SEN 1271 - 11 December 2008

Table of Contents - SEN 1271 - 11 December 2008

 

  1. Am-XCup Status
  2. AZ Champs Report
  3. Regarding F1J ....P
  4. J thought

 

 

Am-XCup status 

 
I do believe there is confusion with the initial, SEN 1264, Nov 17 Am-XCup  message that was EXTREME, ie an all new AmCup. PLEASE understand the current proposal, SEN 1269, Nov 29 is not extreme. In fact, the current AmCup stays in place 100% as it is. The Am-XCup will be an addendum to the AmCup should SCAT decide to proceed with it which will know Dec13, 2008. 
 
Thanks for to those that have provided feed back Comments fall into five areas.
 
1. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. OK we are not on the side of the road with a smoking engine but the oil light is on.  Better, we had buried our model in the hard dirt but it is stalling and not getting better. Time for a trim change! Participation numbers are down and the non-tangible of the excitement for the AmCup competition is down. Only a hand full of flyers set a goal at the beginning of the year to win the AmCup. In discussion with many, most are OK with this.  I’ve been coached that the AmCup is still having a positive impact.  So, to that end, as previously stated, the existing AmCup stay’s 100% in place.
 
2. What about my contest? Or there not enough contests or there are too many contests. We’ll never get 100% agreement. I think we did a good job of balancing the best contests equably across the geographic USA and Canada. Should Am-X Cup continue beyond 2010, we’ll reassess the contest selection.
 
3. Am-XCup is SCAT’s way of driving FAI FF team selection program change. Yes, but SCAT does not have any authority to make TSP changes. Am-XCup Mission statement makes this clear. Am-XCup is provisional, ie an experiment. It may be a big success or it may fail but  in the end, we’ll have some facts and date for future TSP discussion.
 
4. Using prize money as the reward puts some people off. Some like it. As previously explained, because this is an experiment, perpetual trophies do not make sense and so we’ll keep with the prize award. I commit that should I win a cash reward; I’ll donate it to the Jr team program.
 
5. Increase of the $25 AmCup sanction fee is subsidizing the Am-XCup prize award. Yes. In my SEN 1269 Am-XCup proposal message, I asked for clubs / CDs to contact  me if they would not participate in the 2009 AmCup program if the fee was increased to $50. I got only one reply that a club would not want to pay the $50 but it was not clear they would not.With that said, we have reduce the prize award amount.  Along with this, here is my proposal and request. I am putting up $300 of my money and I’m looking for five other flyers or clubs to match that to provide the 2009-2010 Am-XCup awards of $300 + $200 + $100. If I get five other generous souls, the 2009 AmCup fee will be $30, a small increase to cover inflation and small losses of the last three AmCup programs. I’m also open to other prizes should anyone wish to make such a donation.
 
Jim Parker
SCAT president

 

 

AZ Champs Report

 
It was a sparse FF group that came for good weather.
Two layers plus a parka & gloves made this beach resident
comfy in the  cool, AM stuff, never more than 6mph drift,
some calms, and truly hard to predict you would max in
the air you went in.
It might let you down, and often did.
A2: 7 fliers. Parkie won clean after Andrew B & I got
down-shafted in rd 7.
Wake: 5 or 6 fliers. Blake beat Paul C...and must have
won AM Cup thereby
.
The Bayou Buddies, Don C and FR flew FAI Power, Cody F1P.
Don C won it.
Tim B continues to dominate OHLG doing 6 maxes in air no
one else could max in. Beaut flying to see.
Sunday was overcast and a bit odd with less lift than Sat,
which hardly seemed possible.  
In A1, only Parkie, BVN & I flew...all maxes into FO, like the
SW FAI in Nevada.  BVN was bouncing to Coupe and back
to A1, while I was getting in some CLG flights whenever I
could.  It was hard to find a free buddy to timekeep, there
were so few folks there.
BVN beat us in A1 with 186, I came a close 2nd...in 4 min FO.
Then Coupe had 4 maxouts and 2 FOs with Peter Brocks
edging BVN.
No one maxed in CLG!  Tim pipped me again with 307 to my
278.  Our highest flight scores were 108sec & felt lucky to
get that much!
Bobbie Hanford did his usual multi event flying for Nat Cup
points, as did Gene Wicks, who had been RV-living on site
for 3 weeks, it was said!
Don't think any planes were lost, as the lift was that weak.
And nobody got hurt that I know of, so all in all, a fine way
to spend a weekend!
Ciao,
Leeper

Regarding F1J….there is a solution: F1P.
 
F1P is an exceptionally well thought-out event. The aspect ratio limit makes dead tree wood thoroughly competitive. To wit: Reid Simpson’s all-wood PS-3 has won the Nats twice (’06 and ’08), most recently head-to-head against a carbon ship in an early AM flyoff. In that flyoff, with a mere 7-second run Reid managed 4:47. That’s half as long as some 7-second F1J flyoff flights I’ve witnessed!
 
Nothing against long-wing carbon ships or the guys who fly them—you guys are rock stars and more power to you. But the long-term salvation of F1 power flying may very well be F1P and events like it. With ever-shrinking flying fields we’ve got to get realistic about promoting events that don’t demand ginormous fields and insanely long flyoff flights.
 
Thermals from Colorado,
Don DeLoach
MMM Club

J Thought


I agree with Lee Campbell, leave the F1J engine run at 7 sec. for locked up models.

Alan Abriss


..........
Roger Morrell