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Having flown my first combat meet this past weekend, I wanted to share some thoughts from the experience with those interested. Going into the meet, I had low, but realistic goals set for myself. Since I only flew four of the eight rounds that were held on Sunday, I had no chance of finishing in a trophy position, so taking a trophy home was out, and so was the pressure of trying for one. I only had one plane built for the meet and it was the one that Brian Boots won in the raffle held in the last combat meet. It was a requirement of anyone going home with a plane won in that raffle that they would have to have that plane built and entered into the next combat event. In keeping with the wishes of those who donated the plane, I felt a responsibility to enter the plane regardless of how prepared (or not) I felt for the event.
The ride to the field was a bit sad. I had the plane in the cab of the truck, and I was pretty sure it was going to be destroyed in the meet. It was a bit like taking a pet to the vet to be put down. I really like to fly that plane and I was not thrilled about the possibility of loosing it.
When it was time to fly the plane in the first round, all I was focused on was finishing the round in the air, and to get used to the experience of flying with so many planes in a tight area. I lost my streamer pretty early in the round and I was thankful. The attention of the group would be on other planes. I tried to stay close to the group and chase someone when I was in full control of the aircraft. I only made three or four attempts at a streamer in the first round and missed each attempt. I was able to collect someone’s streamer by being in the area, but it was pure luck. The new problem was that I now had a streamer hanging off my plane and the full attention of those still in the air. I went into a defensive mode and finished the round in the air with one cut.
When it was time to start engines for round two, I was ready on time and was the first or second plane in the air. This round started very poorly for my plane. The engine was running way too rich and the rpm’s were very slow. I thought that the engine would finally stall and I would come down early. I did my best to gain altitude and dive down hoping to get the engine going and be up to speed with everyone else. I was amazed that no one took my streamer when I was running poorly. On the third or fourth attempt to get the engine up to speed, it finally picked up rpm’s and I was now equal to the group. During this time, several planes went down and there were only four of us in the air. I lost my streamer almost immediately after I went up to full speed. Shortly after that, there was another collision and there were only two planes up in the air. Chris Handeguard threw a few taunts my way, but I was not able to chase him when he was defending a full streamer. Finally, Chris went into a level, slow turn pattern so I could have a chance at a cut, but I only had one or two real attempts in the last minute and a half we were in the air. I spent most of my time trying to stay in control of my plane. Again I finished the round, but I had no cuts.
Round three was the round of good fortune for me. I had a mid air collision with another plane that sent him to the ground with the top of his aileron servo missing. I was not able to find any damage to my plane. I lost my streamer early in the round, so I had nothing to defend. I tried a few lousy attempts at cuts, but mostly flew around the other planes in the air. The saying goes “even a blind squirrel gets a nut every now and then”, and somehow I was able to score three cuts in the round. I did not even see the second cut until I spotted two streamers hanging from the plane. So I finished the round surviving a mid-air, scoring three cuts, and my plane was still in original condition. Life was good. There was only one more round to go.
The last round was pretty uneventful for me except I was the only one with a full streamer for the final two minutes. That was a very long two minutes with everyone left in the air trying to score a cut off of me in the last round. I flew as defensively as I could. There were several times that I lost control of the plane but saved it before the ground claimed another victim. I finished the round with a full streamer, and a plane still in one piece.
Going into the meet, I was not sure how I would do, or if I would even like flying combat instead of enjoying a clear Sunday morning in the air. The SSC package made the action slow enough to stay on top of my plane and have a chance to chase a streamer every now and then. The other pilots were very helpful and supportive of my efforts and I thank them for that. So I sit gathering my thoughts, getting my order together for three more planes and registering for the December meet in Boca Raton. I think I am hooked. If you’re reading this article, and considering flying a combat plane, I only offer one opinion. Understand that there will be damaged airplanes. If you are ok with that fact, consider ordering a combat plane and get it in the air. They are cheap enough, easy to assemble, and a ball to fly. The time I spent preparing for and flying in the meet was well worth my time. I look forward to building new planes and getting back in the air with a streamer.
***ps – This is an attempt at a potential newsletter article. I had fun this weekend and wanted to put the experience in writing to share with others. Please consider doing the same thing whenever there is something in your personal flying experience that others would enjoy reading. I’m sure that there are plenty of grammatical and writing errors, but I did not write this for a professor. I just wanted to pass along how much fun this weekend was to club members. See you at the field. CM
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