Snap rolls (long)

[EHaury at aol.com]

With the Nats fast approaching I thought it might be useful to review / 
discuss the snap roll and its proper judging. My observation is that there is a 
lack of quality demonstrated by many snaps. There seems to be some tendency for 
folks that fly the maneuver poorly to judge it leniently, or worse yet, judge 
well executed snaps harshly because they look unfamiliar. No other maneuver is 
executed so quickly, making it even more demanding to judge.

Please refer to page 78 of the rulebook under "Snaps." Consider Item 1 
carefully. 
"the nose should show a definite break" and "while the track closely 
maintains the flight path" are key criteria for judging the entrance to the snap. A 
rapid pitch attitude change, simultaneously or closely followed by a yaw 
attitude change will create a stalled wing in the direction of the snap and rapid 
autorotation rotation generated by the opposite wing. The track will "closely" 
follow that established before the snap.

I ask that you consider the often seen snap entrance. The aircraft pitches, 
yaws, and rolls quite a bit off track before the stall occurs. The aircraft 
then stalls and maintains that track, finishing with considerable offset from the 
initial track. In my opinion, the rules require the change in track during 
the snap iniation to be downgraded. Typically the changes are 15 to 30 degrees 
in the vertical and horizontal plane, so 1 or 2 points for each plane. At the 
same time, due to concurrent application of aileron, some 15 to 30 degrees of 
roll occurs before the stall. Another point or 2 off for lack of proper snap 
rotational angle at the entrance. At the same time, please realize that there 
will be some small change of track as enough attitude change occurs to initiate 
stall. This is recognized in the rules i.e. "track closely follows." Certainly 
this is another one of the approximation words that shouldn't be in rules. I 
believe, however, that "closely" better defines 5 degrees or so of track 
change and certainly does not allow 15 to 30.

Observe also that some pilots will change the track horizontally (yaw) 
opposite the snap to accommodate the poor entry and facilitate exit on the desired 
track. This change of entry track should also be downgraded at 1 point / 15 
degrees.

Item 2 describes a barrel roll (zero). If the events described in the 
discussion of Item 1 occur without an eventual stall, the maneuver is a barrel roll. 
It may be fairly tight and still be a barrel. This is tough to call, I've 
video taped a number of snaps that appeared fine but were clearly barrels when 
viewed in slo-mo. The trick in judging this is to look for the CG to stay on the 
original track, as stated in the rules. In my opinion, so many snaps are 
barrels that this look may be becoming the standard, with true snaps on track are 
being judged as axial rolls.

Item 3 deals with wing position at start and stop and seems well understood.

Item 4 mentions that snaps may be either positive or negative. Look for the 
proper horizontal break direction.

Item 5 "If model returns to an unstalled condition" "such that autorotation 
is not visible" "model rolls to complete" indicates that rolling to finish a 
snap must be severely downgraded. I suggest that 1 point / 15 degrees is 
appropriate, as most of these rolled finishes will be 45 to 90 degrees which results 
in a 3 to 6 point downgrade. As per Item 1 there should also be a severe 
downgrade for unstalling early. 

Item 6 discusses airspeed as not being a criteria.

OK, recognize that there is a lot going on in a snap in very short period of 
time. Look for all the elements to be there, clean break, with the nose and 
tail autorotating in an attitude different from the track, and a unstalling and 
rotation stop at the proper point. Please be aware that there are many details 
to be considered beyond "it is or isn't" and "the wings finish in proper 
plane." Also recognize that well performed clean snaps may look a bit different 
depending on technique and aircraft. 

These interpretations are my own and outside of any official capacity. I 
welcome discussion, addition, and disagreement.

Good flying

Earl
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.f3a.us/pipermail/nsrca-discussion/attachments/20030623/dde25306/attachment.html