Novice to indoor freeflight is a difficult person to identify. They are much like what my HS Physics teacher called "an infinitely changing variable". The only thing we can safely assume is that they are not ready to compete in any current indoor events. There are different stages and capabilities of the novice indoor flier. This ranges from absolutely no flying experience to an RC pattern flier with hundreds or thousands of hours of stick-time. Both are new to the sport of indoor freeflight with different expectations and skills. Here are some possibilities...
Wright Stuff: Science Olympiad could provide a number of people certainly students and a few adults. It has become the closest we have to a cross-over event. All told, we would be lucky to see any more than 100 students wanting to come and fly with the AMA. The AMA would have to accept that the event changes year to year. The overall scope is a basic indoor aircraft but also the most complex for a no experience flier. Bill Gowen is looking into this possibility. I will talk it up at the next EdCom meeting in the Fall.
P-18 : This concept is easier to master with less complexity with a prop that allows the model to get trimmed sooner than in Wright Stuff. This is a moderate beginner's event. It is possible for a novice to build one on their own and even trim the model without a mentor. Once the event gets approved, I suspect that great amount of info will find its way to the internet for the self-starter.
AMA ALPHA: Just a concept at this point but I did a soft unveiling on Hip Pocket last week with positive response. The airplane is what the Delta Dart was meant to be. Though it is an all-wood model, it has a lighter wing-loading than the Delta Dart. Its scope is to be extremely easy to construct, very easy to trim fly and would be a natural as a one-design contest. It also has some great design flexibility and perfect for the novice wanting to experiment. I travel to Muncie tomorrow for some in-depth presentations on this concept with the AMA. Bill Pritchett, Ed Director says the AMA is already 100% on-board with the concept.
My hope is that we contract regional manufacturers to produce the Alpha as a kit that would also include a simple winder, 3/32 rubber and materials for two models. We would expect larger Classpacks to follow.
The ALPHA will also fulfill a very usable niche in that it will, in its final form, be capable of being ASSEMBLED then DIS-ASSEMBLED for safe travel. A feature that the Delta Dart cannot do. BTW, what novice shows up with a transport box? How about tools ready to build a model? The ALPHA means that the indoor community has a great calling card for large functions such as NSTA (National Science Teacher Asso.) National conference (10,000 attendees!!) where Make-it,Take-it programs reign king over all. This particular model will fly in most conference halls, wow the teachers AND get safely home to be repeatable at their own school. The teacher has a memorable demo of Newton's Laws of Motion to share and a list of AMA/NFFS clubs to promote.
Bottom line is what will get new blood into the sport of Indoor Freeflight is good old fashioned marketing. Do we as enthusiasts have the time or money to search for these prospects? Hardly! We need to get other entities to carry the torch with us (SO does come to mind). We need to organize events for the novices that show up so they get to be successful. If this means separate event dates to nurture the new fliers, so be it. It is important that the novice get their collective feet wet at their own speed and we remain sensitive to those looking to get into the big league.
Don't expect an overnight phenomenon but we could see an overseason interest that snowballs at a snail's pace. In some ways that is good. this will allow clubs to adjust their capabilities for making those future novice fliers feel welcome and willing to try flying again and again.
BTW, I am also creating a National Postal Indoor Event with the AMA's blessing. It could be based either on Wright Stuff or P-18. We are at the leading edge so not much to discuss. I have my ideas but that starts a new thread...
Regards, Tom Sanders
Received on Mon Jun 06 2016 - 20:18:50 CEST
This archive was generated by Yannick on Sat Dec 14 2019 - 19:13:48 CET