I'm going to jump in here, since I jumped in on the discussion of A-6
rules years ago... I have always found that in coming to a consensus
to an issue, all parties have to at least agree on the primary
objective... And I think that it is universally agreed that the Prime
Objective for A-6 was for it to be a beginner's class... So the rest
will follow from that point...
First, a beginner's class should have dimensions and structure that
will allow a new indoor participant to progress without too much
difficulty... the original A-6 "rules" that were proposed decades ago
by Mather seemed to have held the test of time, and I don't think that
the dimensional rules should be modified...
However, the size of the required strips for construction -should- be
modified, in my opinion... I cut my own wood, and have dozens of 4#
blocks sitting around... So I can cut 4# wood for an A-6 and have
what I need... However, a "beginner", (who is what we are
targeting...) would have to buy expensive indoor sheets to get to
weight since the limits are for 1/16" square structure wood... I
would rather see a limit of 1/32", if any, for all components, which
means that you could go to almost any hobby shop and get a decent
sheet of 1/32" or 1/20" and build from that... or surely you could
order a few sheets from National Balsa in contest grade and get one
that would be good... This change would make it easier to find decent
wood for the class, and really what is the difference (in handling)
between a 1/16" square spar and a 1/20 x 1/16" spar of heavier
wood...? Is one "harder" to handle for a beginner...? I really don't
think so...
Also, I would (for the same reasons...) be in favor of allowing film
for covering... You could then have a heavier structure, which makes
it more durable (good for beginners...) and film in my opinion is no
harder to handle than condenser paper... if not easier... I have
worked with a few "newbie" indoor fliers, that have built ministicks
and SO with film, and like Bill, haven't seen any major obstructions
on the use of film...
Those two changes would make it easier and more affordable for someone
to build and fly in this event, and like I said earlier, isn't that
the purpose, if this is -really- a "beginner's" event...?
I also don't think that these changes would make a bit of difference
for the "expert" fliers in the event... Like mentioned in other
posts, the biggest problem is with motor bunching, at least from my
experience and watching the winners at USIC...
My few cents worth... Curious to see if anyone else agrees...
JH
> I have always agreed with the argument about the difficulty of
finding good
> wood in local hobby stores. We don't have any local sources of good
balsa.
Received on Sat Nov 22 2008 - 09:45:27 CET
This archive was generated by Yannick on Sat Dec 14 2019 - 19:13:45 CET