Radio Control: Sport-Aerobatics
Ron Van Putte
THE CONTEST SEASON is just starting as this is written; at full speed as you read it. The new aerobatic patterns are just getting their first tests and, like most people, some of my initial impressions have been altered after flying all the patterns in practice sessions and the Advanced pattern in contests.
The most striking feature of all the patterns is that they appear more organized and definitely move faster than before due to the required upwind-downwind sequencing of maneuvers. It doesn't seem to have affected many people adversely and it certainly has speeded up the time required for Novice and Advanced patterns. In fact, I feel that the 9-min. time limit for Novice and Advanced should be reduced to 8 min.
I have heard few complaints regarding the individual maneuvers that didn't result from an incomplete reading of the rule book. Several Novice and Advanced fliers are still calling Take-off complete at 6-ft. altitude and are descending through most of the Rectangular Approach and then proceeding to complain about the way their maneuvers are scored. That situation should be sorted out very soon as people get wised up.
As predicted, no one has mourned the passing of the Figure Eight in the Novice pattern, nor has the One Outside Loop caused more than momentary fright. However, the Two-Point Roll has turned out to be more difficult than a lot of people imagined. Part of the difficulty is caused by the interpretation that most contests are using on the maneuver: namely, that the half-roll in and half-roll out should take as long as the inverted flight. The rule book is not clear on this point but the maneuver looks much better when done this way (properly) and it is very easy to judge.
The only real controversy involves the Master pattern. Since the proposed FAI pattern was not accepted for international use, many people are saying that we should fly the 1975 FAI pattern in lieu of the one printed in the 1976 AMA rule book. Others say that what we fly in the USA should not be affected by international events and that we should fly the 1976 pattern for all contests except the one to choose the USA team for the next world championships. I favor the latter opinion since the rule changes are so minor and the rules for all four pattern events would be contained in one document.
While I'm on the subject of contests, let me suggest something which you could add to your own contest that you might not have thought about. Whenever a large group of out-of-towners get together, there is a good possibility that at least one of them will have an emergency at home which would require that they be contacted. It's kind of difficult to manage RC contest sites unless an emergency system has been set up.
What could be done involves two parts. First, list the name and telephone of an emergency contact in the Competition Newsletter and in all contest flyers which are sent out. Then, ask the local amateur radio or REACT group to set up a phone patch from the contest site to the emergency contact. As it turns out, it is a lot easier to set up than it might sound. A club member's wife who has to stay home with the kids would be a perfect choice as the emergency contact. My wife tells me that a lot of wives would be glad to handle a job like that, especially since it's often a woman who has the emergency and is trying to reach her husband. In addition, the amateur radio and REACT groups are usually trying to improve their public image, just as we are, and are glad to set up the phone patch. An added benefit of the phone patch is that you can call into town to arrange for something to be sent out, like more hot dogs or beverages for the refreshment stand. A remote, but more serious reason for the phone patch is that if there is an emergency at the contest site requiring medical assistance, it could be called for.
There is a lot of interest being generated in Half-A-size airplanes. Ace R/C and others have many versions of airplanes powered by Cox Tee Dee .049 engines and the radio manufacturers are responding by coming out with smaller and lighter systems such as Bill Cannon's radio with an airborne weight of only four ounces! If there is a weak link, it appears to be in the area of engine throttling. Cox has a technique for use on the Tee Dee .049 and other .049's which has been reported to work with varying success. Individuals have developed their own modifications/additions to the engines which work with equally varying success. What seems to be needed is a standard for throttling ability which can be used to compare the techniques so that the better ones can be publicized.
For example, Jim Griffin (14 Linwood Ave., Ft. Walton Beach, FL 32548) uses an OS 10 R/C carburetor in lieu of the standard Cox carburetor (see the picture in my column in the January 1976 issue of Model Aviation). The modification works acceptably for him, but he doesn't know how well it works compared with techniques developed by others. Jim will measure the "idle" speed of his version as soon as he has access to an accurate tachometer. All he can say for now is that, "it appears that you can get a little high idle." He encourages people to write to him regarding their techniques, or to obtain information but requests that, if a response from him is desired, a stamped, self-addressed envelope be included since he was flooded with requests the last time I mentioned his modification.
The other side of the problem is what bothers me most of all. Many RC fliers, especially those who are threatened by obsolescence of their equipment on the 27-MHz band, are considering FCC regulation violations of their own. The attitude is, "The FCC is taking away my frequency and they have already admitted that they don't have the equipment to monitor for violations. So, since RC transmitters only have a range of about a mile, I'll just pick out a frequency that looks clear and get crystals for my transmitter and receiver." It sounds tempting, doesn't it? However, it is probably the worst solution to the frequency problem that an individual could come up with.
The AMA is trying to work with the FCC to convince them that we are responsible users of the frequency bands which are currently allocated for our use. As such, if the FCC does "cave" to the overwhelming onslaught of the Class D licensees and give them our frequencies, we need the moral lever of our continuing responsible action to secure relief from the dilemma by assignment of additional frequencies. So, let's not mess it up for ourselves.
The potential frequency problems associated with FCC Docket 20120 and the issuing of licenses to commercial and municipal users on the 72-75-MHz frequency bands has everyone shaken up to varying degrees. By the time you read this FCC Docket 20120 will probably be resolved, but the other problem will plague some people around the country for a long time to come.
It is unfortunate, but FCC Docket 20120 appears to be a "cave-in" to a group of users which have a record of wholesale regulation violations and whose use of the 27-MHz frequency band is often either frivolous or improper. To provide responsible individuals more channels with which to broadcast "Smokey Reports" doesn't make any sense to me at all. It appears that the FCC is admitting that the violations can't be controlled and that the frequencies are being handed over to the violators to do with as they will.
I just realized that you'll be getting this magazine immediately before the Nats. After helping the Western Ohio Radio Kontrol Society put on the Wright Brothers Memorial Contest as a club member for five years and competing in it for three years after leaving Dayton, I know we will all enjoy the Dayton Nats. See you there! My address is: 12 Connie Dr., Shalimar, FL 32579
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
