SEN 1059 - 31 Dec 2006
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SEN issue 1059 31 December 2006
Table of Contents
=================
SEN
New FAI stickers
Inter-Cities Meet - Shailor
Looking for hard AL foil
RC F1A, B or C - Peck
SoCal FAC - Willis
Re: Flying Aces analysis - Clemens
A Luddites View
Model performance again - Linkosalo
F1Q (electrice power) contests - Ruyter
New FAI stickers
===============
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Looking at CIAM/FAI web site I saw the following notice:
The FAI aeromodelling model specification certificates and stickers have
been updated to a new design. The old certificates & stickers will not
be valid after 1st January 2007.
The stickers can be downloaded from this site
http://www.fai.org/aeromodelling/documents/forms
Peter
Re: New FAI stickers
===================
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OMG!
Does that mean ALL of our FAI models are OBSOLETE on Tuesday?
Cheers,
Leeper the Clown
[ Yes Leeper - it looks like the CIAM stuck it to
you again !]
Inter-Cities Meet
=================
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The Detroit Balsa Bugs will be hosting the 58th Annual Inter-Cities Meet
at the AMA field in Muncie, Indiana.
The dates this year are May 25, 26 and 27, 2007.
This is Memorial Day weekend. We had sent in a request for the dates of
June 15-17 and had done so in accordance with the site use requiremnts
in the AMA Membership Manual. In fact, our club was the first to ask for
these dates.
Unfortunately, this past October, one of the AMA District V.P.'s decided
to invite an R/C group to come hold its contest at Muncie that weekend.
Previously, this group had held its contest in Ohio.
In any event, and despite the fact our meet has had more contestants and
asked for the dates well before this group, we got bumped.
As a result, there will be no FAI Free Flight meets at Muncie during the
time school is out except the Nats.
The alternative left was to hold our meet Memorial Day weekend in hopes
that Juniors and their families could make the trek.
AMA has an outstanding facility at Muncie and many groups want to use
it. While we are disapointed this occurred, we are hopeful many will
support this and other Free Flight meets at Muncie as AMA looks at
numbers when deciding the site use schedule.
Thanks, and Happy Holidays!
Bill
Looking for hard AL foil
=======================
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Hello, Roger
My name is Eduardo Molfino, from Argentina
Sorry to bother you, I'll go straight to the point
I'm searching or alluminum thin sheet (like for F1C covering) to use it on
F1A wings. I was not able to find it untill now. Could you point me someone
to sell me this materials?
Thank you a lot in advance
Eduardo
RC F1A, B or C
===============
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F1 Type Models in Small Fields
I have suggested to a few people that a
solution to the small-field issue (and retrieval issues) is to create a new
class of models with the current F1 rules on size, weight and power, but
make them radio-controlled. Most free-flight modelers are appalled by this
idea because it is not "free" flight, but I think that the interest in the
F1 classes is primarily performance driven, so making them radio-controlled
would only enhance the performance, and require more thermal hunting and
flyer skills, while solving the small-field/wind problem. The cost of RC is
a lot less than motorcycles. With the advent of the "Spectrum" type of RC
equipment, there is no need for frequency flags, etc. Servos now weigh under
5 grams, as do receivers, and LiPo batteries are light enough that flight
performance is pretty much unaffected. The only modifications to current
models would be to find the fuselage volume to house the equipment and
modify the control lines. I know that the receiver and
servos can be accomodated in F1B by modifying commercially available pylons
, and the other large F1 classes are probably fairly easy to modify as well
Even the small F1 class models could probably use a simple RC system.
Regarding the popularity of F1 models, I think it would improve with RC
because it's more the "now" technology for younger people, and many more fi
elds would become available. We might even get a few more articles in Model
Aviation!
It would require FAI approvals to set up the new classes, so
this would not happen overnight. But this would give time for flyers to
modify their existing models and learn to fly them.
Obviously, before anything like what I suggest could happen, a number
of flyers would have to
demonstrate that the new class of RC performance models is feasible and of
interest. I plan to do this for F1B because I expect to move to Hawaii next
year, and I will need to accomodate both wind and small fields, but more
volunteers would be needed. At least for F1B, if this all fails to come about
, just slip in an multi-servo electronic timer in place of the receiver to
control the climb and you'll probably have a winning model anyway. Anyone
else interested?
Jerry Peck
SoCal FAC
========
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Tag...Don DeLoach FAC is Growing
Thanks to Don for describing a Free Flight Organization that's growing 1500%
in 25 years! Why..we should be asking..!!! Its new growth in the western
states will kick off 2007 with a FIRST EVER FAC SOUTHWEST REGIONAL that
has been in the planning stages for almost a year. It will be held in Perris
California at the SCAMPS wonderful flying field . The SCAMPS for those of you
who don't get out much , is a fantastic SAM Chapter Club who hold lot's
of Old Timer Events. They and other SAM Chapters west of the Mississippi
will be descending on Perris for this event on May 4th,5th and 6th
as it has O.T. Rubber Cabin
and Jimmie Allen in the ten event mix.
The Flying Aces have it right. Keep it simple [ rules ], keep it inexpensive
and have a lot of FUN.!! WOW 1500% GROWTH!!!
Roger Willis...SCAMPS
Re: Flying Aces analysis
=========================
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In his excellent commentary, "Lessons from another FF discipline," Don
DeLoach said, "One of the major lessons we can all learn from the FAC is
this: The masses don't really care that much about ultimate performance in
FF model airplanes. What they care about- and what they've clearly been
gravitating to- is having fun with model airplanes."
As an active Flying Aces competitor, I believe he hit the proverbial nail on
the head here. Imagine
that- Having fun with model airplanes! What a unique concept. And not a
"sportsman" among them.
Bob Clemens
Rochester, NY
[ As a sportman I take exception to the above - I have fun flying
the FAI events - if I didn't I would not fly them.
There are a number of reasons why people take part in any pastime -
Hobby - sport or whatever. One of them is to socalize
with others of similar interests, another is to take part
in some thing that provides a challenge. Any kind
of Free flight event provides both of those elements.
It's just in the case of FAI and FAC some of the elements
of challenge are different. ]
A Luddites View
=================
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Bless you Don Deloach,The comparison to the FAC was more or less the
observation l have stated here so many times..Freeflight is heading into
the position of being a sport more than a hobby where all the equipment
is for sale .....It was always great fun to be build and design your ]
own models or pick out your favorite designs and for the price of a
bottle of glue and some sticks and tissue you were in business and you
were having fun even though Mom was always after u because of the horrible
smell of dope. Anyone that thinks the expense and sophistication has not
cut down the growth and interest in our hobby is fooling themselves and
for the beginner there are not many parents prepared to purchase such
an expensive toy that may never be really used, or even worse, become lost
or broken on the first shot.
The last freeflight contest of the season at Barron Field was shared
with the FAC Group and let me tell you that their turnout was as large or
larger than ours and those guys were really having fun! We seem to
have fewer flyers all the time and our international events from
my observation were at an all time low !So l have seen the proof
before my own eyes.... plus wind,or no wind those
guys fly and actually fly quite well and most important of all they also
had the fun of fthe process from the building board to the field and
have money left over to buy a hot dog
What will happen to this hobby we love when we eliminate the BOM? Will
we go to the nationals and find everyone flying the same P-30??will
there be a need for any papers or models of the year when we totally
loose the pride of authorship ???? will it come down to who can but
the best design models eliminating all the others,,,folding wing
P-30s?????How grim does that sound?
[ I could point out that there are two people who fly folding wing F1G -
Coupe d'hiver - if you prefer to stay in the past and both are
people [Zeri and Emery] who make them themselves - Admittedly the folding
is for D/T not for improving the climb ! but it's still rather cool.
And I guess Jack does not really qualify as a true modeller, because he
has a composite d-box even if he made himself - and worse he used an
electronic timer- he didn't make that,
I do understand it's Ok not to make the timer as long as it mechanical !]
Model performance again
========================
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Ray Jones made good points about FF model performance in the previous SEN.
I'd like to take his comments a bit further.
The problem that we have in FF are the excessively long flights, that take
models out of the field. These take place when models are in huge
thermals, where the DT takes several minutes. So the way to deal with the
problem is to avoid the thermals.
Banning thermal detection equipment has been suggested. Does this work?
No, by simply feeling the air temperature and changes in wind speed one
can still detect better air, and even by launching at random times one
would still every now and then hit a good thermal, and have a flight off
the field. SO banning thermal detecting equipment will not solve the
problem.
Reducing model performance by various ways such as cutting towline/motor
weight/engine run time, or increasing weight, adding drag plates of
shortening the wing span has been suggested. Will this work? Again, it
won't. If the thermal is strong enough, even bad models will climb fast
and high, and the DT will again take ages. Tampering with model
performance will still not solve the problem.
So my conclusion is, that the only real solution for the problem is to
limit flying to times when thermal activity is not so strong. One might
propose all kinds of fancy sets of rules for this, but I doubt these would
really work. I think what is needed is the good justification of the
contest director, who knows the conditions on the local site, and can
follow the development of weather conditions from the ongoing contest
flights.
-Tapio-
F1Q (electrice power) contests
==============================
Author : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The new Contest Calendar has been (provisional) released for 2007.
I am disappointed that there are so few F1Q contests on the 2007
calendar, I count only 2: Stonehenge GBR, 12-13 May and Muncie USA, 31 July.
If we would like to make F1Q more popular we should start with organising
contests. Two years ago when the F1Q specifications were put to paper
it was already suggested to start a World Cup for F1Q in 2007! I i
haven't heard about an official World Cup for F1Q although both
contests are announced as a WC contest!
Hereby I invite contest directors to include F1Q on there final contest calenda
r for 2007.
Secondly at the ISAACSON WINTER CLASSIC, February 10, 11 & 12, 2007 Lost Hills,
CA there will be a F1Q contest. (not on the WC calendar).
Only this contest will be held at the F1A/B/C day which means that probably non
e of the contestants in the F1A/B/C categories will/can fly F1Q. To my knowledg
e potential F1Q flyers come mostly from the F1A/B/C categories.
I strongly suggest that F1Q will be flown at the day when small classes F1G/H/J
will be flown if there is a contest day for F1G/H/J.
Maybe as an interim solution; as long F1Q is not an official WC category it wil
l be flown together with F1G/H/J if there is a F1G/H/J category contest day. As
soon as F1Q will be an official WC category it will be flown together with F1A
/B/C.
I urge the CIAM to come with some regulation to specify when the F1Q contest wi
ll be held and when the F1Q will be a WC class.
I am afraid if not F1Q will be an stillborn class.
Pim Ruyter
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..............
Roger Morrell
