RC Combat Flying in Muncie, IN at the 2012 National Electric Fly-In (NEFI)

My RC Sites: sites.google.c... and electricrcaircr...
Key points of the video:
0:30 - I launch my Foamenator (with the 2 blue "Arrows" on top)
1:16 - start of combat
1:53 - a thud is heard (someone crashed on the paved runway)
2:59 - accidental touch-and-go
5:18 - my first hit. A flying wing (the Stryker I believe) hit me from behind
5:53 - my second hit. I hit a guy hovering some sort of spaceship-looking 3D plane over the target cone (read below for more info on this cone).
5:57 - 2 plane hard collision (an EPP flying wing with a balsa 3D plane I believe). The balsa plane got it bad.
6:21 - another collision between 2 other planes (not mine, sadly)
6:29 - my accidental "landing." I think by battery was getting low too, but I didn't want to land yet.
7:33 - a look at my plane. Barely any damage at all! All I had to do was put a few drops of hot glue on some loose foam behind the motor mount, and bend my prop back into shape. That was it!
8:07 - I am reminded I get a FREE Foamenator kit for competing!
8:42 - I am told I get a free battery!
More Info on Combat:
This was my first time ever competing in RC combat. The sponsor of this event was Dan Malone of www.gwsprops.com. I went to the Fly-in with only one dinky little 3D plane I've had for a couple years--not planning on competing in anything, but when I got talking to Dan about how I wanted to start combat but didn't want to ruin my one plane, he offered to sell me his personal Foamenator combat plane (with a couple dings and scratches) right there on the spot for $50 without the receiver. I bought it, put in my receiver, and programmed my radio and test flew it for the first time right there, then got ready for combat. Sadly, my battery was empty and combat, it turned out, was only 10 min. away! A random guy I met there loaned me a battery at the last second, so I was scrambling to hook up the battery while everyone else had been there for 5 min already--this is where the video starts! I was just in the nick of time!
The combat rules were simple and designed to promote good spectator entertainment, and real mid-air-collision-style combat with no pansies running away to try to be the last in the air.
Rules (1 rule only):
1) No streamers. Direct plane-to-plane contact only. The only limitation was that you had to use a 3S LiPo of less than or equal to 1350 mAh.
Points (2 ways to earn points):
1) You get 1 point for every mid-air collision you have, so getting hit by a plane = 1 point, or hitting another plane = 1 point. The person who has the most points at the end wins!
2) The person to crash-land nearest a cone out in the field, AFTER a midair collision, wins the proximity competition.
This second rule is designed to promote minimal spacing by trying to get people to stay near the cone in the field, thereby promoting more collisions and better combat. In the video you will see several planes just hovering in 1 spot. There strategy was to try to get hit by other planes, thereby racking up points, without getting taken out. Then, when they finally cannot fly anymore, hopefully they'd be nearest the cone and win the proximity part too!
-There were probably 15+ competitors, and in the end I tied for first with a couple other people, having 2 hits each.
-Everyone tying for first got a FREE 1300mAh 3S LiPo!
-Everyone COMPETING got a FREE $20 Foamenator kit!!! (I highly recommend it! www.gwsprops.co...)
-Information Flyer available here: docs.google.co...
This plane is AWESOME! I had a blast. The plane probably goes ~60 mph top speed, and has a thrust to weight ratio greater than 2, or a W/lb power to weight ratio of ~250+.
PS: I recorded the video using a hat-cam I made for ~$2, mounting my hand-held digital camera to a baseball cap.
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In response to the 1st comment:
This particular event (the National Electric Fly-In) is only once a year. However, MANY other events exist, and some clubs even dedicate themselves to flying combat often.
For events look here and scroll down or enter new search parameters: www.modelaircra...
For a way to look up clubs go here and click "Find a club" : www.modelaircra...