Put equity back into snap judging

[Earl Haury]

OK guys - let me give you my insight with regard to the videos, discussion of same, and issues surrounding flying / judging snaps.

Firstly, the videos are a good exercise and offer the option to "inspect" various interpretations of snaps. As is usually the case with video of pattern maneuvers - most views don't acquire the same clarity / scale as when viewed from the judges line. My opinion, viewing in real time, is that some are probably snaps and some are not - but a similar view in actual judging would mean that the airplane was at 300 or so meters and it would be equally difficult to evaluate the maneuver. Confirming one's evaluation with slo-mo isn't available to a judge - but a better view is.

With regard to eliminating snaps because they can't be judged - isn't likely to happen and we've had the same discussion regarding spins (seems snaps have taken the pressure off spins). A very small number of folks have a mindset that these maneuvers can't be done properly - so all should be zeroed unless they meet some magical criteria. This is wrong, pilots need to learn how to do the maneuvers correctly (and apply this knowledge to their judging). My observation basis judging 2 days of Masters and half of the F3A finals at the Nats is that the Masters guys have gotten much better with snaps than in previous years (having to fly snaps will do that). Some of the F3A guys make them a thing of beauty (yes - they're snaps, not some sort of "cheat") - others need to work on them more. 

Video is an excellent tool for studying one's own snaps - but the camera must be zoomed on the airplane to give the same view as the pilot - steady tracking is difficult. A lot has been written by Don, Dave, Dean, me, and others on how to do the snap as defined in the rules - review this info and apply it to what you see in your videos. 

I will venture to say that most (if not all) large departures from track and/or late or no stalls, are as much a result of slow elevator input as improper travel. Slow / weak servos, lots of expo, anything that slows the initial pitch movement, will screw-up snap entry. The guys that appear to "cheat" have figured out how to get a quick, minimal (yet sufficient) pitch to stall and just enough pitch and yaw control to maintain a cone so as to return to unstalled attitude when desired. The rest of us need to work toward that quality and appreciate it when judging. A good snap doesn't look like a wounded duck! (Yes, some may try to forego elevator input and fool us with a quick roll with a yaw waggle - but the lack of pitch break makes judging these easy.) 

Earl



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Gray E Fowler 
  To: discussion at nsrca.org 
  Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2005 8:31 AM
  Subject: Re: Put equity back into snap judging



  Eric said.... 



  1. If you can't guarantee to judge it correctly take it out of AMA 
  schedules. It is grossly unfair to penalize pilots this way. 


  Good point, but if we take it out, then me as an Advanced flyer will never have the chance to learn how to "Cheat" a snap as good as the FAI guys do. You know....that little no elevator flip that they do to keep the heading correct and never get a zero cuz they be "insert big name here". 

  If the top FAI guys faced some of the critical snap judging that most of us ocassionally do, and know one knew their name, they too would remove it or change the criteria ....according to me. 

  In defense of the individual FAI flyers....the ones I know are pretty cool guys...just gotta play the game. As the name recognition goes up, it seems the weenier the snap gets......in other words, the so called "regular" FAI guy faces a huge disadvantage when faced with the judging criteria/disparity Eric mentioned plus facing name recognition. AND as usual....I could be wrong. 

  Tonight, I am going to paint my prop all pretty colors. Can anyone tell me what colors and designs score the best? 




  Gray Fowler
  Principal Chemical Engineer
  Composites Engineering
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