[SPAM] Re: Re: Take Off & Landing "Reality of a Contest"

[Bob Richards]

Ed,

That is an excellent point, and I must say it is the
only one I have heard that I would consider valid
enough to sway my opinion in that direction.

Having said that, comparing the ground handling
characteristics between pattern planes and IMAC planes
is sorta like comparing apples and oranges. Most (not
all) scale planes are notorious for gear placement,
force arrangements, tail moments and control throws
that make ground handling very dicey. OTOH, I have not
seen a pattern plane that I would consider to be any
more difficult to takeoff or land than any good
trainer.

Will trying to force an IMAC pilot to keep the plane
in the center of the runway for a scored takeoff
naturally make him perform a safer takeoff? Instead of
letting the plane drift a little off center before it
lifts off, he might decide to kick rudder to force it
back, and that could cause more problems. I guess the
long-term effect would be to improve the takeoffs,
since getting bad scores would tend to make them
practice takeoffs more.

OTOH, I have seen a seasoned pattern pilot fly into
the pits and hit someone at full throttle, all because
the plane first started to drift AWAY from the pits
and he over-corrected. His biggest mistake was that he
never got off the throttle, he was trying to save his
takeoff score until it was too late.

If they drift over the flightline, zero the whole
flight, not just the takeoff or landing. And let the
judges on EITHER flight line be able to make that
call! If you scare the judges on either flightline -
no flight score at all!!!

It would not bother me to not score takeoffs/landings
AT ALL. The 0 or 10 is ok -- IF the rules are simple
and clear (which apparently they are not).

Just my humble opinion, FWIW.

Bob R.

--- Ed  Alt <ed_alt at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Derek:
> Actually, there is a legion of IMAC pilots who can't
> takeoff or land without 
> threatening the safety of of others, mainly the guys
> at the other 
> pilot/judging station.  I have regularly seen close
> calls and dangerous 
> displays of model operation at IMAC contests during
> TO/landing.  You have to 
> recognize something about the hobby these days. 
> There is a alot of sex 
> appeal to IMAC because of the big'n'loud gas
> airplanes.  Everyone wants to 
> do it and is is quite often the case that the pilots
> wallet far outweighs 
> his skill and sometimes his common sense.  Guys now
> get into the hobby with 
> ease because of ARFs and easy to use equipment, but
> they don't always learn 
> the right way and frequently can't be told how to do
> it with right or with 
> safety in mind.  At IMAC contests that I have CD'ed,
> I made the explicit 
> point about the runway environment and how it was
> required that pilots 
> observe the deadline, including the fact that we
> would disqualify them if 
> they violated  it.  Why?  It has proven to be
> necessary based on 
> observations of close scrapes at the many dozens of
> contests I had attended 
> in the past.  It was the minimum thing I felt that I
> had to do to be 
> responsible as a CD.
> 
> I would say that Pattern is better off keeping the
> takeoff/landing score in 
> some form.  It is in fact a measure of pilot skill
> to be able to safely 
> control a model at low airspeed in various wind
> conditions, while in close 
> proximity to the ground, obstacles and people.
> Although it's not an 
> aerobatic flight mode, neither is a straight line
> between figures, but we 
> also measure that.  Should we extend the argument to
> allow banking left or 
> right to fix earlier mistakes and just worry about
> the figures alone, or 
> should we measure the skill of the pilots to control
> the model throughout? 
> By having some objective way of measuring it and
> assigning a score as an 
> incentive to try to do it right, you can only make
> the situation easier to 
> manage.  Removing it can only heighten the risk of
> achieving what IMAC has 
> currently has bred, i.e., a free-for-all mentality
> by many pilots.
> 
> Ed
> 

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