I have plans for the "Combat Gremlin" which is a flying wing with mixed elevons and two fixed vertical fins. A club I belonged to in Missouri in the mid 90's used to buy the materials and make "short kits" for club members for their Combat Nights. It was cheap to build and easy to fly (the first plane I solo'd!) If anyone has the tools necessary to cut the wings and the PVC fuselage, I'd be happy to sacrifice my plans. :bigplane:

I have a foam cutter I made; I might be willing to sell it. I made a 4' bow and a 16", I believe. I have no idea what it's worth; I think the parts cost me $20.

Unfortunately, my current living situation doesn't provide me with enough room to set up my workshop, so purchasing your foam cutter doesn't do me any good. What kind of rules have been established for Combat at ACMA?

Not too many rules.
Open combat, no classes, run what you brung.
We use about a 15 foot sting leader and about a 30 foot crepe paper streamer.
Try to get all contestants up at same time or extra rounds to give all a chance.
A round lasts six minutes.
Ever who gets most cuts wins.

Everyone is fighting for second place, I have first place all sewed up. :biggrin:

Do you think there would be any interest in making short kits available to members for nothing more than the cost of the supplies? A short kit being two foam core wing halves and the pre-cut, square PVC fuselage, and photo copies of the building instructions.

I know Nick Nevell biulds combat planes for like $50 bucks as an arf... he used the "gutter" material fuse (the same kinda your talking about) and uses coragated plastic for the wings, lol, with 2 yard sicks as the main spars...

That seems a lot simpler than tryin to cut a foam wing...

Later,
Jake

:( Well, there doesn't seem to be much interest in my idea. Oh well, I tried. :hmm:

TJR, you need to bring out one of those Combat Gremlins and show us what it will do. :yes:
I will hook up some streamers and if it can out do my UGLY combat plane, will be lots of interest. :lol:

That's the problem, all I have right now are the plans. I don't have a place to build anything, and all of my hobby stuff is still packed in boxes. I wish I had one for you to fly. The ones I had way back when were pretty slow though. The club had put a .35 size restriction on them for combat and my O.S. was getting worn out. The Magnums were kinda new then and they were flyin' em around pretty well.

I have ordered a foam cutting kit and it will be here in a week so when i put it together I will cut some cores once i get it set up. I have to go and price the foam and figure out how to use it I have been reading some forums and rules for the types of combat out there and i didnt realize that there were so many classes and restrictions for each class but i like the scoring system:

6. Scoring

Points gained
Streamer cut (other than your own) +100 per cut

Launch within 90 second launch window (plane must be airborne with a complete streamer when Start Combat is called) +20

continuous 5 minute flight +20


Remaining streamer

+4 points per foot of streamer remaining on aircraft. (+120 max.)

Non-engagement. Pilots will be given 1 verbal warning for not attempting to engage the opponent without penalty. Second offense and subsequent offenses will score -25 points. Non engagement shall be considered flying too high or too far from the combat area. Low level flying will not be considered non-engagement. -25


this would make it intersting and keep folks in the mix as well as give inexperienced pilots like myself a chance to win or come closer :yes:

Our points system was even simpler than that. I don't recall a launch window that was timed per say, but I believe you had two attempts to get airborn. And instead of having a multitude of aircraft in the air at one time, we flew one on one (I think these were three minute heats). 3 Points for a kill (Cut); if there was no kill, we had a for foot circle painted on the grass and a golf tee to mark the center. Closest to the center after landing was awarded 2 Points. Having everyone use the same type of aircraft and limiting engine displacement kept the competition close. I think we met once a week for about six or eight weeks and declared a winner at the end of the season. :twocents:

I wouldn't mind a set of those plans..... :D

Cryptic - Did you get that foam cutter? I'll pitch in on foam whenever you're ready! :thumbup:

OK, here's the latest! I found a place on the east coast that cuts foam cores for Gremlins :hyper: (racores.com), and in fact, they make a short kit, a full kit ($35 each), and even an ARF version! :D I bought two of the full kit versions and the foam cores are excellent! :thumbup: All of the wood is included along with assembly instructions. If all goes well, I might have one ready by this weekend and definitely ready for next weekends combat! :pilot:

A lot people fly these in the NorthEast for combat and many of them have one that they just fly for fun and won't enter it in combat because they're just too much fun. Check out the racores website, they have links to other Combat Gremlin info.

Hey,Tjr..I am late sorry about that.my pc has been down.I do have a plan that
will make a jam up cutter.I also was gonna let you know that I checked out
racores page.nice plane and not bad priced either.if you want look at this one-
www.spadtothebone.com,,,its a sickle I believe.its yellow and white and cheap to build.
looks like the racores plane on home page.you may like this one.sorry it took so long.
kenny2 :thumbup:

I've seen the SPAD planes before and had considered a few of them, but the Gremlin brought back some good memories, so I just had to have one again. I might have it ready by tomorrow. ;) My girlfriend's going to be gone most of the day, so I should be able to get a lot of work done on it. :dance: :ouch: I got up early this morning to get some of my honey-do's done. :P

If anyone wants my foam cutter I'll be moving soon and I won't need it for a long time to come. Cheap enough to build another one.......

I also have some foam that's been sitting in my shop for years. I got it from Rob of HT (thanks, Rob).

I'd leave it at the field, but I'll have to wait until someone's there and leave it in Alvin's cave. Unpaid members don't get keys............. :(

FWIW, the SPADs that I built were very pitchy. The wing is hard to build with a halfway decent leading edge. The PVC fuses aren't as strong as everyone says they are.....I broke several (NO, not a testament to my flying skills).

I'll see if I can't dig up some pics of my SPAD.......RIP...........