I am interested in this  ".15 fast" event.  I was rold to just get the latest FAI models and engines.  So I have to ask, which particular ones?  Aerohobby and Yuvenko have several different planes.  Then I wonder about which engine.  It would seem the Fora is the one one to have, but which flavor? 

The Fora is most popular and best supported. Get that one. If you're just flying Fast .15 (F2D fast) then you can likely get a used one and save a few bucks. Profi is good but not as well supported, Fortune is also a good bet. A decent prop to use that isn't hard to get is the APC 7 x 3.

Good hunting

Ken

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You have good questions Rich. For F2D fast, a good foamy design will work very well. You might consider contacting Jeff Rein on the design he and I made called the R&B rippoff. It's based around an F2d design and has been adapted for 80 mph, Fast and F2D fast. Jeff has done much work with it over the years for each event so he knows the specifics for trimming for each event.  If I were to use an F2D design for F2D fast, I would choose the attached stab/elevator design such as the Wakkerman. If you are Mike Willcox, and you buy wings for a major competition, you will get great equipment. Having said that, I have received models that if you change the elevator from one to another, they are tail heavy or vsvs. Anyway, with it sewn on, once you trim it, it stays that way. One important thing is to decide on a formula and make everything that formula, then all is interchangeable.

Good luck!

  I placed an order with Aerohobby last fall. Picked up some For a .049 engines.  Yaro was great to work with.     

I have a very competitive speed limit design I came up with years ago with my combat partner at the time in the early 90's.  Possibly making it smaller, and chasing the weight out of it may be an idea.  I would need to get the engine first though, as everything stems from it.  The weight etc.  It would be my first experience with .15 sized combat engines, so I will have a lot to learn.

 F2D is just too much of an investment for me.  But I like the idea of a .15 sized class of the Fast rules.  Should be a fun event.   

Get the Standard Fora. for $225.00 I think it is. The Super Fora might be a bit faster, but not enough to effect the outcome of the match. I dont have any Super Fora's. I pitted several last weekend in Phoenix. Allen Deveuve's were the fastest planes in my opinion, and all had super Fora's. But combat isnt all about speed. I dont feel that I give up anything with the standard Fora, plus I can replace bearings instead of complete crankshafts. As far as foam planes go I've always been a foam guy. But in F2D so far I cant make them work as good as the metric planes. I have built some foams for fast and are satisfied with them. I buy Phil's F2D wings from corehouse. I took my foam wing cutting stuff down years ago, and Phil's wings are great, so its cheap and easy. Or just go with his F2D kit. It works well also. Foam still has the advantage of the foam wing kill over the metric stuff. I hope to have a few built by nats time myself.

As far as which F2D plane to buy, there's just not much diff in any of them. At your stage I would buy the cheapest one I could get. Get long motor mounts, pull the motor as far forward as possible, put the pushrod in the top hole and go for it. They're very controllable set up like that. Make sure you use a 4 to 5" spaced handle and you shouldnt have any problem. When you start feeling comfortable, start going down on the control horn. Then when your really ballsy, go back on the motor. Then you will have a nice twitchy airplane that you think is a bad ass and cant put it anywhere you want it. Then you think your ready for combat. After that doesnt work for a while you can go back out with the motor and start flying some really good, fun, combat, eyes off the plane, and put it where you aim it.

BTW. A F2D ship with .018 x 60' lines and an 8x4 prop is a great set up for speed limit. You don't have to have a special plane. Add some tip weight and your good to go.

I would only buy an F2D engine from a known and reparable source.

Are mufflers required for Fast .15?  Or would this be a local rule?  Or has this event been pretty much standardized?   I have decided to get a couple of engines from a fellow Combat flier.  So not as much as a guess with the Ebay stuff.   I really am not planning to fly F2D, so meeting those rules right now would not be much of a concern. 

 Thanks for the help guys.  Hopefully this stuff will be useful to others as well.

Normally Fast 2 D allow's large "8mm" mufflers. Fast2D  is f2D equipment (excluding muffler). Which is a 4mm venture, 10% nitro...usually supplied at the event. 52' lines. .015. Then its AMA fast rules from there

Isn't the rule that the F2D fast equipment needs to comply with CURRENT F2D rules?

The intent was to use identical stuff so you don't need to carry extra stuff to be both legal and competitive. 

Allowing 8 mm exhaust would effectively require 8 mm for those who want to win.

There are a couple of fat mufflers for Fora with a 6mm outlet.  They work better with the smaller exhaust.  Fora 2014, MS Muffler, an Rastenis muffler.  The latter technically aren't legal, the engine outlet and the plastic gasket project into the muffler, but nobody cares.  These are European rules after all.  Somethings are just overlooked.  From our local testing they aren't really faster, but tend to hold speed better in the air.

If you do get imported planes the get ones with a carbon tube trailing edge.  They are more expensive but significantly stiffer and fly better.  The curved trailing edge, Wakkkerman style, are easier to fly.  The extra area on the back of the wing makes them a little more noseheavy and easier to trim.

Otherwise, follow Bob's advice.  Berserk, quick turning planes are harder to point for a kill.

My local F2D buddy has both standard and Super Foras.  The best of his standards is equal to the Super.  But the average Super is better than an average standard.  I agree, having a standard 12mm shaft and easy to change bearings is probably a better bet for a motor that is likely to get stuck in the dirt often.

Maybe just having a speed limit,  and max displacement (.15)  then anything goes?   I honestly do not plan to fly F2D, so I  would not want to have to chase down the latest and greatest to participate in Fast 2d.    So foamies, and handed down engines are what I will be doing.  I understand these events are not taken as seriously as  F2D, but they are important to generate interest, and should be written to be as inclusive as possible, for that very reason.

Rich, current F2D engines and planes, like a Nelson powered fast ship, are a bit beyond what many people can realistically handle in a match.  They are pushing 100mph, or 2.2 sec/lap.  Add to that very tight turns in a much smaller flying space.  It is very hectic.  Even the Indy 500 hundred had to put limits on the cars to keep the cars on the track.  When you watch an in-car video they may be going 180mph but the movement between the cars is much slower, kind of like moving through a crowd.  Combat flyers have to face flying head on at a closing speed over 200mph.  It gets tricky.  Before the engine restrictions the planes were going much faster, way too fast.

Rich,  one nice thing about Fora is they are very well supported.  They haven't made any major design changes over the years since about 2008 except for using a ball bearing built onto the crank in the Super Fora.  So almost all the parts still interchange.  You can rebuild one with a new piston and liner and bearings and get it back to where it was when built.  Actually, for several of the other engines except for the case the internals such as p/l, crank, often the rod, etc. will fit too.  The head button may need to be machined for correct deck height and the head clamps tend to use different threads.