


Every flier has to get their own pre-con- test mental preparations worked out. Every- body is different. I’ve seen folks get up with a terrible hangover, so bad they had to be rolled out of bed, go out and do five perfect matches in a row. Other folks do everything right—get their exercise, eat right, get a good night’s sleep, and fly lots of practice matches so they know each plane inside and out. Then they get to pre-flying and re-flying matches in their head, sometimes for days. Come match time they’ve got themselves in such a tizzy they can’t make a move right. Paralysis by analysis.


Preparation at the contest varies by event. With the most popular event, Speed Limit, it can be as little as pulling three planes out of the trunk and running a prime through a cou- ple of motors. For a big F2D meet more is in- volved. Plan to get there a full day ahead. Use that day to fly most of the planes and all of the engines. Be ready to adjust the head clear- ances to allow for the expected weather. Opti- mum performance needs the head to be with- in 0.05 mm, plus or minus one head shim. Make sure the planes survived the trip and touch up the trim on the frontline planes. Half-A and good, old AMA Fast are some- where in between. You might need to have an extra plane or two ready. They do tend to have more midairs than Speed Limit. In any event, go through your pre-contest and pre-flight check list and get all the equipment ready.


32 JUNE 2013


by phil cartier You can reach Phil Cartierat 34 Sweet Arrow Dr, Hummelstown, Pennsylvania 17036, or via e-mail at philcartier@earthlink.net


PHOTOGRAPHY: PHIL CARTIER


Ken Cook launches for his son, Shawn (above), at Hershey. Ken and Shawn have both come on like gangbusters this year. They had a hammer and tongs match with each other. Ken had one with Dan Banjock, and Shawn had one with Louis Lopez. A perfect F2D launch (below) at the 2012 Nats. An excellent turnout, 29. Hope that means both a big team trials this year, and another good F2D turnout.


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