R/C Combat F.A.Q.s

Combat is the most exciting five minutes you can have in RC!  There's nothing like chasing your opponent as he dives for the deck, turning left and weaving right!  All of the sudden somebody's on your six!  You pull up and head for the sky.  You yank a hard left turn just barely escaping with your streamer still intact!  Now for revenge!

Combat is flown with a 30' streamer tied to each pilot's airplane.  The object is to cut your opponents' streamers while trying to keep your own streamer.  Points are awarded for how many kills (streamers) you get, and how much of your own streamer you bring back from battle.  It' the ultimate adrenaline rush!

Official contests are flown with as many as 11 planes in the air at one time, although 7-8 planes at a time is more common.  Pilots are given 90 seconds to get their plane airborne after which "Start Combat" is called and the battle rages for the next five minutes.  With so many planes in the air all chasing each other, the adrenaline level is intense!  A pilot will typically fly up to 8 of these battles in one day at an official (AMA sanctioned) contest.

Contests are a ton of fun, a great way to meet new guys, and offer the chance to fly against a lot of opponents.  But for most weekends, pilots fly informal "club-combat."  Typically this gets started when one guy gets into combat and lets his friends see how easily the planes fly and explains to them how much fun combat is, and a handful of other guys jump onboard.  Then the group of guys can fly informal combat matches at their home field whenever they want!   Our club has about eight guys into combat right now and we usually fly 2 or 3 flights on Saturday or Sunday.  What's at stake?  A week's worth of bragging rights - don't let one buddy win several weeks in a row, or he'll never let you all hear the end of it!!
 

The RCCA (Radio Control Combat Association) is a special interest group of the AMA. The purpose of this organization, and its web site, is to provide information, technical knowledge, and offer model aviation enthusiasts who love the War Planes of World War II and enjoy competition a place to share information, views and discussion with others who have similar interests.
 

There are three Open classes of combat and two scale classes.  Open classes allow any aircraft design, while scale classes require the plane to resemble a WWII fighter.  The Open classes are:

• SSC - Up to .15 cu. in. displacement and 2.5 pounds minimum weight.
• B - Up to .30 cu. in. displacement and 3.5 pounds maximum weight
• A - Also a .15 cu. in. displacement class but is rarely flown.

A new class which is currently "Provisional" (A provisional class is one where the validity of the concept and its rules are tested, and rules are created by the RCCA, not the AMA.), is Limited B.  TreneffRC offers kits for SSC, Open B, and Limited B.
 

Slow Survivable Combat (SSC, AMA Event 760) is a .15-size Open class which the RCCA started about seven years ago with a few restrictions to increase survivability and lower speed to increase fun.  SSC has achieved it's goals, both of lower speeds (50-55 mph, rather than 90 mph in Open B) and higher survivability.  Most SSC planes currently run in the 50 mph range, and this reduced speed eliminates a lot of damage in mid-airs.  In addition, the 2.5 point minimum weight limit allows almost anyone to build an airframe that is competitively light and also durable.  SSC has been the RCCA's most popular combat class for several years running.  We recommend SSC as it is rapidly becoming the most popular class and is an absolute blast.
 

Open B (AMA Event 750) is the .25-size AMA Open class of combat.  Open B is much faster than SSC and thus better suited to experienced combat flyers who have already competed in SSC.  Limited B is a .25-size version of SSC, with the intent of lowering damage and leveling the playing field with RPM limits and a minimum weight.
 

At contests the majority of pilots put some sort of sticky paste or tape on the leading edge of their wings allowing them to increase cuts by snagging streamers with their wing.  The most commonly used substance is called Tanglefoot, which is a very sticky paste meant to trap insects.  A thin bead can be applied to the leading edge of the wing and will snag most streamers it touches.  BioControl Network in Brentwood, TN sells directly to the public.  See our links page for Biocontrol's contact information.  Double stick tapes and other substances are also sometimes used.  For weekend club combat we don't use sticky stuff, and just cut streamers with the prop.