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Control Line Combat

By Mark Rudner | [email protected]

As seen in the March 2024 issue of Model Aviation.

WHILE PREPARING my files to write this column, I happened to see that my first one as Model Aviation’s regular "Control Line Combat" correspondent appeared in January 2014. This means that I’ve just passed my 10th Model Aviation anniversary. Before that, Rich Lopez was the voice of Control Line (CL) Combat for a full 20 years! It’s amazing that he was able to keep it up for that long and to consistently deliver new content month after month.

Especially now that we are down to two columns per year, I often wonder how I can continue to keep supporting the sport and provide a balanced view of activities around the country. To this end, I really welcome submissions from the community.

Gene Pape brought an original Creamsicle to the Norm McFadden Memorial Bladder Grabber for everyone to sign.

If you have material that you’d like to contribute or topics you feel would be helpful to see discussed, please send them to me!

I can write about whatever comes to my mind, but I know for a fact that there are many contest results and local circuits around the country that I don’t get a chance to cover, as well as many interesting individual ways of doing things that could be helpful to spread to the community. The more you send me, the better I’ll be able to use this space to serve all of you and the hobby itself.

Transporting Combat Airplanes

In the spirit of spreading ideas that have come in from throughout the country, I want to first share a great innovation that came to me from Russ Graves some time ago. Russ competed on the US team at the 2022 FAI F2 World Championships for CL Model Aircraft in Poland, and made us proud with a strong seventh-place result. Russ’ performance was all the more impressive given it was his first world championship!

In order to compete in Poland, Russ needed a clever way to get all of his airplanes there safely—preferably without huge shipping or baggage fees. As you can see in the included photo on the next page, he found a commercially available golf club travel bag that fit his airplanes nicely and kept them very well protected for the trip. As an added bonus, golf bags are exempt from oversize baggage fees! This was a true win-win and a great solution for transporting Combat models to contests through air travel.

Russ Graves used a golf club travel bag to bring his models to the 2022 FAI F2 World Championships for CL Model Aircraft. The bag kept his models well protected and they arrived safely at his destination with no hassle.

Electric Combat: Still Kicking

For those who have been following along, you might recall that, in the past, I gave a number of updates on progress in the development of electric CL Combat models. (In fact, the first article that I wrote 10 years ago documented the beginning of my journey in developing electric Combat airplanes.)

Although electric Combat has yet to catch on as an event of its own, there are people flying electric-powered models for fun and in unofficial Speed Limit Combat events, where local rules are more flexible with regard to the nature of the model’s powerplant.

This past summer, I was happy to receive the included photo of Darwin Ulledahl, from Kansas City, Missouri, with his electric-powered, 60%-size Guillotine (a classic Combat model). It’s a beautiful model, and from the cellphone video footage that I saw, it seems to fly nicely as well.

Darwin Ulledahl brought his electric-powered, 60%-scale Guillotine model to the Kansas City MO F2D competition. It’s a beautiful model that flies like a champion.

End of an Era

This summer saw the running of the 44th—and most likely final—Bladder Grabber. It was only fitting that this year’s event was dedicated to the memory of Norm McFadden, who, together with Bob Carver, built up what would become the biggest, baddest, and fiercest Combat competition in the country throughout the 1980s, ‘90s, and early 2000s.

Long-time Combat flier and close friend of Norm, Gene Pape, did all of the heavy lifting to bring this final Bladder Grabber to fruition. Because I stopped flying Fast Combat to focus on F2D a number of years ago, I helped out as event director. We had an A-plus judging team of Dave McFadden and Nils Madsen, while Bill Varner helped to keep the pilots together as circle marshal. Dave Green pitched in with pull-testing. It was great working with this crew throughout the weekend.

Following the trend of the last several years, rather than the original multiple-elimination format of the Bladder Grabber, the competition was run in a six-round format. Each pilot flew six matches (paired in a way to avoid matches between teammates), and the winners were determined according to win/loss records accumulated throughout these rounds.

The star of the weekend was Austin Minor. Austin has become known as a force to be reckoned with in F2D Combat, but this was his first Fast Combat competition. Word has it that he had only picked up the handle of a Fast Combat model for the first time a week or so before the contest, but that was enough for him to dominate the field and bring home the coveted title of Bladder Grabber Champion.

Mike Alurac, of the Southern California Combat Team, took second place with a strong showing all weekend. Austin’s uncle, Cary Minor, took third, and Gene rounded out the top four.

I’d like to personally give a huge thanks to Gene for running the Bladder Grabber, and to all of the judges and sponsors who made it happen. Gene also contributed photos and material for this article. You can read more about the contest and a variety of other CL-related activities in the Pacific Northwest (and around the world) on the Flying Lines website, listed in "Sources."

Blasts From the Past

In the midst of all of the action while preparing to put the pilots "on the clock" before one of the matches, I was shocked to see one of Rich Lopez’s models about to be flown by Mel Lyne. It was heartwarming to see that unmistakable Seal-Lamincovered white foam model with wide green and red stripes painted on the outboard wing and "Lopezed up" with a collection of cool stickers.

I was very curious about how Mel came to fly that model, and he explained that he had retrieved it from a collection of damaged models that had been left with Bob Carver from previous Bladder Grabbers.

One of former longtime Model Aviation columnist Rich Lopez’s old Fast Combat models made an appearance at the Bladder Grabber in Mel Lyne’s arsenal.

Likely of a similar vintage, Gene brought out an original Norm McFadden Creamsicle for everyone on the field to sign. Norm’s wife, Karleen, also brought out a bunch of actual Creamsicle popsicles to help everyone cool off at the end of the contest. It was a truly fitting end to the competition and a great way to finish 40-plus years of Bladder Grabbers.

Austin Powers His Way to the Top

If he had just won the Bladder Grabber, it would have been enough, but this year, Austin dominated the podiums of the major competitions, with first place in F2D at the AMA Nats, as well as the LA Money Nats; first alternate position for the US F2D CL team; and third place at the Kansas City F2D Meet. He has worked hard and earned his place as one of the country’s top pilots.

Sam Londke

To close out this article, I want to highlight one young pilot to look out for in 2024: Sam Londke. I truly enjoyed watching Sam’s flying at the team trials and anticipate that we’ll be seeing a lot more of him holding trophies going forward. Sorry to blow your cover, Sam, but don’t let his youth fool you—he’s also a force to be reckoned with!

SOURCES: