Battle of Britain

March 24, 2007

(Click a picture for a slideshow)
Welcome to the Field	The Pink Fleet	Ken’s Wings	The Competition
A Different Look	Waiting to Fly	Streamer Attachment	Group Portrait
Defining Airspace	Keeping Order	Channel Control	The Flight Line
Big Smile	Take Off	Gaining Altitude	A Long Tail
The Original	Quite Engaged	A Swirl of Wings	Close Quarters
High in the Sky	Flipping & Dipping	Knife Edges	Wreck of the Day

Combat Wings

Named for the fiery aerial combat that ensued when Germany attempted to set up an invasion of England in the spring of 1940, the modern-day Battle of Britain staged at the East Bay Radio Controllers airfield in Livermore is a melee of speedy gas-powered radio control aircraft.

This is Open B Combat, which specifies 3.5 lbs. maximum weight, .30 maximum engine size and no tuned pipes. After that, it’s up to you.

The most popular fighter, a Mako, designed by Pete Sullivan, is a 6-foot foam flying wing with a front-mounted engine, ailerons and an elevator. Combatants flew many variations, including more conventionally-shaped airplanes.

Each plane takes off trailing a long crepe streamer.

During the five-minute fray, combatants try to snag streamers from competing planes.

The contest is broken into five-minute rounds, six planes at a time. Contestants get points for prompt takeoff, full-length flights and the number of cuts they achieve.

Remarkably, mid-air collisions are infrequent, even when, at the end of the event, the judges send all surviving planes in the air simultaneously. But half a dozen mid-airs did take place during the course of the day.

PCC members participating in the event were Jake Chichilitti, Ken Martinez and Dave Santana. All brought multiple combat wings. Ken placed second, behind Mako designer Pete Sullivan. After one severe impact, Jake lost an engine — it fell somewhere in the scrub beyond the airstrip. It was found after a long search.

— Pete Johnson