Yes Folks, it's true,
The Broadway Bod Busters and Northwest Skyraiders are cooking up something never before seen in the Pacific Northwest.
An 80 mph series combat tournament!!!For several weeks following the Bladder Grabber, there have been rumors of a series combat tournament that would be run similar to the World Cup in Europe and elsewhere. A total of five contests will be held, with the winners being those who have the highest scores in all of the contests.
One of the stark realities discovered this combat season was, Fast Combat will not be supported by the national top fliers any longer. There may be two Fast contests left and most of the top fliers have moved to F2D. Many have sold their once revered Nelson .36 engines replacing them with light weight and powerful .15's, Henry is no longer planning production runs of his once universal combat engine.
It is true that the performance of the F2D eclipses that of Fast and apparently while we stayed the course with the Bladder Grabber, the world moved on. The turnout for the 2008 BG was gratifying and it will happen again next year so you can count on that, but the handwriting was there on the wall. A debate of "what now sprung from this observation. While we don't have the answer to the declining Fast Combat, one of us (The Buzz Man) did come up with a brilliant idea. "let's have a series event and call it "The Chehalis Cup" using the new venue organized by The Northwest Skyraiders.
We just stared at him in admiration ... a truly good idea that best of all sounded cool like an old Hydroplane race.
For those of you who do not know him, Buzz
is a professional Engineer who analyzes systems and processes in fine detail.
The engineer in Buzz was going full tilt as he diligently worked through
the good and bad of many combat events flown here, incorporating the best
of the good, with basic criteria being to fly as much combat as possible.
He borrowed from D-Bat, Fast, F2D and 80 mph to construct the outline for the set of rules the tournament will use. In a stealthy move as only the Bod Buster lawyer can pull off, he actually USED them as a trial during the 2008 Raider Roundup! This was a great idea which gave us valuable information. No matter what you write down for a rule, actual practice will find a hole in it so we were pleased to have this trial run before the Chehalis Cup begins. The two major departures from regular 80 mph combat will be:
Cuts only (no kill rule)
One-minute starting period (as in d-bat)
THE FULL SET OF RULES WILL BE POSTED ON FLYING LINES
No worries here, the first contest is not slated until March of 2009, a good month after Groundhog Day. The full details can be found right here on the Flying Lines Daily News as things are finalized. The proposed dates are:
March 21
April 25
May -- no contest
June 27
July-- no contest
August-- no contest
September 26
October 31
We have tried to accommodate some local as well as national events that may pose conflicting dates.
No bowling trophies will be dispensed but there will be awards for the top three in each competition. The overall winner's name will be on a plaque with Event name and date. This will become a permanent marking on a perpetual trophy displayed publicly at the Chehalis airport. Your name will be engraved for generations to admire. Why, you'll be famous!
So there you have it. The complete set of rules will be posted right here on FL Daily News. I have scouted out the town of Chehalis and found a great café for us to call home base. The Rein Man is still raving about their food! Secret plans to construct a web page ... Okay, not so secret, are in the works. We will list complete details about the tournament, venue, restaurants, local happenings and contact names.
One interesting note, World Champion Mike Willcox has not ruled out the possibility of attending a few of the contest in this tournament, negotiations are ongoing ... now THAT would be fun!
Kenny-b and the Bod Busters.
This page was upated Jan. 10, 2009