SEN 1515

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Category: Archive 2011
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Table of Contents - SEN 1515

  1. SCAT Annual Postponed
  2. Insight into TSC process
  3. YAESU VX-1R for sale

SCAT Annual Postponed

Due to confirmed wet & unpassable road & ground conditions at Lost Hills,
I must POSTPONE this weekend's SCAT ANNUAL.
Date to be determined soon.
 
Lee Hines CD

New date will be posted shortly.




Insight into TSC process


        I can accept that Roger Simpson does not agree with the outcome, but I would like to let everyone know more about the process. Here is how it worked. Most of the finals oversight subcommittee, George Batiuk, Paul Crowley, and Charlie Jones took on the task of re-writing the program. Their combined experience is extensive. This is the first time in many cycles where the fundamental process has changed and the whole thing had to be completely re-done. Remember, we began with a just a proposal or idea. The people on the subcommittee worked tirelessly to not only write the program, but to figure out how to implement it. They came up with the schedule and scoring procedures. Once they had it down on paper as a complete program, Chuck and I as chair and vice chair looked it over and made suggestions. Some were incorporated and a second draft was written. This draft was presented to everyone on the committee and again suggestions were made and possible problems were identified. Then we wrote the final draft. It was then sent to AMA, where it was printed and mailed out on the same day.

     In order to get everything to fit, we had to make some compromises, but we tried to build time into the places were we thought it would do the most good. We felt it was more important to give everyone some time between the end of the last round and the beginning of the flyoff to retrieve, prepare and test their best models for the flyoff. We recognized the 10-minute flyoffs in the morning would be tight, which is why it is so important to have a flyoff round with greater than a five-minute max as close to sunset as possible while there is still ample light for timing. If this can be done, there is a small chance that we would have to hold a morning flyoff. The chances that we would have to hold two, one for each event, are very small. Thus, if we have to hold a morning flyoff for one event, it would take place in the earlier flyoff slot, allowing more time between the flyoff and the beginning of the first round. I went through a vast amount of empirical data to show how rare it is for someone to max a seven-minute flight in this time frame. A five minute flight at this time would not decide much and a seven minute flight held even 15 to 30 minutes earlier is easy to achieve.

     I agree that a round would not likely be postponed if one or two people are not back in time, simply because they are not very good chasers. But, I have flown in contests at Lost Hills where I put up a max in tricky conditions and returned to not only find out that the next round had been postponed, but that all the scores from the round I had just maxed had been zeroed. I can remember several contests where rounds were postponed if chasing was becoming unsafe, i.e. in the pits or over Holloway road. When we had trouble with the owners of the carrot field, a round was postponed when even one or two models went in the crops, and it was evident that that was the way the drift had established itself.

     I believe that the key to making this work is the flyoff schedule. I would much rather lay out a schedule for the rounds where if we have good weather it is likely we will pull everything off then to lay out a rounds schedule that is so long as to prevent two evening flyoffs with ample time for preparation. The TSC has taken on the responsibility of organizing the finals and selecting the CD. Because of this we can begin the process now rather than waiting for a club to volunteer. Also, the CD is now required to be at the finals site three days prior to the start of the contests and meet with the finals oversight subcommittee. This will allow the CD to set everything up, get used to the layout of the lines, and become aware of all of the options available before the contest begins. Finally, the jury, other than the head jurist, will be made up of finals participants, who by then will be keenly aware of flyers' concerns.

Sincerely,

Blake Jensen
TSC Vice Chair


For Sale: YAESU VX-1R Transceiver

For Sale: YAESU VX-1R Transceiver
Very small, light, and convenient to use (Japan made).  Works well for all modelling transmitter signals. Asking $160.
 
Chris Lenartowicz
(F1A, Canada)
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....................
Roger Morrell