way to 101, and the humidity was
over 48% before finally going
down to about 28% by 2pm.
You had to drink lots of water to
stay hydrated and there was little
breeze after the temperatures
climbed up.
At the end of eight hard
won Open A with a 2lbs 7
ounce Cobra powered by
Cyclon P2.
Ripper flown well all day.
which included one 8 cut round. Chris flew his "Battle Axe" design
very well all day. This is a very light, agile, and fast airplane. He
even flew the same plane in Open A quite well, changing only the fuel
he used.
In a very convincing second was Atlanta's Larry Killingsworth
followed in third by his flying partner Wayne Voyles. Larry and
Wayne have done a tremendous amount of work on designing and
developing new combat planes one of which became the Lanier
Ripper/Slasher. Larry was less than 100 points behind Chris and
Wayne was less than a cut behind Larry.
In fourth place was Jay "Devil Dog" Fromm flying his new design
featuring a short fuselage, new wing airfoil, and rail type fuselage.
This is Jay's best design yet. Fifth went to combat returnee Cam
Smith, a Master's Level Pattern flyer who was persuaded by Larry
Killingsworth and the loan of one of Larry's planes to participate in
the contest. Cam finished SSC with a borrowed Cobra.
At this contest we did rpm checks a little differently. We tested the
engines before every launch. There were three times when engines
were exceeding 17,500 rpms. Each was adjusted slower before launch.
This may not be the best way to do it, adjusting needle valve to slow
down the engine before launch, but it did work to keep the planes
closer to each other in top speeds. The fastest planes were Chris
Quinn, Larry and Wayne, and Lou's Cobra, but overall not buy much.
We did not have the hoped for Radar Gun today so we were not able
to test top speeds, but Chris had done some testing the week before
and registered an honest 55mph on his Battle Axes. Since they are
among the faster planes we will assume till proven otherwise that this
is the speed the fast planes are flying.
Open A was flown again in the Southeast for the first time since the
days of the Wild Weekend in Florida. There were seven participants
in Open A. The planes could be put into three categories: 1)SSC
planes by Chris Quinn, Jay Fromm and Mark Cippolone which were
lightened to make weight then fueled with more nitro, used a different
prop, and used a Mousse can for performance; 2) Purpose built Open
A planes by Larry Killingsworth adn Wayne Voyles powered with
engines not seen in SSC; 3)Purpose built Open A plane powered by
control line combat engines.
At the end of the day Cameron Smith flying a Cobra powered by a
Cyclon PC2 won Open A. The plane was faster than the others and
turned as well. This should be the beginning of Open A in the
Southeast for folks who want and unrestricted "go fast" event based
on .15 displacement.
A really big thanks must go to Rick Sheule the contest CD for all the
work he put into making this contest a success. Rick stood on the hot
pilots line for eight hours to make sure everything ran smoothly. He
did a terrific job and is one of the best CDs we have ever worked with
. Assisting Rick were Suzanne, club President Joe Tarpley, Bruce
Greenwood, and Robert and Sandy.
Thank you to the Hilltop Flyers club for a great contest.
Next up? Western Alabama Aero Modelers in Tuscaloosa the first
weekend of August. See you there.
shown above, David Eaton on
right, and the nose end of the
"McGrizz Bat at right. Smack
II wing, flat bat fuse, and
bladder tank now popular
Georgia configuration.
fuselage design. Short
coupled, twin rudders, rail
construction. His best flying
planes yet.
Oldest Geezer" Pruitt the
mover and shaker behind the
Hill Top combat scene.
Smack II.
Eagle Bandito. His first
contest and he flew well.
Cobras. He had excellent
engine performance all day
long.
Cincinnati area flew well all
day long finishing in a tie for
fourth in Open A.
left home at 3:30 am and made
it to the fieldl 336 miles later
just in time for the pilots meeting
Cameron Smith flew to win
Open A.
Open A Cobra. 21,000 rpm
on MA 8X3, 23,000 on MA
7X4
in 100 degree heat, seven
pilots flew four rounds of
Open A. From left: Mark
Cippolone, Cameron Smith,
Larry Killingsworth, Wayne
Voyles, Chris Quinn, and Jay
Fromm.
Carolina. When not flying
combat he is a Helicopter
demo pilot. Flew well today
and definitely a force to
reckon with in the future
new design which he flew to
3rd place and Larry
Killingsworth flew to second.
More details on this design on
the front page of Georgia
Combat.
