Pete Athans (L) with a foam F2D model and Ed Brzys with a well-worn Speed Limit model. Pete and his teammate, Chris Gay, were the only two pilots flying foam models in F2D Fast. They took first and second place. Advantage foam?
By Charlie Johnson
Control Line (CL) Combat opens with Fast Combat on Sunday, followed by 1/2A on Monday, Speed Limit on Tuesday, and F2D Fast on Wednesday. Standard F2D Combat is not being flown as an official event at this year's AMA Nats. Instead, it is being run as a World Cup event, along with F2A Speed and F2C Team Race. F2D Combat will be flown from Thursday through Saturday. World Cup events are open to any flier with a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) license.
Fast Combat had been the National Championship event for decades, but in recent times, it has taken a back seat to the FAI event. The Nelson 36 is still the dominant engine, but there are plenty of Fora 36s and a sprinkling of very powerful Foxes too. Nelson prices on eBay have skyrocketed, making them almost too valuable to risk in Combat.
Last year's winner, Ed Brzys, used very large foam models with external bladders and some clever, tactical flying. He won both Fast Combat and Speed Limit, plus he placed fourth in 1/2A Combat. He'll be a real threat this year.
In 1/2A Combat, there's a mixture of engines, mainly Fora and Cyclone. A Cox .049 wouldn't have much of a chance, especially since they've changed to 42-foot lines. There are quite a few homebuilt foam models, but like F2D, most models are scaled down F2D style from factories in Eastern Europe. As with Fast Combat, this event uses the kill rule, and snagging the string leader in the foam leading edge is a more efficient way to break it than using a 5-inch propeller.
Speed Limit Combat has the most diverse range of engines and airplanes. They fly on 60-foot lines, are limited to 75 mph, and fly for cuts and airtime rather than kills. Just about anything will work, including F2D models that have to be slowed down and some sport engine models that can barely make 75 mph.
As mentioned earlier, a World Cup event will replace F2D Combat at the Nats. The 2024 World Championship follows the World Cup event. There are three Senior team members, Andrey Nadein, Mark Rudner, and Cary Minor, as well as a Junior team member, Austin Minor, and a female team member, Aimee Lee Olson. This outstanding team will be pitted against the best in the world. Enjoy the Nats, and then stick around for the World Cup and 2024 World Championship. Root on our team.
Who will win the World Cup and 2024 World Championship? It has been said that in CL Combat, anyone with a handle in their hand is dangerous. A safer pick would be anyone on the US team, and nobody was hotter in 2023 than Austin. He nearly took a Senior spot on the team, settling for the Junior position. He then went on to win the F2D National Championship in a dominant fashion. He won the prestigious Bladder Grabber in Seattle, in addition to another win at the F2D Money Nats in Los Angeles.
Note from AMA: Do you have photos from the Nats that you’d like to share? If so, email them to Clarissa Poston at clarissap@modelaircraft.org. Please include a brief description in your email, naming any individuals pictured in the photo(s), the name of the event that the photo(s) were taken during, and the name of the individual who took the photo(s). Your submission(s) might be posted on AMA’s Flickr page, which can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/modelaircraft/albums!