If you are looking for the 2008 FF Forum, you can find it at NFFS Publications Services. They arrived via UPS yesterday and are ready to ship. The cost is $25 per copy plus $5 shipping in the USA. Foreign shipping also available, please contact for details. This is a 100+ page British version of the NFFS Symposium, loaded with good stuff. Contact Bob Stalick at <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> or send a check or money order to NFFS Publications Services, PO Box 1775, Albany, OR 97321 USA.

Like with every newborn the parents and friends want to give the child all the best chances in life and want to support and help in every way they can.

What is then the best way to bring up this new “child”?

In our opinion it is very important to avoid making too many rules and restrictions which may hinder fresh ideas and new thinking. We find it very important to maintain no limits on area and weight. This freedom makes it possible to experiment with big floaters or try smaller and faster designs. F1Q is in an experimental phase and we must assure that rules support all possibilities for different solutions in model design, power– and flying- strategies.

In the present rules we are only restricted by battery weights and maximum motor running time. Why not take a fresh look at these restrictions too?

Instead of limiting the weight of the battery and having to deal with the often problematic motor run timing, LET US LIMIT THE MAXIMUM ALLOWED ELECTRIC INPUT – ENERGY (watts – minutes) for each flight.

But how? We simply install an ENERGY TIMER. When the allowed amount of energy has been used, the timer switches off the electric connection between battery and motor.

The timer itself is realistic to make and produce. It will also be easy to check that the maximum allowed amount of energy used is within the value specified by the rules.

In F1A the energy is a 50m long towline plus the ability of the competitor to run and release the model at high speed. In F1B the energy is extracted from 30 grams of rubber, of which the best stuff tends to become more and more scarce and therefore almost impossible to pay for. In F1C and F1J the engine size plus 5 seconds engine run is the limiting factor, and very difficult to time correctly. With an ENERGY TIMER in F1Q the amount of energy available is exactly the same for each competitor, and the challenge is solely to use it in the best way.

The idea is not new. In the FAI rules from april 2008 for class F5B ( Electric powered RC model aircraft ), it is now required to use an” Energy limiter which cuts off the motor when the given energy limit is reached”.

We are building a prototype ENERGY TIMER and plan to fly it in an F1Q model this year and we will be back and share our results with you.

F1Q - performance or very respectful, these F1Q fellows

From: Klaus Salzer

With all due respect to Bernie Crowe I believe that his remarks are
self-defeating: If most contest directors deem it necessary to shorten the
motor run there must be too much power available for the required 3-min-max.
And if the only way is to shorten the motor run we certainly are going the
way of F1C. When I startet freeflight the F1C motor run was 15s ...
regards
Klaus W. Salzer

Gutai Further Update
From: Jim Bradley