[buildsomething]

After a bit of head scratching we decided to put up a photo gallery to promote slow combat using .15 size engines only. The Toronto group has been doing slow combat for about 4 years now with no let up in interest or enthusiasm. Other clubs in the area also join weekly for a bit of combat, camaraderie and generally poking fun at each other.

Check out our new photo gallery web site:

http://starontech.com/slowcombat

If you are flying .15 size planes and doing some combat you can upload your pics to this site...just register and enjoy.

See ya on the field.

Richard....aka....DA SILVER FOX

[Bent]

Richard
You're doing a great job promoting combat in the GTA. I'm convinced the .15 size model should be the standard. We're having a hard time finding fighter pilots for .25 powered scale combat. Everybody loves the warbirds but very few want to risk losing them in battle. We like the coroplast at Humber Valley. Any club standard model we come up with definitely won't be made of balsa. When you guys mix it up at other clubs is anything with a .15 allowed or is it strictly balsa? Here's a pic of my golf bag tube design from a few years back, all plastic, 48' span, LA 15.

[Bob Byrnes]

Hi Gary: I just sent Richard a PM requesting information on the slow combat they are doing. I miss the combat, but, the travel was starting to get me down. That and the fact that it was always on the week-ends and now that we have a summer place it is a problem. If I could get involved with a group that flies in the evenings once a week and who are just in it for the fun without bothering with points championships etc. it would get me going again. I hope to hear back from him and get involved for next summer. I hope you guys had fun in London. A few guys in my club have tried combat on a very informal basis, but, my summer was so messed up this year I didn't do much. I think If we came up with a .15 size more or less " one design" concept like Richard's group uses it might spur interest. You have to be able to build them quick and cheap as we both know. Best Regards.
Bob.

[buildsomething]

Hi Gary.
First of all thank you for the nice compliment re the slow combat stuff.

We really don't fly coroplast here at all....we call it plastic here for lack of a better word. We found that when we flew plastic vs balsa, the tactics were different...ie....plastic would always go for the plane, while balsa would go for the streamer...go figure eh? So what we did, in order to keep the enthusiasm up was to fly plastic vs plastic and wood vs wood and by agreement prior to flight only, plastic vs wood. We fly only .15 size, no souped up engines...ie ball bearing, hi nitro etc.... We figured if there was no "competition" why should anyone want to do that anyway! It seems to work quite well here.

Another thing we did is that we increased our string length from 20' to 30' and kept the streamer 30' as well. Also no light coloured streamers...ie white or yellow....they are tough to see for all involved....again....no competion....just fun.

We are finding this year that our mid air have dropped dramatically and our piloting skills have really improved. After repairing a few planes, which we all did and still do, the flying tactics became quite different.
All our planes are balsa, except for the wing which is foam. Balsa wings just don't last at all. Do we still have mid air....sure we do...its part of the game.

The interest was so great that I undertook the challenge of having "CAUTION" and 'ENIGMA" all laser cut and since I already have a CNC machine to cut the foam wings, it was a natural fit. You can get the short kit directly from me or from Pinnacle hobbies.
The short kit does not contain any hardware of course, but all pieces of wood, including spars, LE, TE, plywood engine mount, servo trays etc etc......all laser cut.

This short kit is a TOTALLY ALL CANADIAN PRODUCT....EH?!!!! I would rather keep it here than go off shore. When you find out the price that we are charging, I am sure that you will want a couple of these for sure.

The slow combat designs that I am working on all provide a platform to fly, redesign,modify, crash, upgrade or just to learn a little more about design without dishing out hundreds of dollars for an ARF.

As for war birs, well I am glad you asked that question, since my plan is to have short kits of WWII war birds.... .15 size starting next year. I have about 10 selected designs of the NON standard war birds. I will probably have a spit or a stang, just for the heck of it, but my intention is to have the Lavochins, Migs, Sukoi's, Maachi, PZL's, DeWoitine.....and anything else that I might find interesting.

I guess my mission is to put the fun back into flying with the small engines that we all grew up with and for some reason forgot all about as we transitioned to the gasser's, 1/4 , 1/3 and even pushing 1/2 scale.

As for the combat, well I think that it is a bit of a blood sport and it does put in a lot of oo's and ah's at the field as well as a few laughs amongst combatants.

Well enough of my rambling, back to making wings and sniffing glue.

See ya on the field

Da Silver Fox

[Bob Byrnes]

Thanks Richard. I replied to your PM. I know where Pinnacle is located. They are a good bunch at that shop. Don't be surprised if there is one more participant on some Tuesday evenings next year..
Best Regards
bob.

[buildsomething]

That good news Bob. I will then add you to our slow combat mailing list where I post the greatest and latest stories and lies about how we are doing, who had kills etc etc etc as well as stretching the truth a bit....

Just remember one thing we all believe in slow combat:

If you got a kill on me you were lucky, if I got a kill on you I am a great pilot....

I'll keep you posted as to the time and date of our 2nd Annual Battle Royale were the gloves come off, through CAUTION to the wind...sorta speak and all have a bit of fun.

See ya on the field

Richard

[RCFCT Treasurer]

How about an E-Caution?
Same basic parameters and size.
I will keep you posted on progress as I am starting one.

[buildsomething]

Hi Guy.

Hey that sounds interesting . Keep me posted as to your progress. If it works out, then maybe an E-Caution might be in the works and who knows, maybe an E-Enigma as well.

Speaking of ENIGMA, just finishing off the manual for the short kit. Sometimes I think it takes longer to write a manual than to design build, test fly, crash and fix....
Oh by the way, are you going to be showing up the Toronto field this weekend for the 2nd Annual Battle Royale?

Richard

[RCFCT Treasurer]

I will try... all depends on weather and wedding plans.
I will bring the E-Caution at whatever stage of construction it is at at that time. Hopefully finished.

The power of the ParkZone Mustang seems adequate. Power to weight should be okay. Right and left thrust is built in the reduction gear, so I did not have to figure that out.

BTW, I built the fuse upside down so the design is a low wing!!!

That should profe interesting. I just got to figure out the aileron. I will go with a single one and deal with the non-axial rolls in flight.

Elevator is simple enough...

The battery fits nicely in thetank compartment and the receiver fits in the regular compartment with the servors.

Because of heat dissipation, i am not sure about packing in foam?!?

Any suggestion? I was thinking about rubber band mounting.

Pictures to follow, tomorrow perhaps.... Time permitting et al.

[rubbie]

looking forward to the fun this weekend as long as the weather co-operates we should be ok.


Chris