Ken Cook looks for another cut on his son, Shawn, at the Gil Reedy Memorial in 2011 (above). Phil thinks Ken pulled it out in Speed Limit. Neil Simpson tries for a cut (at right) against Dan Banjock. Neil pulled out one cut to win at Middlesex, NJ. The scores were very close on cuts, with the outcome depending on a couple of midairs.
able to run the circle for the full 4 minutes. To spice up the circle running, try laying a few small plastic water bottles around the edge and learn to pick up your feet so you don’t trip.
In a match you must keep track of your opponent, so do the practice with your head down, watching for the bottles or up, looking ahead of the plane for an imaginary oppo- nent. You might even put a hula hoop or even a barrel on the center of the circle to make sure you don’t stand in one place. Practice running both forwards and back- wards while doing this. They both come in handy.
For a lot of us, all that running around will cause dizziness. Dizziness can be over- come, unless you are taking certain medi- cines. In that case, talk to the prescribing doctor and see if something else can do the job without side effects. I had never thought about it, but I’ve read stories from several Combat pilots. They all say that at least half of all Combat pilots get vertigo during air combat maneuvering. They all train hard to fly the plane despite the dizziness. Some things to try. Stand straight up and hold both hands straight up over your head pointed at the zenith. Look straight up past your hands and turn around about 10 times, then stop and turn the other way. If you don’t get dizzy, congratulations. You’re not prone to dizziness. So try it several times until you can actually do the exercise and control the dizziness. After a few turns most people find their feet starting to get out of control. Then you start tripping, and then tipping over. So start out easy and work on keeping everything under control even as you feel dizziness coming on. Do it over soft grass. We don’t need any twisted ankles or broken legs.
FLYING MODELS
It can’t all be practice and work, so work in some fun. Instead of flying practice matches, get a buddy and practice flying Combat moves together. A really good one is to practice flying in trail. Put a 10-foot piece of string on each plane and tie on a couple of feet of streamer. Take turns with the lead plane flying maneuvers and the chase pilot trying to stay a couple of feet behind the
streamer. The object isn’t to get cuts, but to stick with the tip of the streamer. Start out easy, and take a break if the planes get too close. Level out and swap roles. Once both pilots can fly a full 4 minutes without hav- ing to take a break and don’t lose position, they are ready and rarin’ to go for some real Combat.
Think Spring. EQUIPMENT NEEDS FOR COMBAT Sport/Speed Limit/Fast Combat
Pitbox – F2D (2 pc) Fuel syringes 4 pc 240 ml total Glow plugs 4 pc Battery/meter
Glow plug clip and cable 6 Props – one size
Two ended glow plug/prop wrench Hex driver for motor mounts Screwdriver Thin wire
Wide plastic tape Trailing edge piece 2 popsicle sticks CyA glue
Kevlar or Spectra thread Head shims Sinkers, coins Fuel shut-off Muffler
Muffler mount Sport /Speed Limit Combat
Fuel syringes 2 pc 120 ml total Glow plugs 4pc Battery/meter
Glow plug clip and cable Props 4 pcs for 1 or more engines Combination X style glow plug/prop wrench Hex driver for motor mounts, engine bolts Flat screwdriver Phillips screwdriver Gas pliers
Side cutter plier Needle nose pliers Thin wire
Wide plastic tape Trailing edge piece 2 popsicle sticks CyA glue
Kevlar or Spectra thread Head shims for multiple engines Sinkers, coins for weight adjustment Spare fuel shut-off
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