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13th Annual Build & Fly
After a 3 year hiatus, the 13th annual LCRCC Build-n-Fly
went off without a hitch on Saturday September 24th at 1:00.
This year we decided to build combat planes similar to the Battle Floyds many of our members built
a number of years ago. After Bob handed out wings and miscellaneous materials to the teams, construction began at 1:10
pm. Team 1 finished their airplane in about an hour and a quarter, and team 2 finished maybe 10 minutes later, but with
cool racing stripes (electrical tape) decorating their wing and tail. Team 3 finished last, but with an airplane looking
just as good as the other 2. Team pictures were taken for the post-combat awards, and everyone got their planes
ready for flight.
| Team 1 |
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| Jeff Troy, pilot Bob Heine & Drew King. |
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| Team 2 |
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| Lorne King, Walter Berko, & pilot Charlie Zirkel |
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| Team 3 |
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| Dave Muchmore, Aaron Smith, pilot John Zimmerman, & Mark Styer. |
After the OS .15 engines were
test run, each plane took to the air for a test flight. All airplanes flew great right off the bat with minimal trimming
needed, just like the old Battle Floyds. Streamers were attached to each plane and combat was begun. The first
couple minutes were spent trying to find each other in the sky, which proved fairly difficult. Team 1's wing suddenly
showed excessive dihedral after a quick pull-out, but was able to keep flying at a reduced speed. A minute later team
3 went head on towards team 1 and cut team 1's streamer about 3 feet behind their tail!. The long streamer slowly
and gently drifted towards the ground. Team 1, anxious for revenge after their bad luck, tried ferociously for a suicide
strike into team 3's airplane. After about 40 seconds of nail-biting close calls, team 1's wing suddenly folded
in the middle of a too-hard turn and spun tightly into the middle of the standing corn. The match was over, with team
3 the clear winner, team 2 taking second for surviving unscathed, and team 1 taking third, but vowing for revenge and a stronger
wing next year!
Everyone had a great time and agreed this was the best event of the year, and
all promised to participate next year.
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