7.5mm Nose Radius for AMA RC Sailplanes
A letter from Clay Howe, a contest director from Sturgis, MI, to AMA President John C. Grigg was referred to RC Contest Board Chairman Joe Friend. The letter addressed the fact that, under current AMA rules, the FAI rule requiring RC sailplanes to have a minimum nose radius of 7.5 mm appears to apply to all AMA RC sailplanes as well.
Section 47.3.2 of the AMA rules (page 66 of the 1982–83 rule book) states: "Unless otherwise stated hereunder, model sailplanes must comply with all applicable AMA, FAI, and FCC specifications." Readers can refer to page 106 of the same AMA rule book for the "FAI RC Thermal Soaring (F3B)" rules, and on page 107 in Section 17, Characteristics of Radio-Controlled Gliders, subparagraph a) find: "... Minimum radius of fuselage nose: 7.5 mm (0.295 in.)."
This FAI rule was reported in CNE (July 1981, p. 91 and April 1982, p. 89). As noted there, the FAI rule became effective January 1, 1982.
Chairman Friend states: "Since contest directors are encouraged to run their contests by the 'book,' fliers can avoid potential challenges by contest officials by meeting this spec with their aircraft."
NC Aerobatics Team — Call for Finals Site Bids
Clubs interested in hosting the RC Masters Team Selection Finals should document offers in writing and send them to AMA HQ, Attn: Micheline Madison, by December 1, 1982. Finals will be held during a three-day period in late June/early July 1983. Selection of the site will be made from bids by vote of program finalists sometime after January 1, 1983. The winning site will be announced as soon as possible thereafter.
Site proposal documentation should include:
- Adequacy of the flying site: size, surface, and orientation with respect to the sun
- Parking and spectator control
- Preferred dates (desired to hold Finals on either June 24–26 or July 2–4, 1983)
- Weather statistics
- Club personnel available to act as assistants (at least a dozen will be required)
- Contest equipment that can be provided (tents, rope barriers, etc.)
- Community backing and publicity
- Nearby housing for entrants, judges, and out-of-town officials
- Any other plus factors
Judges, contest jury, and contest manager will be supplied by NSRCA and/or USPJA as necessary. The contest manager will coordinate with local officials regarding assignment of personnel and other contest needs.
Address for bids: 815 Fifteenth Street NW, Washington DC 20005
NC Sailplane Open Distance Record
At the SOAR AMA Record Trials on June 5, 1982, Jack Hliner of Downers Grove, IL, set a new AMA national record in the Unlimited RC Sailplane Open category. The flight covered 104.12 miles in 7 hr 14 min 15 sec.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
