**del Klipped **: Rules Survey

[Del K. Rykert]

There are plenty of ARF's out there at under the current weight limit..  Granted they may not be all 2M but for the beginning flier do they truly need a full blown whiz bang plane. 
 
        Del
  nsrca - 473 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ed Miller 
  To: discussion at nsrca.org 
  Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 8:47 AM
  Subject: Re: [SPAM] Re: *SPAM* Re: Rules Survey


  Sorry this is long but this issue is an important one.
  At one time I was all in favor of an increase in weight limit to 11.5 or 12 pounds. Today, I'm leaning towards leaving the 11 pound limit in place. I built an EMC after flying Dave's EMC's and let me tell you, to build a large 2M plane using conventional ( read low cost ) materials like fiberglass, foam, plywood and balsa can be a challenge. It requires careful planning to put only what is really required in the plane for structure and durability and careful selection of fixed items like hardware, radio gear, engine, pipe, etc. Painting has to be closely monitored. But the 11 pound limit is very doable. My current EMC is down to 10 pounds 9 ounces and I believe the second one I can build at maybe 10 pounds 6 ounces. That's a $400 basic kit with maybe $200 worth of wood/plywood/endgrain balsa, etc. in the structure. Where the real $$ is spent is in "lite" versions of fixed hardware like CF wing and stab tubes, CF landing gear, CF tuned pipe, Mintor head and Perf Specialties AAC piston/liner assembly ( my OS 140 RX weighs 26.3 ounces ), special batteries, etc. I have a Hanson rotomount in my EMC that weighs less than 3 ounces with hardware, no extra $$ spent there but a lot of labor. So, the 11 pound limit is achievable with a "conventional material" kit of a large 2M plane at a relatively low cost for the airframe. It still requires higher $$ hardware to outfit the plane to ensure an 11 pound or under result, the same higher $$ hardware one typically outfits a composite airframe with also. The newer composite airframes such as Dave's Vivat's are from the get go, lighter and as such open up the possibility of electric power ( a 12 ounce penalty over glow power ) OR a super light, under 10 pound glow powered large 2M plane. Would I notice the flying difference between a 9.75 pound EMC over a 10.5 pound EMC ??? Yes, I think so. Would I be able to capitalize on that ?? Would I be now be a threat in Master's ?? Doubtful. The top of the heap like the Lockhart's, Hyde's, Newman's, etc. are so very close they need every tiny bit of advantage they can beg, borrow or steal. The more "average" Joe pattern guy just needs to make the weight limit as 3/4 pound of extra airframe weight is the least of our worries. 
  At this point in the game, to me, an increase in the weight limit MAY help the pattern newbie "buy an off the shelf ARF" and assemble with the best value accessories which may result in an over 11 pound plane, a plane that newbie will be plenty competitive with until their eyes, thumbs and fingers get to that top of the heap plateau. 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.f3a.us/pipermail/nsrca-discussion/attachments/20050209/aa376067/attachment.html