Well I guess I'll wade into to this one as a reply to Jeff and the topic in general...
I too am fairly new to the competition scene and if anyone had told me a couple of years ago I would spend what I have over the last 6-8 months on planes, radios, flight packs, winch, etc. I would have called them NUTS. However in making the change from just guiding gliders to competing I considered the following items and the cost is not as great as I first thought... In the past I would buy a kit and put the thing together. I'll use my first full house ship (Spirt 100") as an example. By the time I had that box of sticks glued together, all the covering on, the flight pack installed and the initial setup programmed into the radio I figure I had invested over 80 manhours prior to the first hand toss. So between the cost of the kit, flight pack and my time I figure that ship cost me in excess of $2,000 (at the very least thinking this way makes it much easier to write the check for one of those nice new moldies). Now I know that there are many out there that really enjoy the building part of the sport and at one time I would count myself in that number but not any more. I have built at least 30 built up planes over the past twenty years, 20-25 foamies, and about 15 composites. So I think I understand how to construct and fly a variety of model sailplanes. So at my current point along lifes trail I am no longer interested in the building side of the hobby I just don't have the time or energy to devote to the process (and I don't think I'm alone in this). I bought my first two unlimited ships off posts to RCSE in the last 6 months (thanks again to the sellers). One was plug in my Rx crystal and fly and the other was install the flight pack and fly. If I have my way this is how I will aquire all my ships from now on. I have enjoyed these planes as much or more than any that I built from scratch, so to speak. I also consider them the best values vs performance planes that I have ever owned. So all that being said, it wouldn't bother me if the rule was changed to allow you to change ships every round. I doubt that there are many that would use more than 2-3 ships at any one contest anyway since as has been said here many times contest performance usually relates to the amount of practice the pilot has put in with a particular ship in a variety of conditions. Of course blind luck can strike anyone on any given day, don't ask how I know this, and even a rookie can take home some wood. But a basic skill level must still be achieved in order for that luck to come into play. So yes this hobby is evolving and hopefully will continue to do so, and yes the cost in both time and money involved to be among the top competitors is high but that is the nature of the beast. I feel it is the competition arena that brings out the need to push the envelope of performance, not just in our sport but basically all of them. So I'm all for letting any number of ships be used at a contest. You still have to have a decent launch, fly the task called, put that nose skeg on the spot, and do that better than the next guy every round of the contest to finish on top. Without the skill to do that on a consistent basis it doesn't matter how many ships you pull out in the morning. Vent finished... Therms, Joe Gullett Spring Hill, Tennessee ----Original Message Follows---- From: "Jeff Nibler" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [RCSE] modification of rule 5, number of models Date: Tue, 05 Mar 2002 19:43:39 +0000 Just the other day, I was just thinking about how competitive this hobby has become. I'm really new to competition, and soaring in general, but I feel compelled to offer my two cents. Unfortunately, I don't really understand the rule that much, so that said, I think that anything that can be done to make the competition require less technology and money, the better. Remove those two components and you are left with skill (and luck). You break your plane? That's your fault, you probably made an error, and the error may cost you the contest if you can't repair it before the next round. The error could have been in launching, flying, landing, or construction. This all reflects on skill. I suppose my main issue is technology and the cost of it. I don't think that a really outstanding pilot should be at a disadvantage in a contest because he/she can't afford a $1000+ hot rod plane for each type of contest and condition. What's next? Airfoils that can be modified while flying... thermal vision goggles? I'm sure there are others that feel the same way, and I see evidence of this in the popularity of RES, and nostalgia contests (at least locally here where I live). Thanks for listening. Jeff _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. 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