SCAT Electronic News May 26 1999
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SCAT Electronic News May 26 1999
Table of Contents
=================
Upcoming Events
Music and F1[C] - King
F1C and Newcomers - Pudney
Duke's Dilemma - Galbreath
The meaning of []
Time to rethink F1A, F1B, and F1C ? - Bradley
Rating War Hots Up ! - Cowley
AAES Technical Interests - Johannes
.. I wasn't going to send this today but there was a lot of stuff and
then Martyn sent me the Rating War segement.. which is very topical if
you happen to be in Los Angeles. .. I was going to work on my
multi-function F1B and make motors for this weekend's Big Al. I would
say how many functions but that would send the luddites into a
tail spin.
Upcoming Events
===============
May 29-30 Big Al's Shootout Lost Hills - America's Cup
May 28-31 Putza Cup, Domsod Hungary - World Cup
June 3-5 Turda Cup, Turda Roumania - World Cup
June 4-6 Napoca Cup, Cluj Napoca Roumania - World Cup
June 5-6 Von Hafe Cup, Beja Portugal - World Cup
June 5-6 Novvhrad Cup, Lucenec Slovak Republic - World Cup
Music and F1[C]
===============
Author : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
<< Peter I understand that you do not notice the noise if you like
it so that's how your hear can get damaged. Now I'm not sure if liking
the noise applies to the F1 at Silverstone or your fellow musicans !]
>>
Dear Norm,
I guess this is from Norm Furutani(?) The answer... ALL THREE!!! I
think the serious answer is, unlike say "Heavy Metal", which I don't like,
Jazz has a lot of similarities to both F1C and Formula One. I think it
is about excitment and walking a thin line. I am in no way a control freak
but, having spoken to a few F1 drivers, they agree about the fact that in
both F1 and Jazz, you are constantly living on the edge. You use your skill
to push the boundaries, constantly seeking the ragged edge. This is where
you live in a world that other people neither dare, nor have the consumate
skill, to inhabit. It is only in this world, with all it's dangers, that you
can reach the ultimate in creative experience. Of course nobody has ever
killed themselves playing a Jazz solo or flying F1C but there is in both, the
element of terrible failure. You can make a big fool of yourself, if you
get it wrong in Jazz and destroy a model in F1C. I don't think it is a
question of decibles per se, but the feeling of awesome power to be
controlled. The sound of a F1 engine is a kind of music. Damon Hill
told a saxophonist friend of mine, that he uses the sound of the engine note
rather than any rev counter, when he makes a racing start, gauging the revs
by ear alone.
Don't think that F1, at it's pinnacle, is not a creative experience.
Ayrton Senna used to talk about times when he experienced an almost religious
feeling of being in a world where he no longer understood how he was able to
go so far over the limit It frightened hin so much that after one famous
and unbelievable qualifying lap in the Monaco Grand Prix, he stopped the car
imediately after crossing the start/finish line. He described an experience,
shared by some Jazz musicians, where something takes over and you are just a
"medium", through which a greater power is operating. This is what great
artists live for. In it's small way, F1C and even flying a modern DPR
Wake, maybe has a little of this excitment.
About having hearing problems, it is amazing how music can still be played
at a high level by the deaf. Art Blakey, was partially deaf, as was
Beethoven. I used to work with Tete Montoliu, the great Catalan pianist.
He was totaly blind and almost totaly deaf. You had to shout in his right
ear, if you wanted to talk to him. The incredible thing is, once you got on
stage, he could hear you count in the tune and never missed a beat during
the performance. I think he picked up on the vibrations.
Please don't think this is a piece about the virtue of noise!! 99% of
sensible people take precautions and we should not endanger peoples hearing.
It is just that some people are prepared to take risks for the sheer
enjoyment!! The musician in the Damon Hill story is also an F1 freak
and when he and I visited the pits on a F1 practice day, he was told, as is
everyone, to wear ear plugs. He told me "ear plugs!!" and then cuped his
hands to his ears in order to get the full effect of the horrendous din,
To my knowlege he has no hearing problem and apart from a knee full of metal,
the result of pushing his road car over the ragged edge many years ago, he is
as fit as a fiddle and loves life!!!
Peter King
F1C and Newcomers
=================
Author : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Hi Roger,
Not everyone is put off F1C by the complexity, or noise. Personally I love
the noise and (apparent) complexity. However I don't, and probably won't
fly F1C because
1/ I just could not stand D.T.ing a $300 piece of precision engineering,
with my model attached, into the sandpit that we fly on.
2/ It seems a real shame to me to have a beautiful, incredibly powerful
motor, that goes like the clappers, and then stop it after only 5 seconds.
Its only just getting going then!!!!!
So I will probably stick to F1B
Best Regards
Bill Pudney
Adelaide, Australia
Duke's Dilemma
==============
Author : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Roger
I am bringing a box of ear plugs for anyone who fears the sound (music, to
Peter King) of F1C. This is probably the simplest thing we can think of at
the moment. And it is effective.
I also think that a hell of a lot of kids today are making themselves deaf
willingly with music so damn loud you can hear it coming down the road behind
you on the freeway.
Damage to the ear is cumulative above a certain decibel level. The industrial
standard for noise I think is 89 decibels for a maximum of 8 hours per day.
If you have significantly higher levels intermittently above that point,
damage can occur. !00 decibels for 1/2 hour will cause damage. The point is
the period is fairly short for the free flight event, and if a person is more
than twenty feet away, the sound is about 90 decibels, which may be an
annoyance, but not damaging. Most flyers use ear plugs to protect themselves.
Those who do not choose to do that to themselves. I have been flying for 55
years and my hearing is still good, except for the left ear, which I did in
with my 44 cal. pistol in about 1954. Neither ear can hear a watch beep any
more.
Personally, I would like to have a quieter powerplant, but I cannot resolve
all the problems with rules, participation, timing and so forth. I do know
that adding a muffler will eventually make power increases. Without a lot of
experimenting, I do not feel we can come up with a design to specify that
will not be a power increaser. I know that the side exhaust engine that is
now in use all over the world will be a dead player with a muffler rule.
About the time we get a rear ex. engine going with a muffler, the FAI will
again change the rules. Smaller displacement, going to F1J, venturi
restrictions, you name it, all of which is very discouraging to the
participants, both potential and actual.
I still can't come up with a palatable answer. Maybe it will occur to someone
sometime.
Doug G.
The meaning of []
=================
From time to time there are little comments enclosed in square
brackets i.e []. These are editorial comments.
Time to rethink F1A, F1B, and F1C ?
===================================
Author : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Roger,
Much has been written and said over the last few years on the declining
interest in the 3 main FAI events. Most of it involves high tech models and
too much model performance, which in some peoples minds are tided together.
I feel they are really separate issues and should be addressed as such.
I believe there is some truth in the fact that the present state of the art
models are more that some people want to build so they just move to some
other event or quit Free Flight. The very nature of the FAI weight rules
"blesses" high tech models because our models weight so much at minimum
weight. My opinion is that weight blesses technology. It is very difficult
to "get into" FAI without buying models or going through a crash course in
high tech building. I believe there is a very simple answer to this
"problem" and also maybe attract some new fliers at the same time. Simply
eliminate the minimum airframe weight on all three events! Think of the
variation in models we might see, 450-480 grams low tech F1C's, 130-150 grams
F1B's with simple front ends and fuses, 320-350 gram 20+ to 1 AR's F1A's that
are floated or lightly zoomed off the line all flying against the latest high
tech models.
The very nature of our events lends themselves to limiting the energy we can
put into the models during the "powered" phase of flight. In F1C we do this
with the engine size and engine run, In F1B we limit the rubber motor weight,
and in a round about way F1A "power" is limited by towline length. In the
past we have reduced these parameters to reduce performance. There is a much
simpler method to reduce performance and that is to limit wingspan, something
like 2 meters for F1A and F1C and 1.25 meters for F1B's. Drastic, you bet it
is, everyone has to build, or buy, new models! Am I for of limiting span?
50-50 at best, but it might get more people flying FAI.
Jim Bradley
Rating War Hots Up !
====================
Author : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Roger,
We now hear that Fox Channel 11 News will also broadcast a story on
AeroVironment's Micro Air Vehicles, tonight at 10pm - just shows that
some stations will do anything to boost their ratings !
AAES Technical Interests
========================
Author : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Hi Roger,
I wanted to respond to Jim Thornbury's question as to whether AAES has
considered the development of " closed loop systems" as part of our
technical activity. The answer is no.
However, let me take this opportunity to provide a little more insight
into the thinking behind AAES and what we do hope to do.
AAES was founded on the premise that the wholesome, artistic, and
aesthetically pleasing aspects of free flight aeromodeling could attract
large sums of money from benevolent foundations and trusts. Our primary
thrust would be to use such funds to acquire, or help others to acquire,
a series of regional flying sites throughout the country. We have all
seen that where a good flying site is available, eg. Muncie, Palm Bay,
and Lost Hills, freeflight flourishes. Therefore we view acqusition of
new sites and maintenance of existing sites as key to perpetuating our
wonderful sport.
Second, we plan to try to attract young people to free flight modeling
through the use of exciting and instructional Web sites and, the
opportunity to obtain large college scholorships, and other
means.Scholorships for engineering studies would be emphasized because
there is an increasing shortage of engineering graduates that have the
desired 3 dimensional visualization skills and the ability to work to
work with their hands. Model building developes these skills.
Third, we would like to advance the state of art in model aircraft
technology through extensive, rigorous technical research. We currently
have in mind research efforts such as:
Increase the existing knowledge of model-related aerodynamics by
conducting wind tunnel tests of airfoils, wings, and completed models at
model flight conditions and Reynolds numbers.
Develop and test alternative structural design concepts, materials and
adhesive applications to attain higher stiffness and strength-to-weight
ratios for model components.
Conduct dynamometer, thrust stand, and wind tunnel tests to define the
best engine/propeller combinations for model flight conditions.
Develop a series of simplified VIT and other systems to ease the
construction of VIT models.
As you can see, a lot of this is very preliminary thinking and we are
going to need a lot of help from the free flight community to keep
things on the right track. To date the emphasis has been on technology
related to power models. That needs to be expanded to include efforts
that might be specific to F1A and F1B as well.
Soon we will asking for people to help refine and pursue the technical
and other activities of AAES. Membership in AAES will be available by
application to those who are willing to work.
Regards, Bob Johannes
................
... ah well back to making motors and counting those functions...
...................
Roger Morrell
