NATS SOARING EVENT PLAN
Jim Simpson RC Soaring Director
[CN: The RC Soaring flight schedule as published in MA last month (page 7) was in error. Flying for these events, Scale, Standard and Unlimited, actually is to begin on Tuesday, August 5, and to continue through Thursday, August 7. Also, an earlier CN said the Soaring events would consist of three tasks; actually there will be two tasks as defined in the following article.]
A small group of dedicated volunteer RC modelers are training themselves to administer this event. These people are mostly from the Dallas–Ft. Worth area, and they will conduct a two-day Class A Soaring Meet on May 31–June 1. This contest is designed to duplicate the 1975 SOAR Nationals as closely as possible — which is exactly how the AMA Nats soaring event will be conducted. With this in mind you can expect the plan as outlined below.
Processing and registration will begin at 8 am on August 4, 1975, at the Rodeway Inn in Sulphur, Louisiana. This motel has been chosen as headquarters and banquet site. It is located about 10 miles west of Lake Charles. Scale RC sailplanes will be judged at noon on the same day — same place. Contestants will be assigned flight group numbers, and this information will be posted during the evening.
Flying will begin at 8 am on August 5 at the Municipal Airport in DeQuincy, La. (about 30 miles northwest of Lake Charles). Contestants will be expected to "time-one fly-one," so be prepared! Four flight lines will be equipped with two winches, launching winches very similar to those used at the 1973 LSF Tournament and the 1975 SOAR Nats. Three 25' landing circles will be provided adjacent to the launch area. Recovery of contestants will be expected. Each contestant will be expected to complete eight flights by about noon on August 7. Four of those flights must be two-minute precision (Task III—Precision) and four must be 10-minute duration (Task II—Duration—Provisional). The contestant must declare which type of flight he intends to attempt not later than one minute after launch. At the beginning of round 9 the contestant may elect to "stand pat" with the scores he has or "scratch" any single one and try to better it in round 9. If he selects the latter he must take whatever score he gets.
Scoring will be on the basis of one point per second in duration plus 100 possible for landing, giving a maximum 700 possible per flight. Likewise precision flight scores will be computed by multiplying by a factor of 35 — maximum possible 700 per flight. Scores will be normalized; 5,600 points after three days will be a perfect score.
Three classes of competition will be recognized. They are defined as Standard (only restriction is wingspan less than 100 inches), Unlimited (with no restrictions) and Scale according to presently published AMA rules. Trophies will be awarded in each class — and unfortunately for the older folks, Junior, Senior and Open will be combined.
Recruiting for these jobs intends to draw from the surrounding area to reduce travel expense. Murry Franck, District VIII V.P., is leading this recruiting chore. Frank Parnell has been requested to find candidates specially experienced in running the FAI events. So, if some of our friends and past Nats CD's and helpers are not asked again—nothing personal. Incidentally, Homer Smith is District XIV V.P., and travels to the Nats for Executive Council business at no expense to the Nats budget.
New procedures approved at the Pre-Nats Executive Committee Meeting: Processing for FAI events (including Indoor) will be at the site on the morning of the event from 7:00 am until noon. Processing for FAI events will be in the hangar the evening before the event and treated in a more thorough "going" fashion this year. AMA events will be flown with strict rule book discipline. We probably will focus on some of the rough spots such as the builder-of-the-model rule, help in starting and launching for Juniors, and unassisted VTO launches—to g
Competition Newsletter
ultimately to place the Nats FAI events on the International FAI Calendar as an Open International event, and thereby attract entrants from other nations. This year's rounds format follows some of the contest management ideas being discussed at CIAM Subcommittee level. A further concern is the problem of timing the seven-second FAI Power engine run, including the prop run-down. Three pairs of engine timers will be assigned to work the whole contest—providing a degree of consistency; two watches will be on each engine run, with the lowest watch taken as the score; spacing of launch points will be rotated for successive flights. These procedures at the launch site are being given study to help make the task of timing the engine run manageable and less of a farce.
The FAI events will be flown in rounds as follows:
- Round 1: 6:30 to 8:00 am
- Round 2: 7:30 to 9:00 am
- Round 3: 8:30 to 10:00 am
- Round 4: 9:30 to 11:00 am
- Round 5: 4:30 to 6:00 pm
- Round 6: 5:30 to 7:00 pm
- Round 7: 6:30 to 8:00 pm
Flyoff rounds are flown the following morning in a schedule specified by the event director.
This interruption of rounds during the heat of the day conforms to the fine old Southern custom of the "siesta." It is also in conformance with discussions at International FAI levels to avoid the "thermal" part of the day so as to reduce the likelihood of excessively long flights.
The half-hour overlap is novel for some, perhaps, but not without precedent. The extra time allows for the guy in the swamp to wrestle the alligator for his model, make the first-aid tent, hot-stuff his pylon back in place, and still make the next round.
Indoor flying (no alligators here) is in the 55-foot Lake Charles Civic Center site. There is no high-ceiling Indoor event at Houston this year. No rounds for FAI stick.
FAI Team Program participants may fly in the Nats FAI event to qualify for F1A, F1B and F1C.
Bring your motor bike, compass and pill helmet—see you at the Nats. Homer Smith and Hardy Brodersen, F1B Category Co-Directors.
[CN: The showing last month of FP ROW Gas on the Official Nats Schedule was in error. But it is expected that ROW will be run on an "unofficial" basis by the National Free Flight Society as it was last year.]
NATS "UNOFFICIAL" EVENTS
These are events organized by the NFFS and others which are run with the cooperation of—but just outside of—Nats management. MA's contributing editors have reported on a variety of Nats "unofficial" events in their spheres, but we have a notion that one or two (maybe more) may have been missed.
While CN at this time didn't have a full list of "unofficial" events, our suspicion is that most of the traditional ones from the past will be held again in 1975—plus the new ones which have been announced.
NATS SOARING (FROM P.57)
100 inches, Unlimited (with no restrictions) and Scale according to presently published AMA rules. Trophies will be awarded in each class—and unfortunately for the older folks, Junior, Senior and Open will be combined. An awards banquet will be held in the Rodeway Inn on Thursday evening, August 7. A buffet-style dinner is planned, and VIP speeches will be severely critiqued and thus, should be extremely short.
See you there.
Competition Newsletter
INDOOR TEAM PROGRAM— SANTA ANA OUT AS FINALS SITE
The Team Finals event of the program to select the U.S. 1976 Indoor World Championships Team is now planned for Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, over the Labor Day weekend this year, due to lack of approval for use of the hangar at Santa Ana, Calif. Fortunately, also, it appears that Indoor model flying is, more or less permanently banned at Santa Ana.
Also, the June 14-15 Regional Contest originally planned for the American Airlines Hangar at Tustin had to be shifted to June 15 only at the International Petroleum Exposition Building (but this already will have been held by the time this issue is in readers' hands).
Otherwise, insofar as is known, the other Regional Contests of the program remain at the location and dates indicated last month. But our advice continues to be to make advance contact with the site coordinator for the area concerned—get the addresses and phone numbers given on page 60 last month—just in case there should be a required last-minute change.
NATS INDOOR FLYERS SOCIAL
Word from Dr. John B. Martin, Jr., Miami, Fla., is that he, in the role of self-appointed social chairman for Indoor events, has established a motel headquarters and arranged for an Indoor Awards Buffet Dinner. He says that, so far, no one has challenged his self-appointed status, and we're willing to bet no one is likely to do so!
Indoor Social Headquarters is at the Downtown Motor Inn, 507 Lakeshore Dr., Lake Charles, La., 70601 (three blocks from the Civic Center, site of Nats Indoor events). Martin suggests that flyers make early reservations for August 3 (and the whole Nats period if desired). Rates: $15/night single, $22/night double.
Planned for 10 pm on Monday, August 4, following Nats flying, is a big Indoor Awards Buffet Dinner—trophy awards, speakers, etc. As Dr. Martin puts it, here's a chance to rub elbows with the featherweight greats—raise a glass with the Indoor biggies!
SCALE ELECTRICS OKAY
Scale Contest Board members, in response to a memo by Scale Contest Board Chairman Claude McCullough, have endorsed the chairman's opinion that Unlimited Scale Judging Rule 40.9 (Unorthodox Entries) permits entry of electric motor-powered models in Scale Competition; that is, use of the word, reciprocating, in the rules was intended to prevent the use of jet-type engines (not electric types); furthermore, a precedent was established at the 1973 Nats (Oshkosh) where entry of an electric motor-powered Scale model was permitted.
Nine of the 11 Scale CB members responded concerning the chairman's opinion, and they were unanimous in its endorsement. No response received from Districts VIII and XI.
In the same mailing to the Scale Contest Board, McCullough indicated his opinion that the intent of the displacement and muffler rules in Scale is to establish limits on the amount of power used in flight and the amount of noise produced. Clearly, he said, definite standards will have to be established for future use, but for the present, common sense would seem to cover the fact that electric motor blowers being used are not more powerful or noisier than the maximum size reciprocating engines being used.
Going on, he indicated that RC Sport Scale is not controlled by the provisions of the Unified rules, but nonetheless he feels that the spirit of the rules, if not the letter, would permit the use of electric motors pending adoption of specific wording.
As to whether an electric can receive points for starting by radio command, McCullough indicated that they can, calling attention to rules 41.9.3(h) and 4.7(j) which allow unlisted mechanical operations of contestant's option to be scored.
CLCB RATIFIES INTERPRETATION ALLOWING EXTRA/LARGER LINES
Acting in accordance with the Contest Board Procedures Document, the AMA Control Line Contest Board has ratified an interpretation it made earlier and which was immediately effective when it was published in the March 1975 "Competition" Newsletter. The wording of the interpretation, which is currently in force and will continue to be until/unless superseded by later Contest Board action, and which will be included in the General Control Line Rules Section of the 1976-77 rule book:
"The number and sizes of lines to be used, as specified for each event, are minimum requirements; they may be exceeded at the discretion of the contest director."
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
