[NSRCA-discussion] Food For Thought - Pattern and Gyros

[Verne Koester]

Ron,

I think I expressed this to you last weekend, but maybe not as clearly as I
would have liked. I was pretty focused at the time on putting together a
decent flight in the 20+ mph crosswinds we were flying in. 

 

My opinion, which is shared by at least one other Contest Board Member is
that we are trying to get too technical in the wording on rules covering
gyros, telemetry, and other such mechanisms. The goal is to prevent cheating
through the use of electronic aids that either automatically correct an
aircraft's flight path (gyro) or notify the pilot of an errant flight path
through some sort of visual or audible warning (telemetry). 

 

The problem with our current rule as well as the one that was proposed
during this recent rules cycle is that they're too specific with the end
result being that the rule is constantly chasing technology. What we need is
something more generic that simply prohibits any device providing a
competitive advantage to the pilot through automatic, visual, or audible
means of flight path correction. In short, you have to use your eyes (or
your caller's) to see the flight path deviation and use your fingers to
wiggle the sticks to correct it.

 

I'm confident we'll all recognize such a device when we see it in play. The
rule also needs to specify disqualification for using such a device. In my
opinion, the telemetry features of the Futaba 18MZ and other similar
products don't provide the automatic, visual, or audible means of flight
path correction that would be deemed a violation under a generic,
"catch-all" type of rule.

 

Verne Koester

 

From: nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org
[mailto:nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org] On Behalf Of Ron Hansen
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2012 6:57 AM
To: NSCRA Discussion List
Subject: [NSRCA-discussion] Food For Thought - Pattern and Gyros

 

At last weekend's contest I asked several pretty experienced judges whether
a gyro that told a pilot whether his wings were level and/or his nose was
pitching down was legal in pattern.  I know the rules say gyros that
automatically adjust for pitch and yaw are illegal.  I also believe any
other device that tells the pilot the orientation of the plane so that the
pilot can manually adjust is also not in the spirit of the sport.

 

I got some interesting responses.

 

In my opinion this type of feedback has been technically feasible for many
years.  It may not have been through direct communication between the
receiver and the transmitter but it was certainly doable through a tone in
an ear piece or similar feedback mechanism.  I'm surprised the rules never
anticipated this.  Why did we have to wait for telemetry capable radios?

 

 



__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature
database 7481 (20120915) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.nsrca.org/pipermail/nsrca-discussion/attachments/20120915/e6d848ea/attachment.html>