Beyond 2004

This is the thread to aid in development of new ideas and classes. Post working rules and gather feedback!

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Bad Dawg
Posts: 388
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2003 3:27 pm
Location: Solomon Islands

Post by Bad Dawg »

It's five thirty AM. I am packing for Montrose and I think it's a very good idea. Let me look at my budget to see how much cash I can kick in to the pot for the prizes). There are a lot of facets to this idea that could help us with out boxing us in. And for the designers of the RC world there is more we can offer than a prize. I'll be back on this, but I've got to get on the stick and finish packing.

NUNC AUT NUNQUAM
Mark V.
The perpetual 'newbie'
Feathers
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2003 10:16 pm
Location: USA

Post by Feathers »

Lou,

In the interest of the RCCA and out-of-the-box thinking I spent my 10 bucks after finding this baby in the toy aisle of the local Target. Sure, it's a toy, and electric. But it does fly.

Also in the interest of the RCCA I was forced to go fly this thing in the front yard this morning. The kids have had some of the front engine Air Hog's of this type and they flew better than this version. I also found launching to be difficult as the prop is on the cg of the plane (got my hand in the prop twice- no stiches [:D]). The engine placement also makes the fuse rather weak- but a long wingspan combat plane may be able to overcome this. Now, I have to go help clean the house or, in the interest of the RCCA- continue flight testing....

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Tim Feathers
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Wild Wings Combat
RCCA 538
dsharpe2
Posts: 47
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 5:46 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Post by dsharpe2 »

This is my attempt to try and get a few new people interested in combat:
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I put together a few kits that I am taking to one of the local clubs for their open house. I doubt that we will get any new flyers but it is worth a try.

The kits are pretty simple. A basic Dogfighter body built from 1 3/4" square PVC fence post. The wings are 64" S8036 blue foam wings.

Thanks,

David Sharpe
dsharpe2@tampabay.rr.com
Clearwater, FL

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Lou Melancon
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Post by Lou Melancon »

Back onto the topic of "Beyond 2004". This past week Don Pruitt and I had the chance to visit with Ed Kettler in Atlanta as he was conducting training classes for his company, and the the evenings were free.

We drove over to Wayne Voyles shop to show Ed how the vacuum formed plastic fuselage prototyping was coming along and to give him some ideas for designing and getting 2548 planes to market quickly.

It occurred to me that because curent 2610 planes can fly with 2548s (if they meet weight minimum, and rpm/prop rules) that contests may be held where the class is 2548 rather than splitting the two planes into their respective different classes. Also the scale fidelity bonus will help a lot of us old guys who are not as good on the sticks score better.

This weekend I took the first of the Boeing XF8B prototypes with a vacuum formed fuse out for test flights. It had a Norvel AME .25, stock muffler (not drilled out), a four ounce standard tank, and was propped with a MA 9X4. This is a big plane, scaled up 10% oversize which yields a 60" span wing. It weight 3lbs 10 ounces, so it would have to be lightened up to compete in 2610.

The Norvel hadn't been run in close to two years. It started right up and Don Pruitt who was doing the launching tach'd it at 16,700 rpms which is where it ran in the good old days on 10% PowerMaster.

We didn't know what to expect on launch so he gave it a mighty overhead heave. He later said that if the engine had been dead it would have glided all the way to the trees because of its large wing and light wing loading.

Anyways we were really surprised at how fast it was and how tight it turned. I'll have some pictures to post later, but we wouldn't have thought the performance would be as good as it was.

The plane is fun to fly. We flew it a couple of more times and checked it out thoroughly. Hopefully Wayne will be able to go into production with these planes in time for the 2005 season.

It looks like Lanier, Hat Trick, and Texas Combat are going to be coming out with 2548 birds. I think Bender is also working on getting some ready for market. The models I have heard are being developed include the P51, ME 109, FW 190, Zero, and KI61. I am guessing that more will be built later but if we had kits of these five planes to build early in the 2005 season I can see a resurgence in scale.

I am hoping to fly the Boeings in 2548 this year (grand father clause for 2610 designs) and design a new plane. The ones I am looking at are the P40, the KI61, and the P63. I'll try to post photos as I make progress.

Lou Melancon
Alpharetta, Georgia
BigCountry
Posts: 479
Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2001 12:14 am

Post by BigCountry »

Great to hear Lou, I believe 2005 will be my first forray into Scale combat as 2548 really appeals to me. It's great to hear a company like Lanier is putting so much into combat. My goal is to eventually fly Corsair's exclusively for 2548 but since I'm just teaching myself some of the scale ropes ya'll have been working with for some time I'll probably start out with something commercially available so it's good to hear so many kit manufacturers will be making kits available...

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Bad Dawg
Posts: 388
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2003 3:27 pm
Location: Solomon Islands

Post by Bad Dawg »

Cool, Lou. I hopoe to make all the planes that flew in the Cactus Air Force for 2548. Since the spans and loadings should be pretty similar, flying different planes shouldn't offer as many problems as it does in 2610. Now if I can just stop looping into the ground[:I]

NUNC AUT NUNQUAM
Mark V.
The perpetual 'newbie'
wrnstockwel
Posts: 162
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2003 8:49 pm
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Post by wrnstockwel »

An opinion from a newby.

1st off, I am NOT anti IC, however, ED, I would like to point out that I have much better luck starting my BF-110 than you do...that said in fun, lets carry on...

I joined the RCCA in August 2004. The only combat flying experience I have is helping with a couple of demos during the North Texas Round Robin at our local fields and some stick time on Cash and Ed's 2548 planes, as well as working on an electric version of the BF-110 and FW-190.

So what does this have to do with the future? Take a look at the electric section of RC Groups, Ezone Mag, and even MA. There are electric meets right now that draw hundreds of people from all across the U.S. and even the world! The AMA clubs are loosing their fields to encroachment primarily due to noise issues, and I believe this is probably most prevelant in the North East, where combat seems to be tapering off. Might just be coincidence, but...

So what appeal does the RCCA have for electric flyers? Besides the giant scale/IMAA what is the fastest growing group in the AMA and outside the AMA? From what I have read in the forums a good portion of us have at least an electric plane, is there a trend here?

I love scale, but always thought the 2610 birds were to small and to fast for my ability. I intend on competing in 2548 this year with an electric only fleet, even though I will be at somewhat of a disadvantage, its all for fun. Besides, maybe being a little slower could be turned to my advantage!

For a little insight into my suggestion for improving the draw of the electric crowd check out this thread
<hr noshade size="1">http://www.rccombat.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11066

Scott
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