Bob Clemens I whole heartly agree with your interptation of the prop
rules. Also agree that Dave got the fickle figer of fate. Hack
> Jim Fackert asserted that "they (the Wright Stuff rules) also clearly
> state that
> the two bladed commercial prop can be cut down or modified to change the
> pitch. That, in my book, includes twisting or breaking and re-gluing the
> blade spars, and heating and reforming the blades themselves."
>
> Jim, that's a real stretch. Here is a verbatim quote of the WS prop
> rule:
>
> "The propeller must be a single two-bladed commercially available
> plastic propeller with a maximum diameter of 18.5 cm. Longer propellers
> may be trimmed to meet this specification. Trimming/shaving/twisting is
> also permitted to balance and/or reduce the mass of propeller or to
> change pitch."
>
> Where in that wording do you see an approval for breaking and re-gluing
> the prop spar? Are props with broken and re-glued spars "commercially
> available"? As co-event director for the Rochester, NY, Wright Stuff
> regional contest (which I have been for the past ten years or so), I
> would DQ any model with cracked and re-glued spars in a heartbeat. I
> believe it's been made clear in earlier messages that Ikara prop spars
> can be twisted using heat to change the blade pitch, with no breakage
> being needed. I've changed pitch simply by grasping the plastic spar
> with two pairs of needle nose pliers and carefully twisting in whatever
> change was needed.
>
> Mark Schaefer says, "My guess is 98% of all the S.O. judges won't even
> know what VP was or notice anything different, a few would though."
> Mark, are you implying that it's OK to break the rules so long as the
> official in charge doesn't notice? I'd certainly notice and would DQ the
> model. And let's be real about such an "innovation." 98% of students
> competing in the Wright Stuff event under the current rules wouldn't
> know anything about a VP either, since none of them are fortunate enough
> to have an experienced indoor flier as a mentor such as some members of
> this forum are fortunate to have.
>
>
> Bob Clemens
Received on Tue Dec 05 2006 - 08:15:56 CET
This archive was generated by Yannick on Sat Dec 14 2019 - 19:13:44 CET