Some of the Northwest fliers who wound up high in the national standings include (from left) Jeff Rein Don McKay, Mel Lyne and Buzz Wilson. Flying Lines photo.
As Kenny B would say, "yes folks it's true."
With a coordinated effort from the Eugene Prop Spinners, Northwest Skyraiders, Northwest Fireballs and the Broadway Bod Busters, a very aggressive combat season was scheduled for 2009. But would anybody show up?
Show up they did. Diesel combat was re-energized, 1/2A combat
was revitalized, the Chehalis Cup was formed for cuts-only speed limit,
and the Bladder Grabber brought healthy local participation. The results
of this aggressive combat schedule had national impact!
MACA (Miniature Aircraft Combat Association)
has been scoring the nations combat flyers for about 30 years now. It is
called the MACA Top 20. In years past, I believe there have never been two
or more flyers from the Northwest that made the Top 20 in any given year.
The 2009 combat season is a different story. There are four different categories
that are scored plus an overall top 20 in the nation.
Four NW combat flyers made the Top 20 this year, and three dominated the top five spots.
The overall Combat Champion in the Nation as scored by MACA for 2009 was Jeffrey "The Reinman" Rein. Second place went to Don " The Combat Monster" McKay. Robert "The Collider" Smith just got edged out of third by Michael Wilcox (World Champion), moving him the fourth, and rounding out the field was none other than Buzz "The Hammer" Wilson, the inspiration behind the C-Cup taking the 17 spot. The Top five in Fast Combat were Jeffrey Rein, Tony Huber, Robert Smith, Don McKay, and longtime supporter Bill Maywald.
The Top Five in the nation in1/2A were Don McKay, Jeffrey Rein, Robert Smith, Al Ferraro, and Buzz Wilson. Speed limit is usually dominated by the East coast boys. They have had a very good program going on there for years. This year, first place was taken by Jeffrey Rein, Neil Smith taking second, Jeff Vader got third, Robert Smith took fourth, and fifth place went to Don McKay. Other NW flyers making the top 20 in a scored category were Howard Rush, Jim Green, Mel Lyne, Gene Pape, John Thompson, Ken Burdick and Dick Salter. A big Congrats and a thank you to all who participated in the most successful combat season in the history of the NW. For complete MACA scoring, click here,
-- The Bod Busters
Photos: At left, Bob Smith and Buzz Wilson, both among the nation's top fliers in 2009. Flying Lines photo. At right, Gene Pape with a Baracuda. Mike Hazel photo. All photos from 2009 Chehalis Cup contests.
This page was upated Jan. 27, 2010