SEN 1765

Table of Contents  - SEN 1765

  1. DT ?
  2. Tangent?
  3. BFMA Forum at NFFS
  4. Bad day ?

DT and refly ?

Hello Scat friends
It seems that next year it will be possible to Radio DT and refly if the time is less than 20 second. Is it correct?
If it is correct, I am quite sure that it will create some troubles if some flyer use this new rule.
Can we have some comments? Can we stop this stupid rule for all the classes?
Regards
Frederic Aberlenc

Editor's comment

Frederic, our interpretation of the the rule is the same yours .  The restriction, that only was true for F1A, that if the model D/Ted even under 20 seconds the flight was counted as a flight not as an attempt has been removed.  So if a flight is under 20 seconds it is classed an attempt.  the number of attempts permitted has not changed.

Note that this 'special rule' was not there for F1C and F1C, I assume because in most circumstances trying to D/T these classes in under 20 seconds is very difficult.

It is not clear if you think that :
   a- there should be not any attempts
   b - a D/Ted flight counts as a flight for all classes but 20 second attempts remain.



Tangent/NW FAI

2013 BMFA FF Forum Now Available from NFFS

        The 2013 BMFA Free Flight Forum is now available from NFFS Publications Services. This is the British version of the NFFS Symposium and features a wide range of free flight topics, as the following list of contents shows:

        John O’Donnell, an appreciation, by Andy Crisp; A Knotty Problem (rubber winding) by Peter Hall; Stability of Scale indoor Free Flight Models by Andy Sephton; The Roles of Radio Transmissions in Freeflight, by Stuart Darmon; A Propeller Copying Mill by Peter BrowLn; Model Aircraft Technology with an Emphasis on F1B by Neil Cliff; Catapult Launched Glider Technology by Phil Ball; Electric Bikes for Free Flight Model Retrieval by Brian Baines; Wrestling with a Slippery One (LDA Airfoils) by Chris Edge; Free Flight in Britain--What’s the Future? by Phil Ball; F1A Development and Contest Success by Stuart Darmon; Indoor Model Steering for Dummies by Mark Benns; Around (Model Aircraft) Construction in 80 seconds by Neil Cliff. In addition there are plans and articles on six of the most successful free flights models of 2012.

        The book is edited by long time free flighter, Martin Dilly, and is a full 98 pages in length. If you are interested in obtaining a copy, they will be available in the USA by early June. The cost, as in the past, is $25 per copy plus shipping charges of $5.60 in the USA. Orders can be sent direct to NFFS Publications, PO Box 1775, Albany, OR 97321 or ordered online at the NFFS website <www.freeflight.org> The book will be announced online as soon as it is available for shipping.



Rough Day Flying

 

Sooner or later we'll all have one of those bad days flying free flight
models.  Such was the case with my F1A flying this last Saturday at the San
Valeers contest.  A couple rounds I felt like I was flying OK putting decent
launches into air that had felt really good only to see the model sink.  But
that was only a small problem compared to what happened next.  As I was
about to release the model into strong well marked lift my body somehow got
contorted into an awkward position as the model was a bit over my left
shoulder and I got my left hand involved to try and execute the final pull
down and release of the towline.  Now I'm not the most smooth and
coordinated person and can tend towards awkwardness at times, but what
happened next was one of the most stupid and crazy things I've ever done.
Just as I released the towline in this unusual twisted position my left hand
somehow recoiled, snapped back and flew smack into my face.  I punched
myself directly in the nose, and real hard!  Hard enough that it took the
air out of my lungs and blood was coming out my nose.  I got my teammate
Mike to chase the model while I headed to my car for napkins to stop the
bleeding.

 

I still have no idea how I managed to do such a dumb thing.  Glider flyers
know that there can be lots of energy built up in that towline at the moment
of release as the pull can be 40 or 50 pounds or even more for newer models
and we deal with that as we are running and then attempting to turn and look
at the model just at the release point.  I would think my hands should go
down right after release in opposition to the upward pull of the line as it
takes off with the model.  But I can only guess that maybe my left hand
stayed with the towline after my right hand released it and then started
upwards with the towline while conveniently finding my face in the way.
I'll probably never know what happened unless someone caught it on video but
I really hope that is not the case as I'd rather the world not see this less
than glorious sequence.

 

Right after this event I began to wonder what's going on with my life as
only 4 weeks earlier I had managed to break the little finger on my right
hand.  This happened in another very not courageous and not dignified
manner.  I woke up from a dead sleep in the middle of the night during a
vivid nightmare thinking someone behind me was about to take me out.  So I
jumped up and swung my fist hard hitting the back of the bed, thus breaking
a finger.  The only good news in this was that I didn't hit my wife.
Otherwise in addition to my sore nose and sore finger I would have at least
a black eye and maybe a few more broken bones.

 

Not sure what this all means but  I'm not going to give up flying and I'm
not going to give up sleeping either!

 

Ken Bauer


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