I'm planning on holding a TD contest sometime next year with a precision
landing task that will be a "real" test of skill: a 1.5m wide "runway" that
is 7m long - if the nose of the model stops anywhere in the first 2m it's
25pts., in the second it's 50pts, in the 3rd it's 75pts. and in the last
meter 100pts., with a big ZERO for going past the end of the runway or for
landing "short". Now for the real "ba--buster"! The ENTIRE fuselage of the
model (includes the bottom of the trailing edge of the rudder) must rest
within the 1.5m lateral boundaries of the runway! So that means no coming
in from the side, or landing outside and spinning or sliding your nose into
the box. Won't work here. You'll have to be able to accurately fly your
plane precisely down a centerline to a controlled landing. If there is a
crosswind, well then you better know how to coordinate rudder and ailerons
properly (gee, we have to do that with power planes all the time). Too much
of a challenge? Oh, well. There's a bunch of guys in SoCal that have been
doing this for years with slope gliders of all kinds, without the benefit of
flaps or "crow", etc. and going a lot faster than most TD ships will ever
have to on landing. Now, that's just the landing task! The soaring tasks
will be just as creative! First round is a 7 min "warm up" duration with
the precision landing, with 1pt per second deducted for up to 10 sec off the
mark, and 2pt per sec for 11 up to 20 sec off, and finally, 3pt per sec for
anything over 20 sec off the mark. The second round will consist of a 12
min task and precision landing, with the same scoring. The third will be a
10 min task with precision landing, but will have the added challenge of
having a prescribed path to be flown after launch before being able to chase
thermals (and yes, that means if you fly through a thermal before you
complete that path, you just have to keep going until you reach the "release
point" at the end of that flight path). The flight path chosen will be very
easy to fly and to enforce, and relatively short. So there you have it
folks! Anyone interested in competing in such an event, email me offline.
I'd like to hold this contest someplace in SoCal this summer, but I'll
consider going to any field in the country and CDing it personally, with
support from any club willing to host it! The contest could be flown as a
two day "IronMan" event with additional tasks that I have thought of to test
the all around skills of the pilots involved. Any takers?
Keith M
Hawaii
...have jet, will travel.
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