-by Clay Ramskill
Although he knew that any fight could turn into a combat situation, Rock was just having fun. His lightweight little delta winged fighter was fast, manueuverable, and would do a roll in a heartbeat. Just messing around over his home field, he was nearing the bottom of the second of a three loop series when it happened; a slight flicker of a shadow interrupted the constancy of the blazing sun.
It could only mean one thing -- the enemy! Rock immediately added full power to the already straining engine, resulting in a satisfying howl. Full back stick until the nose was high, then neutralize. As the little fighter zoomed upward, he scanned the sky near the sun, using his cap bill as a shade.
There! The enemy was high, cruising in toward the field, already in friendly airspace!
Adjusting course so he would pass directly below and towards the rear of the intruder, Rock continued the climb; he resisted the temptation to climb steeper -- that would just bleed off airspeed he may need for maneuvering. Passing well below the enemy, he started a wide left turn. Keep the airspeed high -- that's your main advantage. You know you can't turn with him.
In the turn, Rock looked back, picked up his adversary visually, and saw the altitude gap narrowing. Seemingly unconcerned, the enemy plowed on toward the field -- Rock turned tightly straight toward him, intending to attack from slightly below and behind. But as he neared firing range, the wily intruder banked steeply into a 3/4 roll and dived, causing Rock's plane to overshoot high and to the side. An immediate 90 degree "Bank and yank" brought Rock back around to behind and above the still-turning enemy. As he relaxed the stick, his nose dropped and he bored in for a firing run.
But again his adversary was able to turn inside him -- as he overshot, Rock could see that the other guy had had enough and was in a long fast dive toward his own airspace. Rock pulled up and watched, then cut power and glided back toward his own field - his R/C model should have enough fuel left to do a couple of touch and goes.
The hawk flattened his glide, slowed to a more fitting hunting speed, and headed for less crowded skies.
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