How to Get Started in Combat (FAQ)

a work in progress consider reworking as a FAQ?

Here are a few questions and answers to help guide a new starter in Combat, roughly in order of the "need to know".

What's it all about (in a nutshell)?

What do I need to put in?

• Expense: $500-$2000 per year for F2D
• Years of practice before becoming a top contender
• Starting with slow forms of combat until skills build, then moving to F2D combat.
• travelling to nearby combat competitions to get experience

• You will need to find a club who flies control-line combat to help you out (try the ALC for the Brisbane, Australia region)

What do I get out of it?

• Thrilling competition bouts which get your heart pounding and leave you shaking from the adrenaline.
• Well developed reaction speed and eye-hand coordination.
• An appreciation of aerodynamics and aeronautical concepts as well as general mechanical intuition.
• New friends from: your club, those on your team at competitions and worthy foes that beat your or were beaten by you.
• Get out into the fresh air, perhaps with friends, your father or son, and get some exercise (both pilots and pit-crew get to run around a lot).
• When asked "what do you do for sport?", you have a much more interesting answer than the usual soccer or squash or cycling or ...

What classes of competition are there?

How much will it cost?

How do I learn more about Combat?

• Watch videos (see the videos section on the "Links" page)
• read articles (see the "Articles" page and Google "control-line combat"
• go and watch it and talk to pilots at a club near you (if possible).

What do I need, and where do I get it?

Some pointers on how to progress into combat, equipment required and where to get it.

Slow combat class

You must start in a slow combat class first. In fact, you should start control-line flying with a trainer of some kind. This will give you a learning experience which is not punctuated by crash/repair episodes. Sometimes slow combat models will perform OK in this role. Once you know how to fly around, you will need to master some serious stunts, and a slow combat plane would be useful for this. A simple trainer will usually not do stunts well, and you don't want to be practising your stunts on an expensive aerobatic model.

Unfortunately, there are many forms of "slow" combat. There are no international conventions on this, so every country (and probably state/province) will have their own form of slow combat. The idea of this class is generally aimed at a combination of low cost, social and beginner competitions. If you are lucky, your local slow class will have a lot of aspects in common with F2D combat, so the inevitable(?) transition will be relatively painless (New Zealand seems to have a good slow class in this respect).

Unfortunately, this variety of slow classes generally means you can't easily "buy your way" into your local slow combat class. Most slow classes have peculiar design and equipment rules that mean you need to build your own models or get someone local to build them for you at a hefty price.

While the (generally low performance) engines are cheap, they again will have rules imposed meaning little useful information can be given. Same goes for many of the other equipment items. You will need the guidance of your local club for this.

F2D

Most people regard this as the "real" combat, mostly because it is internationally recognised (i.e. has a world championships). It is also the fastest, most demanding, and most expensive form of the sport - definitely not for beginners. Even the most talented pilots would take at least a year of week-end practice to become seriously competitive.

Models

• Look through this overview of an F2D plane (also can be found on the Articles page). These models can be ordered in batches of 10 from Viko (see Vendors on the Links page). In these batches, they cost about AU$60 per model, delivered (to most places in the world).

engines

• Fora (the most popular, order from Viko)
• Top15
• Profi

handles

• commercial handles (need photo) - note that commercial handles are designed to fit directly onto pre-made lines, but you don't have any adjustment to fit your personal hand action - this means level flying needs your hand to be vertical.
• make your own - If you prefer to fly with your hand/handle angled forward slightly at the top for level flight, then you need to add (spacing) clips to your "down line" or build your own customised handles. Be careful to change your line lengths to compensate the length any lead-outs you may have on your custom handle.

control-lines (pre-made)

• Its easiest to just buy pre-made control-lines, especially if you are using commercial handles. If you use custom handles, you may need to make your own custom handles, to ensure the final engine to hand-grip distance complies with the rules.

Bladders

• Can buy these pre-made (see Links-Vendors), but the quality varies.
• Can make your own - This is quick and easy. The parts required are:
  • bladder tubing (see MBS model supplies - Bladder Tubing (5/16 ID 1/16" thick wall))

Yeah, OK, but REALLY, how do I get started?

• practice flying skills, don't practice what you already know
  • start with a slow combat class. Another alternative (especially if there isn't a slow combat class flown near you) is to fit a cheap (but reliable) engine to a commercial F2D model, resulting in a very robust, cheap combination which will survive several crashes and be slow enough, but manoeuvreable enough to learn on.
• Be prepared to break models just by practicing (otherwise you are being too conservative and will learn slowly).
• practice flying "drills" on your own, to gain confidence and timing, and to be able to fly without looking at your model.
• Practice flying "drills" with a another pilot, such as the skill of cutting streamers (even in level flight).

• practice combat with an experienced opponent (who can also help get you out of line tangles)