Wooten ComFAI .15 Combat ship.

I recently discovered the plans, full sized in a FLYING MODELS magazine issue from the late 1950's or early 1960's, of Riley Wooten's ComFAI .15 combat ship and am considering building it. He recommends a Torpedo .15 Green Head engine and I do have one of these, but I also have some Fox .15x engines I could use here. Has anyone had any experience with this ship at any time in the past or is anyone flying one at present? I remember some posts I read about a year ago here or another board where a modeler was building and flying this plane. Any information, stories, advice on this design will be appreciated........Thanks.......T.Durrill

If it's a scaled down model of the original I would suggest lengening the booms like they did in the later kits. Sure made it turn a lot better. I would think almost any .15 would make it fly fine.

LAST EDITED ON Jul-31-04 AT 10:26 AM (CDT)
 
Tom,

The Wooten ComFAI .15 powered combat ship isn't a boom type design and does not resemble the Voodoo layout at all. It is a profile with fairly standard builtup balsa wing, stab and elevator. The engine is upright. It reminds me more of the Quicker, a later Riley Wooten design. I built one in 1967 and later sold it to a flying buddy along with my only Torp .15GH. Recently, I obtained an almost new engine of this type as well as some nice Fox .15x engines and I am thinking about building this little combat ship. Anyone else have any experiences or observations with this design or any other combat designs using these engines?...............T.Durrill

I recently built 4 of these ships.It seemed easier to cut out several as i figured the life expectancy might not be too long the way my buddy and i fly combat.The plane is an easy build. The only problem i ran into is with the thin airfoil the bell crank is a very tight squeeze. Also the plans call for an extention of the fuse over the fuel tank. I did away with this as by the time i got a tank fitted in only a tiny sliver of wood was left.I haven't put them in the air yet ,but i was planning on useing an os 15 fp or maybe a 10 fp. I'll try to attach a couple pics.

Would you please build off a copy of the plans, and send the originals to Barry Baxter, to preserve this design for whatever future generations of CL fliers? http://www.controllineplans.com/ Steve

Steve I don't think this plane was ever kitted.I bought a home made kit at a swap meet.The plane was featured in the aug 1956 Flying Models magazine.It was designed by Riley Wooten. Plans may still be obtainable from Lonestar Balsa.When i built the four planes i traced the parts from the home made kit and saved the orginals. Jim Thomerson of Austin Tx was kind enough to send me the construction article that i used. Tom

Hmmmm...

You know, how long HAS FAI Combat been an event? The first F2D World Champs was in 1976 or 1978 (can't remember). The Brits were flying what was the prototype for the event much earlier than that, of course, but I wonder if anyone called it "FAI" at the time. So it's interesting that Riley would have a design in the 1960s that was called "COMFai" (rather unusual name for a Wooten combat design, too, come to think of it).

I wonder what everyone else was doing in places other than the U.K. and the U.S. The Soviets seem to have gotten into the WC game immediately and had success within a few short years. The Chinese attended at least two WCs that I know of (one was the one in the US in the 80s). The Germans and French were participating pretty early, and must have been flying before that first WC. It sounds like everyone was flying the British version for a while before the first WC came along. There were probably European international events for some years before that.

I think FAI combat goes back into the '50's as an organized event. I'll have to check my old Aeromodellers. At one time the rules required a fixed landing gear and taking off the ground. I'll check it out and be more precise (and maybe even more accurate!)

LAST EDITED ON Jul-31-04 AT 10:33 AM (CDT)
 
tgsnj,

Thanks for the pictures. That's the ComFAI all right. The one I built in 1967 had yellow silk on the wings and yellow Aerogloss on the body and tail. As I remember, it flew pretty well, but the old Torp .15 had pretty well been worn out (low compressionl) by then and I ended up selling it to a flying buddy. You are right that this design was never put out as a kit. There were so few good combat kits for .15 size engines in the late 50's and 60's that I think it might have been successful as a kit........TD

Hello Stuka CL Forum,

Riley Wooten did put out a combat ship similar to the ComFAI.15 although it was for the .29 to .35 Cl engines. It was Called the "Fury" It features a two part fuselage, IE: top and bottom,
and a side mount similar to a Voodoo. Engine back plate almost touched the leading edge and fuel tank must be built into wing. balsa4me.

LAST EDITED ON Jul-31-04 AT 09:20 PM (CDT)
 
An add on to my reply,
The Fury was sold using the Demon wing. Another of Riley Wootens' great designs. His plane provided my Children with great enjoyment. balsa4me