Re: FW: Flight Endurance rules proposal
Gary
I love it! All of it! Almost. (you knew there had to be a catch)
I personally hate covering indoor models with paper. I know that it can be done and that some people are very good at it. But in the overall spirit of your carefully thought out rules it doesn't seem to make sense to take Mylar covering out of the picture. For my money Mylar is much easier to use than any kind of paper covering on light models. I've spent more time trying to get the covering to behave on my A6 than I did building it!
Otherwise I think this is a great idea and I hope the rules people will agree.
Well actually there is one other little thing. Are you sure that TSA is ready for models that fly 15 or 20 minutes?
----- Original Message -----
From: Gary Baughman
To: Indoor_Construction_at_yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 9:10 AM
Subject: [Indoor_Construction] FW: Flight Endurance rules proposal
Sorry that I previously sent the current rules. Here is my new rules proposal. I would
welcome any feedback.
OVERVIEW
Participants construct free flying, unguided, indoor model airplanes powered by a rubber
motor to learn principles of flight, interpretation of construction drawings, construction
of light structures, use of specialized construction materials, and efficient utilization
of a variable power source.
ELIGIBILITY
Entries are limited to two (2) individuals per chapter.
TIME LIMIT OF EVENT
Participants will have a three hour window to produce a maximum of three officially timed
flights for record. More than one model may be flying at the same time if the site is
large enough to provide adequate airspace. Test flying may take place at any time during
the three hour window at judge's discretion. Airspace priority will be given to official
flights. More than one model may be test flown, but only one model may be flown for
officially timed flights.
PROCEDURE
A. Participants will present model for judging during the first hour of the event,
assembled or disassembled inside the transit box. All parts of the model used in timed
flight must be contained in the box. The outside dimensions of the box will be measured by
the judges. If the box complies with regulation size, the box will be stamped by the
judges and the model components contained therein will be marked with a colored marker for
identification.
B. Participants will move to an assembly area at the periphery of the site to assemble
their models. Test flying or official flying may not begin by participants until box and
model components have been marked.
C. Participants may fly for record at any time by notifying the chief timer, and, upon the
timer's signal, will launch the model for timed flight.
D. Timing will begin when the model leaves the participant's hand and will stop when the
model comes to rest on the floor or comes to rest permanently (5 seconds) on any
obstruction in the flying site. Landing gear, wheels, or skids may be used but are not
required. A minimum of two timers will time official flights. Times will be rounded back
to the nearest second.
E. Each participant may fly three official flights, the best two being added together for
score in total seconds of flight time. Repairs to models may be made at any time.
F. At the end of the three hour window, participants will place their models and model
boxes in the assembly area for final judging. Judges will place the models in side by side
order of their charisma, first on the left to last on the right. The model with the
highest charisma in the opinion of the judges, will have the flight score multiplied by a
charisma factor of 1.50. Charisma factor of the remaining models will be scored from 1.40
to 1.00, based solely on the opinion of the judges. Judge's opinion will be subjective and
final.
G. Placing of the participants will be scored on total flight time in seconds multiplied
by the assigned charisma factor. Highest score wins.
REGULATIONS
A. Exterior dimensions of the transit box may not exceed 50cm X 30cm X 25cm to include the
lid. Model components must be fully enclosed in the six-sided box.
B. There will be no restrictions on the model size, weight, propeller(s), rubber size or
weight, or design. Model must be constructed from balsa and paper. No plastic coverings or
condenser paper will be allowed. Model may use any propeller commercially available or one
constructed of any other material by the participant. Steel wire may be used for propeller
shaft, rear rubber hook, and landing gear (if installed.) Clay may be used for ballasting.
The only other restriction is that the model, or model components (if the model
disassembles), must be transported for initial checkin inside the transit box.
EVALUATION AND CHARISMA FACTOR
A. Charisma factor will be subjective based on the following criteria:
1. General Appeal: Does it look good in the air? Is it colorful? Is it an original
design or a kit model? Is the design unusual but functional?
2. Workmanship: Is the model neat and sharp looking compared to others? Are the
surfaces warped or true? Has the covering been applied neatly.
3. Design: Is it unusual but functional? Is it multiwinged? Is it a tractor or
pusher? Are there multiple motors? Does it look like a real airplane?
That's it...short and sweet and easy to judge. Just measure the box, mark the parts and
box with a distinctive mark, time the flights, multiply the time by the charisma factor
and, voila!, the contest is complete. No weighing of models (to be competitive, models
weighing more than 20 grams will not be capable of flying in most indoor sites), no
weighing of rubber, no measurement of models, no reports, no books, no signoffs by
supervisors, nada. These kids won't need to keep data to get the models to fly, only keep
data to fly very well. The scientifically-oriented kids will keep data, experiment with
rubber sizes and props, thrust offsets, stabilizer and wing incidence, balance points, and
motor torque to get the best duration from the design chosen. They will have an advantage
on the non-data-keeping kids, just as it will be in a real job, only the difference then
will be income earned. Might as well teach them that principle now. Don't worry about
limiting rubber motor weights. Models don't necessarily fly longer with heavier motors.
Sometimes just the opposite is true. The rubber motor and propeller combination is what is
important. Too much rubber is like using a dragster motor in a volkswagen. Too little
rubber and the lack of torque is like using a volkswagen engine in a semi-trailer truck.
Let the participants find this out on their own. This makes a good experiment.
Now for the kids and what they learn: The rules simulate the parameters given to any
engineering design team...get the most out of the least. The Mars rovers were designed to
fit into a cargo compartment on the end of a rocket. The weight had to be minimized, the
components and devices maximized, and the device had to work when it got there. That was
it! Few rules and maximum result. The design team had very few other restrictions (well,
budget for them was important too), but that was it. Many designs were tried and tested.
The best one got built and flown to Mars, AND IT IS WORKING even better than expected and
the mission has been extended 3 months.
Science should be about experimenting to find the best combinations and designs. Let's not
handcuff ingenuity with a bunch of superfluous rules until all the models flown look the
same. Give the kids a chance to experiment and fail as well as succeed. All of the
information they need to be successful in this event is on the internet (if they have the
ambition, curiosity and drive to go find it.) That's part of science: find out what
other's have found out, use the good stuff, add your own stuff, and discard the stuff that
won't make the project better.
Now to the charisma factor: This is a reward device for making intelligent choices. If the
participant chooses a design that looks like a real airplane,or a model with multimotors,
etc., the model will, necessarily, not fly as long as a lightweight pure duration model.
The difference in flight time could be extreme. The highest duration will come from
choosing a lightweight design with a long motorstick and tailboom, wing mounted up on
pylons above the motorstick, and with a home-made, built-up prop made with blades made
from a Dixie cup or from balsa molded on a form then attached to a propspar. A light wing
loading is mandantory for long flights. Again, all this information is out there on the
internet or available from mentors. The charisma factor for the unusual, original model
may be up to 1.50. The charisma factor for a minimum structure, all out duration model
could be as low as 1.00 in the judges' opinion. Thus, the participant who chooses to go
with a realistic, or unusual design airplane may get their time boosted by 50%. The all
out duration design with a low charisma factor must gain points by duration and not rely
on charisma. THE CHOICE IS UP TO THE PARTICIPANT, just as it would be on an engineering
design team. Risk and reward...let's teach it now rather than having the shock hit the
student when he has his future on the line in an engineering job.
Through the use of the charisma factor, the playing field would be leveled. The student
would have choices to make. Champions make good choices. The end result is a much more
exciting project, a chance for the student to design and fly an original, realistic model
to WOW the spectators, fellow students, and get rewarded by the judges for the effort. Or,
the student may opt to fly a bare bones model to only impress the spectators and
competitors with some long duration flights of several minutes but take a hit on the
charisma multiplier.
I am disappointed at seeing hand-me-down airplanes being flown year after year by some
schools. The new rules would encourage innovation, ingenuity and experimentation. I
suggest that this event needs some re-thinking and the suggestions outlined above is what
is needed.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Received on Tue Dec 05 2006 - 07:46:51 CET
This archive was generated by Yannick on Sat Dec 14 2019 - 19:13:44 CET