<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2912" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I've seen quite a few close calls with out of
control takeoffs and landings during IMAC competition (mostly
takeoffs). Some pilots just haven't mastered the rudder well enough
to keep the airplane from drifting over people during takeoff and need something
to help force the issue when they're in close proximity to the flight line.
My definition of out of control is going directly over the flyers and/or
judges at the other line. The only thing that prevented serious injury in
several cases was that the model was above the top of the highest hat at the
other flightline. It's just that simple. Does scoring takeoffs and
landings guarentee this won't happen? Ofcourse not. But it does
place emphasis on what is supposed to be a precision controlled part of the
overall flight. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ed</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">
<DIV>John,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I see your point, but this plane is 2m legal, it is just over the 11lb
limit. It has a Bisson muffler and is quieter than most all the gassers at
my club, and quieter than a lot of the sport planes that I have seen
Sportsman/Novice flyers show up with. At least in this instance, oversize
and noisey is not a problem.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>SOAPBOX TIME:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>FWIW, the only time I've ever seen a plane hit somebody bad enough to
hurt them, it was by a long time pattern flyer (advanced class) flying a
pattern plane, and it was because he could not keep it on the runway and was
not about to abort the takeoff and take a zero. The person he hit was not on
the flightline, he was deep in the pit. The plane was airborne and was
full throttle when it hit. It did have a muffled tuned pipe, and was very
quiet, however.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Matt and I visited an IMAC contest recently. Several flyers
had someone more experienced perform the takeoff and landings for them,
since the field was small and there was a bit of a crosswind. One of
the contestants was only 9 years old. At no time did I feel there was
any danger to anyone, either on the flightline or in the pit. There were a
few contestants there that would not have been comfortable flying, and
probably would not have flown, if they were required to perform their own
takeoffs and landings. And I'm sure it would not have been as safe,
either.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I wasn't sure before, but I am 100% sure now, that scoring takeoffs and
landings is a bad idea, not only from a safety point of view, but also from
the participation level viewpoint as well. I've witnessed both sides.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Just my 2CW.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Getting back to my original question, I'll be sure to contact the CD.
If my 11 year old son goes to a pattern contest, he might just decide he
likes pattern better than IMAC. Then again, maybe not, if he prangs his
plane because he is forced to takeoff/land in bad conditions.</DIV>
<DIV><BR>Bob R.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR><B><I>John Ferrell <johnferrell@earthlink.net></I></B>
wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2912" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It real scary with two lines going for the
guys flying opposite big noisy airplanes that could not manage to stay on
the runway. We generally leave it up to the CD. My choice as CD is not
requiring anyone else to fly with an oversize airplane at the same
time.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>John Ferrell W8CCW<BR>"My Competition is not my
enemy"<BR><A href="http://dixienc.us/">http://DixieNC.US</A><BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> </BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
<HR>
<P></P>_______________________________________________<BR>NSRCA-discussion
mailing
list<BR>NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org<BR>http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion</BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>