A second hand bargain bought at the Beds swap meet 2002, the EZ SCombat is a lightweight aerobatic model requiring a minimum of expenditure to get flying.

Specifications: Span: 40" (1016mm) Length: 24" (609mm) Weight: Requires: .20 - .25 size engine and standard size 3 channel radio equipment.

The first time Tony brought his EZ SCombat to Bumpy Green was March 2000. It was quite a departure form the trainers we had been flying and I had my Scolded cat along for the day. It wasn't a brilliant flying day, but it wasn't raining or too windy so we headed up to the flying patch. SCombat with Scolded Cat & Moskito Expert. The day was memorable for the fact it was the last flight of the Scolded Cat delta with it's original .15 engine. Darren had scared us all to death with his very loud Moskito Expert helicopter and Tony was nervous about flying the SCombat as he had just seen me land my delta hard and break the firewall off. Fuelled up and ready to fly. Finally we talked him into getting it airborne and it was, as we suspected, very fast, even with a modest OS .25 LA engine. The first flight was short lived and uneventful as the skies darkened and the heavens opened upon Bumpy Green and we beat a hasty and very wet retreat to the cars.

The search was on, and a visit to a number of web site search pages turned up nothing. I resigned to not being able to find one as I had no idea who imported them or anything, there was (and still is) so little information on the Internet regarding this model. Then fortune smiled my way. Having attended the Beds Swap meet while representing and presenting Bumpy Green I found what I had sought so long. An EZ Scombat, looking like it had hardly even been flown. I asked how much and didn't even hear what the price was, I wanted it no matter what. Very colourful decals should be easily visible. Alternate underside pattern to aid orientation It turned out to be cheap and I never thought to ask why. I think I found out why it was so cheap when I came to build it. (more on that later)

Too many planes and not enough time relegated the SCombat to the loft until the show season was over. With Winter just around the corner and the dark evenings now upon us more time could be spent going through the backlog. Serious hangar rash on an old trainer prompted me to strip out it's radio and use it for something else. With an engine already available it didn't take much to get the rest of the gear ready to install. All the parts needed to complete. Engine: Thunder Tiger Pro 25 2 stroke. Receiver: Hitec HFS-04MI 5 channel + 750mAh Ripmax r/x pack. Servos: 3 x Futaba S3003 standard servos.

The SCombat is a very simple model to get ready. As bought it had all the control rods, the fuel tank , fuel piping and engine mount already installed. I think even if bought from new this model still has a very quick build time. Engine mount, fuel tank and pipes installed. Control con rods already fitted with servo horns. Having a good look around the model to work out an order of installation was a must as no plans or instructions were available. It all seemed very straight forward but I almost overlooked the receiver battery installation. This is fitted under the servos and luckily I had only fitted one servo when I realised it needed to go in before the servos. Servos installed with receiver battery under them. Control horns connected and wiring routed. I also had to watch for the wiring getting trapped under the servos, so a little extra care is taken to ensure they are routed flat to avoid crushing them or catching the control rods during operation. Before fitting the control horns on the servos I wired up the receiver and made sure they were all centred. Receiver fitted neatly inside with foam surround. Arming switch for the receiver pack. Fitting the receiver above the fuel tank was easy, not so the wiring which has to be treaded behind it so it didn't foul the servos. I taped the wires to the servo tray to minimise movement when flying. The switch for the receiver is fitted into a neat pre-cut slot in the top of the rear fuselage hatch. I setup the control throws for the elevator and ailerons at this point and made the movement quite large with 50% drive rates also set. The aerial is routed along the wing and back up the tail boom to keep it out fo the way.

The engine fitted straight into the mount with the holes already drilled, which was fortunate as I didn't fancy trying to find another engine mount to fit the shape of the plastic fuselage. Thunder Tiger Pro 25 fits perfectly into the SCombat, even the exhaust cut out lined up. Once I was happy that the engine was going to fit easily, I checked the plumbing on the fuel tank. The first thing I found was the fuel pipe going to the clunk was the short one that was blocked off. This could have been deliberate but the two longer pipes leading to the vents were the right length for the exhaust pressure feed and the carb. I suspect this was plumbed wrong and caused the engine to run poorly, if at all. This is I think why it was so cheap but who knows. I rechecked the pipes for splits and added a small inline filter to the setup. The control rod was connected to the throttle arm and the movement set so the throttle stick position matched the opening on the carb. Idle will be set up once the engine is running correctly. A Graupner 9 x 4 Nylon Super propeller and a white Micro Mould spinner of the correct size are all that was added additional to the parts listed above. This is a low pitch prop and should provide good acceleration as opposed to a ludicrous top speed. I will try various props once I am used to the flying of the SCombat.

The build of this model was only a few hours as it just needed radio and an engine bolted in. All finished and ready to fly. I will update with a flying report and pictures once there is a break in the weather.

Article by John Kent of Bumpy Green Model Aerodrome
November 2002

Comment by Spifire on 00000000000000. Rating 4

i wish it was ARTF

Comment by i want one on 00000000000000. Rating 5

it is so cool i want one

Comment by mark on 20040719133843. Rating 5

where can we get one from ????

Comment by John on 20040901130616. Rating 3

Similar beast. I would guess, to the Gremlin combat flying wing. I had one of those, and they put a cheshire-cat-like grin on your face

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