C/LCombat T
he flying season around here finally came to an end at the end of October. With six local (~2-hour travel time) contests and some 14 out of state (6+
hour) contests, there was plenty of flying available on the East Coast, including an F2D Team Trials and the well-attended Na- tionals. The best part of a long season was fly- ing with about six relatively new folks of all ages and a few folks I see only once a year. I hope everyone else had similar opportunities. Seeing all the different flyers and flying styles and midairs and line tangles remind- ed me how important situational awareness (a full scale flying buzzword) is. Different events have different flying styles. Different parts of the country(s) have them too. But no matter where one goes or who one flies, be- ing able to keep a picture in your head of where the planes are, which way they are going, and how close they are is essential. I had three colossal midairs where we both just stood there and asked “How the heck did we do that?” A good question, since none of them did either pilot any good. It was prima- rily a matter of losing track a bit of where the planes were, getting in too close mostly by accident, and turning the wrong way at the wrong time. The confusion highlights the need to be aware the whole time in a match. I saw an unusual number of accidental line tangles too. While wrapping lines may be a useful tactic in certain events and cer- tain situations, generally it is a no-no, espe- cially when flying newer flyers. Nothing will turn a pilot off to Combat faster than getting wrapped up and crashed for no good reason. For practice and sport flying the 270 rule works well. Never do a turn around someone for more than 270 degrees (3⁄4 of a loop). That may seem “tame” but with two good pilots it still leaves a huge amount of room for fakes, wiggles, and exciting combat.
Spotting where and how the lines first touch is the key. When the lines first touch that determines which direction the planes have to turn to clear the lines. Suppose you and a buddy are practicing defensive eights. You are coming up on him a bit high. He starts an outside and you follow a fraction of a second later starting a largish outside. The lines are now crossed whether or not they are touching.
He has a twitchy plane and turns too tight- ly, pulling up in front of you while you are just completing the first half of your turn. The lines hit each other, he panics for a second and goes straight up and pulls your lines up putting some slack in them so the planes sep- arate. After that nothing matters. The planes have to complete an inside loop around each other to clear the lines. The planes can do all the loops and eights the pilots want, including flying around each other in more outside loops, but the planes have to do at least one partial inside loop around each other. Not side by side, not on opposite sides of the circle, not overhead, but around each other. The diagram, an old one from too many years ago, shows the four possible scenarios.
36 DECEMBER 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 and his son, Shawn, battle it out at Huntersville, NC (above) in late October. In the final round Shawn managed six cuts to step into first place ahead of his dad in third. Bill Duane got six and moved up to fourth. Phil Cartier got five and moved up to fifth. Larry Davis was leading into the first round but could only get one cut, ending up in second place. Lou Scavone and Andy Mears battle it out (below) in the semi finals in the Nats F2D 2013. Lou came in third. Andy flew to second place against Andrew Nadein.
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