Andre, I would have to say hands down the Kitten. We certainly could prove that at GSCB combat festival. The Satan has too small of a wing and it's thinner.  In stock form a tad on the nose heavy side. In my opinion it just looked cool. The decal does it on the Satan. The box art sells the Goldberg kit and I'm quite certain more remember it over the Kitten. The Kitten is built much stronger with it's center section sheeted more and the wing is a bit thicker. The booms were plywood on the Kitten unlike balsa on the Satan. If I was going to truly fly them in a match the Kitten wins. When flown with a Black Widow I always felt as though the Kitten was a better pointing airplane when I told it what to do. Ken

Ken B:

No fair!      

No doubt the Wido Satan will outfly the box stock Lil' Satan version.  BUT... we're talking STOCK Lil' Satan and a STOCK Combat Kitten.

Ken C:

You make some good points. One I hadn't though of is the marketing of the Lil' Satan vs the Combat Kitten.  Definitely the Lil' Satan has it all over the Combat Kitten when it comes to a "cool" name and "cool" box cover marketing.

Though I have no direct comparisons to support this next statement, I too, feel the Kitten may have the edge when it came to "fly-ability" owing to more wing area/etc.  I recall the Lil' Satan being fast (but I was flying it on 27 1/2' Dacron lines as I recall the instructions recommended) and could turn pretty good.  In contrast, I think I remember the Kitten being a bit slower (but I can't remember what lines I was using... 27 1/2' Dacron or 35' .012"?) but turning quite nicely.

I will have my Combat Kitten at the GSCB's VCF, but alas, the Cox Black Widow on it is only for "show/display". It's tired and needs to be freshened up with a gasket set/etc.

Anybody else have some opinions to share?

All fer now!

Hi Fred!

In my "Combat Kittens" thread on this forum, Dennis Saydak made this offer:

Andre, I have a twin pack - Combat Kittens available for $60.00 plus postage. Contents are perfect condition. Contact me if interested.

Why don't you PM him and see if they're still available?

Rusty,

No, that's not how a typical combat plane handles. Yes, 1/2A combat planes will be a bit "twitchier" than a full sized combat plane, but a nicely designed TeeDee powered 1/2A combat plane will still be stable enough to fly/maneuver without looking at it as was the case when I used to fly 1/2A combat back in the 80s. Suspect the small wing area, thin airfoil, and center of gravity is what you're feeling with your Lil' Satan.

Hi Riley, nice to meet you, even in this distant internet sort of way. I paused to read some of your autobiography before replying.
And yes, that narrow handle spacing is something I've just recently learned since I met  a couple of our East coast combat folks, Mike londke and Ken Cook. Mike gave me a Gladiator to put together and I finally flew it with an AME .061 with too-wide lines. It was quite a flight, all I could do is keep it turning, zinging back and forth. I was finally taming it when the bladder emptied. At least I flew the fuel out, I gave myself a star for that.
Rusty

Hi Don and welcome to the Stunthanger forums! Thanks for your input. 

I think we all had Lil' Satan's at one time or the other, and I think Ken C. hit on one of the reasons: The box art!  Sold me, it did. The box just looked cool on that wall display!

Come to think of it, though, I thought the box art for the Combat Kittens (and the Combat Cats box art) was pretty cool too... but the name "Combat Kitten" isn't nearly as awesome sounding as "Lil' Satan"... and then there's that kick-butt decal the Lil' Satan had. A kitten wearing an army helmet just didn't have quite the impact to my youthful brain.

I agree, it would be great to have Combat Kittens still being kitted, but I think the sticker shock of the price of a new kit of them would be significant.  I think when the time comes to have another Kitten, I may scratch build a facsimile using standard balsa shapes in lieu of the formed leading/trailing edges.  However, then it wouldn't be flying history, so to speak, for I have altered the design from what was kitted.