OS .15 cva for combat use

[Bud Morrison]

I was looking at these engines and was wondering if they are really werth the extra bucks. $109.00 is a bit for a .15. I have never seen one run nor know anyone who has ever messed with one of these. I do know I really likes the way my OS .15 car engines ran. But I see they make note they changed the porting and stuff around for the air version.

[JohnWRE]

Hi Bud,

The OS .15 CVA is a very strong motor. It's not legal for the growing SSC class of combat because of the hefty price (it has to be under $60, street price). But, you're not too far away from the "center of the universe" for Open A combat, where the CVA is commonly used.

The Mid-Atlantic region is the only area of the country where Open A combat is regularly taking place. They have a full season of events through the year. I've been to a couple of their contests in Northern Virginia and had a ball. My light-weight OS 15 LA powered plane was good enough to have some exciting combat, but it probably would take the CVA to keep up with the best of them!

Check out:
http://www.MidAtlanticCombat.com

and don't forget to check out:
http://www.rccombat.com/rcca.asp

[Montague]

Bud,
We fly a LOT of A class combat down here in Maryland and VA. I'm the guy who runs MidAtlanticCombat.com. There isn't that much on the site, but the important thing is a calendar of all combat events in the area that I find out about. Not only are there contests down this way, there are also contests up close to the NY line, though they don't fly A class up there.

I also run a mailing list for contest information in the Mid-Atlantic region. Let me know if you want to sign up (info is also on the www.MidAtlanticCombat.com website). The list is low volume, mostly contest info than anything.

As for the CV-A, it's a great engine for A class combat. But it is pricy. Personally, I run the Mag .15XL, which allows me to fly A class, and then change wings and add ballast to fly SSC when I (rarely) travel to a contest that has SSC. (Last year, the closest SSC contest to Lancaster was in Hamilton, Ohio). Some guys in the area have been running the Megatech .15. It's on par with the CV-A and it's a lot less expensive, and SSC legal if you want it to be.

Any chance you'll be flying A class around here this year? We'd love to see you down here.

[Bud Morrison]

The way it looks we will be flying at our club up here on a regular basis. I have spoke to the other club members yet to see if we are going to fly SSC or A at the club here. I would love to make it to some contests next year. Soon as I talk to the other club members here I'll drop you a PM. All I know for sure at this point is they want to run .15 engines :)

[boiler]

I think the lower cost and slower planes in ssc would be a good place for newbies to start. The event is fun and the damage to aircraft is minumal. If members want to branch out into the faster open a or open b events, they will be more successfull having some experience in combat before kicking it up a notch.

[Bud Morrison]

Im not really worried bout what the club guys decide to do Im planning on flying what ever is most popular in my region. Be it SCC A ,B or C :)

[Montague]

Bud,
Yeah, as soon as you guys get an idea of when your contests will be held, let me know, and I'll get them on www.MidAtlanticCombat.com. You can promote them on the mailing list as well. Whatever class you guys wind up flying, even if it's your own home-brew rules, I'd like to post it.

When you go to schedule your contests, it would be cool if you checked the calendar there as well to prevent too many conflicts. There are a couple of guys who live in PA who have come down here for contests in the past as well, so there's a good chance they'd come to yours as well.

Here in Laurel, we have contests scheduled for April 4th, June 8th, August 1st, and October 3rd. That's the first Sunday of every other month.

If you're using RCCA rules in any of the classes, you can be pretty sure I'll show up. If you fly A class, you can be certain I'll show up :D.

Fwiw, SSC and A class as we fly it around here aren't that different. We actually have a kind of "gentleman's agreement" not to push things too far. You won't see us flying the exotic FAI racing .15 engines or even using tuned exhausts. It's not that it's not legal, we just don't do it because we don't think it's necessary, and we have a ton of fun flying A class. The A class plane are a little faster, climb a little better, and maneuver a little quicker, and since they are lighter, they usually withstand damage well.

It's easy to build a plane that can be converted back and forth as well, so if you guys want to do SSC up there, all you'd need is a shorter wing (assuming your all up weight isn't over the limit), and you'd be fine in A class as well. This is what I do. I have a 64" wing for SSC and a 52" wing for A class. Same fuse and engine, I just change props, 7x4 for A, and 8x3 for SSC

[Bud Morrison]

I called and spoke to one of the members who was working on getting the combat started back up at our field and stressed to him the importance of using RCCA classes and rules. We will see what becomes of it. I'll lobby a lil more for class A at our next club meeting in January. Class A makes the most sense to me.