Very simple combat class

[Lucam]

here in Italy we tried out a brand new "scale" combat class.Exclusively for electric planes, profile (but 3D fuse ae allowed, if desired) powered by Graupner 400 brushed motor, min. 75 cm (30") wingspan: flight time is limited to 5 minutes, battery type, propeller and gearbox are free. The very first contest was enough a success: just 5 pilots (but i's fall time) but lot of fun and many tail cuts.
In the next contest (scheduled for November, 21th) we expect much more pilots, and a lot of mulkti-engine projects: we are defining the rukes for multi-engine (the original rule was 120 cm. wingspan, 45" and Speed 400 engine; but we realize that this setup will be too hard for battery pacs - all pilots in first contest were with Lipos, except just one with Kan 1050, so maybe we will allow multi engines with speed 280-300 and 75 cm. wingspan).

This class is intended as introduction to 1/12 glow scale combat, and models are extremely cheap: with some depron sheets, glue and a bit of patience you can build and setup a competitive model in just a couple of evenings.

Some pics: my model was the Zero... That survived all four hints, but crashes on land on the last one. But it come second in the final rank: the price of the glory!

[drewjet]

Looks great, are you using any armor on the planes, or just considering them disposable?

[Lucam]

Looks great, are you using any armor on the planes, or just considering them disposable?

Disposable :p
Actually, foamie combat are so lightweight and simple that it's hard to full destroy them; we had several mid-air collision, but in every case with some drop of epoxy all of them were in combat again for next hit. For instance, I needed some tail weight for my Zero, so I build tail with 2 mm. balsa. My balsa stab cutted as it was a knife the vertical fin of a Wildcat, that crashed suddently; I was able to stay on combat for the whole day. But the Wildcat - that looks so bad in ground - was easily repaired and ready for next round.
The onlu serioous crash was my last landing: I forgot to recharge my LiPo :eek:, so my Esc cuts off power and I discover that my foamie was simply unable to glide :D

But after all, I got the second place! what a glorious death for my Zero!
(well, it is repairable, but his wing is inefficient, I need a profile Depron wing).

Many other pics of the event are here:

http://www.masali.com/Inside/Models/busto.htm

http://www.tuttala.it/or4/or?uid=tuttala.main.index&oid=6855

[sheepy]

any more info on the planes? AUW, motor(ie graupner 6v), number of cells, type of cells(capacity) ,max current draw, props used, static rpm, wing area, estimated speed.

[Lucam]

any more info on the planes? AUW, motor(ie graupner 6v), number of cells, type of cells(capacity) ,max current draw, props used, static rpm, wing area, estimated speed.

Uh, how many difficult questions! :)

Well, at the moment the only allowed engine is Speed 400 6 volt; for multi engine only, many of us are testing two speed 280/300 with various props and gearboxes; just today I tested my Dornier Do 335 (push-pull) with two direct 280 and Gunther propeller, but the test failed (not enough power to fly). Being gearbox and prop free, in the first contest we had almost any combination possible; but usually everyone choose his setup to mantain current draw below 8 amps (that's because the majority of us uses Lipoly, and a larger draw will means both damage our cells and having not enough autonomy for finish the 5 minutes hit; using more serial packs is theoretically allowed, but it will dramatically increase weight and it's not a good idea for this kind of competition). Wing area is usually around 12-15 square decimeter (sorry, I don't know the conversion in square feet); but wingspan must be at least 75 cm (30").
The most important limitation, in my opinion, is that the pack must not be greather than 10 volts; this means 8 nicad or 2 lipoly max.

Don't know about speed, but some of these little models were really FAST; in particular, the Macchi Mc2002 you can see in the pics above looks to be as fast as a glow combat. Mine was by far the slowest, but this was not an handicap; I cutted two tails beacuse I can turn in a snap. GNAK!

[Lucam]

...are there!

http://www.46squadron.it/peppe/pr400%20cronaca%20buscate%202004%2046.htm

[luigidon]

Is there any page for the plans of that electric combat planes?

I would like to build one ore two, maybe hundred:))

bye
matjaz

[Lucam]

Is there any page for the plans of that electric combat planes?

I would like to build one ore two, maybe hundred:))

bye
matjaz

Well, you really do not need a plan... It's enough a three view drawing of a real plan and in a few time you can build your own one.

However, here are a few plans for:

1. Macchi Mc 205 "veltro" (veltro means hunting dog):
http://www.tuttala.it/imgs/Electric_Combat/Macchi202/macchi400profile.dwg

and the building thread is there:
http://www.tuttala.it/or4/or?uid=tuttala.main.index&oid=5635

Text is in Italian, but pics are self explicative... Just for navigation, "Avanti" means "next page" and "Indietro" means "Previous page" :D

Real fighter pics here:
http://www.tuttala.it/or4/or?uid=tuttala.main.index&oid=5113

2. Mig 3: http://www.tuttala.it/or4/or?uid=tuttala.main.index&oid=6607
Drawings are here:
http://www.tuttala.it/imgs/Electric_Combat/Mig/mig%203%2030%20pollici.dxf

3. Polikarpov I-16
http://www.tuttala.it/or4/or?uid=tuttala.main.index&oid=6662
drawings:
http://www.tuttala.it/imgs/Electric_Combat/Polikarpov/i16p400.dxf

4. P51 Mustang
http://www.tuttala.it/or4/or?uid=tuttala.main.index&oid=7142
drawings:
http://www.tuttala.it/imgs/Electric_Combat/p51Mustang/p51%20pr400.dxf

here the pics of Mig-3 and another Macchi 205:


Instead of cut the wings with hhot wires, if the model you choose has NOT elliptical wing (i.e. spitfire) you can also build them with a single 0,5 mm. folded depron or blue foam, as described in other forums here around :D