Looks like the Combat Thread here has died a natural death......!  So, tell us about the combat ship you designed, built and had success with or no success with, but was never published or kitted.  Mine was the CUDGEL, a plank style flying wing (39 inch span) with a full span elevator and powered with a K&B .35 green head.  The year was 1956 and I was 16 years old.  I flew it in my first combat contest that Summer at Mexico, Missouri.  My first opponent was flying a WOW which I quickly dispatched with a kill.  After carving my way through a fairly large field (combat was a popular event in 1956), I was second in open combat.  Didn't fly competition again until 1966 and by then had moved on to the popular Wooten designs of the day.  The old CUDGEL was a really good plane, very fast and turned quickly without loss of speed.  I sold it to another flyer in 1963 for $5.00 and never built another.  Oh, yes, A CUDGEL is a ancient Irish warclub and I am part Irish.  What is your story?          

Paul, you are right that combat design has become pretty standardized and considerably less interesting.  It is kind of like automobile design....today, cars all look alike, but in 1956, you could tell a "56 Ford" or "55 Chevy" from a block away.  And how about those "57, 58 Fords", those "59, 60 and 61 Chevys".  Back in the early days of Combat, it was not unusual for a flier to actually design and  campaign with his own aircraft.  I did.  They were often unique designs and very easy to recognize from some distance....some even had superior performance (and some didn't).  It was a fun time.  Yes, combat has changed, but is it more fun?            

back in the late 70s our club designed our own slow combat plane we called it the S.H.I.M. stood for Salisbury hawks invincible machine or club was the Salisbury hawks we were the S.H.I.T. team Salisbury hawks invincible team plane you could fly these planes right int he ground pull them out of the ground new prop and fly again lol.