During a local flying session, the topic of beginner fliers came up, and beginner models, and what not. We sought feedback from one of our Jr. fliers as this is his second year flying indoor and he is still working his way out of the novice range.
What I learned from him is that indoor models, at first glance, appear intimidating. He told me that he was really glad he had a mentor to work with him on building and flying skills. He also said that it is difficult to stay motivated when he is not flying a lot.
During another conversation for the evening I had asked a fellow modeler why we don't fly at Akron and other local sites anymore. The response was rather profound, and could explain quite a lot about participation in indoor. Basically, I was told that many of these sites are no longer accessible because the contact person has passed or is otherwise unavailable.
So I thought about all of this, and a pattern seems pretty clear to me. I have no doubt we have plenty of would be mentors within the indoor community. What we lack is access to flying sites to keep people interested. Outdoor fliers can find parks, fields, backyards, etc that are suitable for their purpose fairly easily. Indoor fliers have much less access to flying sites. If you aren't flying much, it aren't able to fly much then you are less likely to be fly a lot. Also, if one does not have access to a site and does not fly a lot, then It is unlikely they will compete, as they know they won't be competitive (remember, I am talking about beginners here. I am sure some of you have enough experience to not fly for a year, show up to USIC and be competitive, but that is not the typical beginner). Now, the argument could be made that competitive or not, fliers should attend contests so they learn more and become more competitive. The logistics of a major contest though, are a tough sell for someone who is just starting out. How do you convince a kid to give up a weekend of doing what kids do to fly with people they barely know, and get their butts kicked in the process? I think the old "that's the cost of an education" while totally true, again is a tough sell.
So maybe we are barking up the wrong tree. Perhaps it is not the events that are discouraging beginners, but rather the lack of
Flying sites.
Chris
Sent from my iPhone
> On Feb 14, 2016, at 7:49 PM, Don DeLoach ddeloach_at_comcast.net [Indoor_Construction] <Indoor_Construction_at_yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>
> That's really interesting,Evan.
>
> DD
>
>> On Feb 14, 2016, at 5:19 PM, guyettevan_at_yahoo.com [Indoor_Construction] <Indoor_Construction_at_yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Seems there's a lot of talk about new events to bring in participants. No matter what wing dimensions, weight restrictions, or other factors you use, the goal is the same. How about an event which involves flying the most efficient model, but not necessarily for the best time. Here is what I came up with:
>>
>>
>>
>> Dimension Rules:
>>
>> -Max Wing area of 50 sq inches
>>
>>
>>
>> Scoring
>>
>> -Wing loading will need to be calculated. To calculate wing loading, weigh the entire airplane (rubber included) after each official flight and divide the mass in grams by 50 sq inches.
>>
>> -To find the score, multiply the wing loading by the time in seconds
>>
>>
>>
>> Example:
>>
>> 5 gram airplane, 2.13 gram motor, flew for 6 minutes.
>>
>> 7.13g / 50 sq in = .1426
>>
>> .1426 x (9 x 60) = 51.3
>>
>> Score: 51.3
>>
>>
>>
>> What do you guys think? It would definitely be something fresh and new in my opinion.
>>
>
>
Received on Mon Feb 15 2016 - 06:15:58 CET
This archive was generated by Yannick on Sat Dec 14 2019 - 19:13:48 CET