CL at Joe Nall Week

Control Line Combat By Mark Rudner | [email protected] As seen in the September 2024 issue of Model Aviation. IN MAY 2024, Control Line (CL) Combat came in a big way to the Triple Tree Aerodrome in Woodruff, South Carolina, for Joe Nall Week. Last year was the first time that CL Combat had been flown there, with Air2Air and Speed Limit Combat events. This time, a full-on triple-elimination F2D contest was held. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to be there myself, but I’m happy to report what I’ve heard from my correspondents in the field. For those who have never been to Joe Nall, it is a unique and inspiring event. Thousands of aeromodeling enthusiasts descend on South Carolina for a week of flying and camaraderie in a beautiful location, with multiple flightlines and flying areas for RC and CL models. There is plenty of room for camping, and many participants stay right there on-site near the field. The CL Combat participants I talked to felt very warmly welcomed and were excited to be able to take part in the festivities. From what I hear, the excitement went both ways. For many of the RC participants and spectators, this was their first chance to experience the rush of F2D Combat, with many of our nation’s top pilots on hand to show what our sport is all about.

Winners of F2D CL Combat at Joe Nall Week (R-L): Andy Minor, first place; Cary Minor, second place; Jeff Johnson, third place; and Sam Londke, top Junior. Photo provided by Arlene Mears. Between their own matches, many of the Combat participants also took time to chat with the spectators coming over from RC to explain the rules and help everyone appreciate what they were witnessing. All in all, it sounds like a great community-building event. Arlene Mears ran a tight ship and put on another great contest, together with Dave Edwards. There were 14 pilots, including one Junior, Sam Londke, and two Canadians, Vadim Polak and Max Svetlakov. When the dust settled, Andy Minor came out on top with a firstplace finish, Cary Minor took second, Jeff Johnson was third, and Dave Fischer placed fourth. As I understand, CL Combat has been invited back again for next year. If you are able to go, I highly recommend putting this one on your calendar!

Northwest CL Regionals

The Northwest CL Regionals were held over Memorial Day weekend in Roseburg, Oregon. Nine pilots were on hand to compete across five CL Combat events: Vintage Combat, F2D Fast, High-Performance 1/2A Combat, 80 mph Speed Limit Combat, and AMA Fast Combat. Lane Puckett took the title of Regionals Combat Champion, with first place in 1/2A and second place in Fast. For a more detailed report, see Gene Pape’s article on the Flying Lines website. The link is listed in "Sources."

Bending Music Wire for F2D Streamer Hooks

I received a set of photos from Chuck Rudner showing how he bends music wire to make streamer hooks for F2D models. Similar procedures can be used to make onboard fuel pinchers and muffler hooks. Here, I will focus on the first few steps, which are both the trickiest and needed for most types of hooks that you might have to make. In this example, Chuck used 0.078-inch music wire, which has the strength needed for streamer hooks. All of the aforementioned hooks attach to the model by one of the engine mounting bolts. The first step is to bend a small loop to go around the screw. For this, you can use a similar screw that is held securely in a bench vise as a template. A nice trick is to bend a curlicue an inch or so into the wire (to give you something to hold onto) then cut off the free end with a Dremel tool.

The first step in making a streamer hook, muffler hook, or fuel pincher is to make a mounting loop. Using a screw as a template, bend a curlicue in the wire. Leave yourself a comfortable free end to work with (which you’ll trim later).

Use a cutting disk to trim off the excess wire.

After making the first 90° bend, hold the hook up to the plane to measure the depth that you’ll need to clear. After cutting off the free end of the loop, your wire will be skewed. Straighten it out into a single plane with the rest of the wire using pliers or the vice. If needed, you can adjust the angle at which the free end of the wire comes out of the hook using pliers or the vice, with a screw through the loop to prevent it from closing up. Once the loop is set, you’ll need to make a series of 90° bends. Make sure that your first 90° bend leaves enough room around the loop for a screw head or nut and/or washer to fit comfortably down. You’ll also need to be certain to keep the first segment short enough that the wire doesn’t run into the spar.

With the wire held securely in the vise, use a punch and hammer to complete the Z-bend.

Your completed stub of a hook should look like this. From here, bend as needed into a streamer hook or muffler hook. For a fuel pincher, adjust the direction and length of the second 90° bend accordingly. Once you’ve decided how far you want the wire to extend out of the mounting loop before the first bend, mark the wire and secure it in a vise. Bending the wire with one hand, use a hammer to flatten it down and complete the first bend. Holding this piece up to your model, make an ink mark to indicate the height of the spar that you will need to clear. Mount the wire back in the vice with the ink mark just above the jaws (see the photo). This time, the loop and 90° bend will be in the way, so use a flat-nosed punch and hammer to fold over the exposed section of wire. After these steps are complete, you will have a nice screw loop and a Z-bend of just the right size for your hook to sit comfortably in your mounts and bump up out of the mount trench to come even with the top wing surface. From there, the details will differ based on the style of hook that you’re making, but the hard part is complete!