Focus on Competition
Technical Update
Steve Kaluf Technical Director skaluf@modelaircraft.org
Happy New Year, members. I hope this proves to be a great year for you!
Shortly after you receive this issue of Model Aviation you should be able to find the 2007–2008 edition of Competition Regulations (the rule book) on the AMA web site. As you view the files you'll note that each section of the rule book is broken out into a separate section.
That was done with the previous version as well. However, for this edition each section has its own cover page that indicates when it was published and any updates that have taken place.
You will also note that each section has its own unique page-numbering system. As an example, page 12 in the Radio Control Aerobatics section would be listed as "RCA-12."
The entire rule book has been converted into a standard word-processing format, which means that updates can be made quickly and by almost any staff member with word-processing ability. In the past we had to rely on only one or two people who had the knowledge to deal with the specialized desktop-publishing application in which the rule book had been created. The files posted to the web site are in Adobe Acrobat format. Acrobat Reader is a free download from the Adobe web site.
I do know that a few of you would much prefer the rule book to be published in the hard-printed booklet format it had been published in for years. This is especially true of those of you who fly many different events and found it convenient to have all the competition rules with you all the time. This newer format does work well, however. We have received several comments from members who find it easy to work with and especially like the fact that the rule book is up to date (with even the most recent changes) on the web at all times. As with all major changes, this just takes some getting used to.
We announced in mid-2006 that we would be increasing sanction fees and changing the way we provided "Contest Calendar" listings with the event sanction. After consideration by the AMA Executive Council, it was decided not to put this increase in place. The fees for supplemental ads have increased, however, as previously announced.
I've been enjoying some indoor flying with my mini-helicopter and some other light aircraft. These indoor events are growing by leaps and bounds. I attended the JR Indoor Electric Festival in Columbus, Ohio, in November. It was another superbly run event; I was pleasantly surprised to see that the number of vendors had at least doubled from the previous year. The flying was wild and a great deal of fun to watch. I'll be heading over to the Great Planes E-Fest in Champaign, Illinois, in February. This is another great event that I've grown to look forward to each year. These indoor RC events have something for almost anyone. Spectators really seem to enjoy them too since there is a lot of action all the time. At the Columbus event there was even some free-flight action going on that was very much welcomed. If you've not been to an indoor RC event, head out to one; they are great fun.
If it's cold where you are, remember when flying that components tend to act differently in cold temperatures:
- Ball links and other linkages can become stiff.
- Batteries tend to lose a little capacity.
- Fingers don't seem to work as well.
- Raw fuel makes your hands cold.
- A propeller whack hurts roughly three times more than it does in the summer.
The point is to be careful, have fun, and fly safely.
' Til next time ... MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
