June 20, 1999
704 Combat

The Marianas Turkey Shoot

Finally! The new asphalt runway is "in" and we have resumed the combat events. Last year these events proved to be exciting and rewarding for pilots and spectators alike. The first event for the 1999 Combat season was an AMA sanctioned event appropriately named the Marianas Turkey Shoot. The event was held Sunday, June 20, 1999. It started at 8:30 AM and concluded with the 704 finals at 2:00 PM. Yes, that is Father’s day and judging by the pilot participation and crowds a lot of fathers apparently decided to put a little excitement into their lives by attending this event. Fantastic! To those of you who were not at the event, shame on you! Support your club, support your special events, come out and fly in the next event, or just root for your favorite pilot. Or better yet, come out and heckle him!

This year we implemented all of the RCCA rules, except we still have the negative points for Mid-Airs, requiring any airplane involved in a mid-air, regardless of its flight worthiness, to land prematurely for an inspection by our Line Marshall Dave Truax. Once the airplane passed inspection, the pilot was free to return it to the skies to continue the quest for glory!

Eighteen brave (or foolish), pilots reported to compete in our first event, an event which lived up to its name as a real turkey shoot! In the 704, several mid-airs occurred in the first round including a spectacular head-on collision which sent Frank Allen’s Israeli ME-109, and Jerry Sheldon’s favorite AT-6 careening back to mother earth. (Authors Historical Note: That’s correct, Israel used the former Nazi workhorse, ME-109's, driven by Jumo engines in its infant airforce!) (CD Note: Our Flight Box is established in such a manner that midairs, while visible to spectators, occur far away from the grandstands and pit area allowing for safe spectating!)

The crowd was treated to witnessing Ron Stark’s new catapult in action. While the catapult had some initial difficulty with its release mechanism it appears to have given Ron quick and consistent launches. Its sound literally announced that Ron’s aircraft had joined the fray! The 704 finals included the only remaining four pilots: Jim Bodnar, (from Vandenburg Air Force Base), Steve Allen, Scott Bilinski, and Darrin Albert. The finals saw Scott Bilinski pulling out his souped-up British Spitfire against Jim Bodnar’s MVVS powered Japanese Oscar. Steve Allen was forced to call up his reserve German FW-190 as his USAF P-51 Mustang met with an untimely demise in another midair which occurred in the last pre-final heat! Darrin Albert relied on his trusty USAF AT-6. The stage was set for a spectacular final heat and the crowd got a lot more than its moneys-worth. The air was swirling mass of aircraft. In the end Jim Bodnar was victorious with Steve Allen placing second and Scott Bilinski earning third place honors.

The Open Competition was even more exciting than the 704 competition. Nine pilots participated: Jim Bodnar, Steve Allen, Scott Bilinski, Tony Solo, Rafael Houri, Joel Navarro, Darin Albert, Ron Stark, and George Dawe. While fewer midairs occurred, the event had more streamer cuts! In fact, to qualify for the finals you had to have had at least one streamer cut in the preliminary rounds!

The finals saw a five pilots duke it out! Jim Bodnar, Steve Allen, Rafael Houri, Darrin Albert, and George Dawe all duked it out for first place. In the end, First place was awarded to Darrin Albert whose .25 powered Sportsman cut Jim Bodnar’s AT-6's streamer. Second place RCCA and club points were awarded to both Raphael Houri and George Dawe in accordance with RCCA rules. (CD Note: For the purposes of awarding the second and third place prizes, Raphael Houri was awarded second place and George Dawe took the third place prize as the preliminary round scores were 355 vs 335.) An exciting time was had by all! Our next Combat competition will be held the third Sunday in August-- Uncle Sam needs you!- to attend.

I will be attending the National Combat Championships in July on the 15, 16, and 17th. I am expecting a grueling endurance event which I am sure will give rise to some interesting war stories for me to tell about in upcoming reports.

All current and future combat pilots have a lot of time to regroup, rebuild and rethink your strategies. I expect to see more pilots than ever competing for the top prizes (airplane kits, engines, etc.), at our next event. There is some talk that the Palomar R/C Flyers may be asked to do a combat demonstration at the Miramar Airshow. If called upon I expect all combat pilots would be willing to serve. Please let me know if you are interested in volunteering to fly at the Miramar Combat demonstration. I am in the process of gathering intelligence reports related to any possible perks that might be available, such as free admission, parking, etc.

Combat is a sensory rewarding event! This is what RC flying was made for! I hope that the new year brings even more exciting combat events!

Until next time, be aggressive but please fly safely!

George Dawe