Hi John, Thanks very much for the extensive review - VERY appreciated (especially on a list with such a high level of noise). I think I have a better idea of what would be involved now. I'll chat with some of my pattern friends to see what their interest level would be. My gut feeling is that a guy coming off of an F3A machine would have more interest that someone obsessed with big control surfaces and hanging on the prop.
The reason I asked was that out club now has a couple of working tugs, and hopefully by the end of this season there will be someone else to fly them (ie. not me). That means I can actually get a scale sailplane again :) I've always loved the look and performance of the Roedel Fox (there's one in our club), and was curious if I could eventually do something competitive with one (or something similar). I enjoyed flying an electric-powered UltraStick 120 Lite that served as our tug for two years, but since that's gone gas, I wouldn't feel as comfortable fun-flying it at the sailplane club anymore (gas is really just for towing there). As a result, if I wanted to fly an aerobatic machine again at that club I either need to get another big electric, or an aerobatic sailplane. I'm leaning towards the latter :) Unfortunately this is all academic for the next few months, since I have some UAV work to complete (darn Transport Canada is making life difficult). Cheers, Adam -----Original Message----- From: John Derstine [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 6:54 PM To: Adam Till (Cal); Soaring@airage.com Subject: RE: [RCSE] Scale Glider Aerobatics - part two In the meantime Pete George and I made an attempt to modify the Scale Event at the NATs (2002 rules cycle I think) to emphasize the flying aspect and deemphasize the Petty arcane scale judging part. We, in three years managed to pass the revised scale event which in our minds was written in such a way as to not only encourage more general participation at the NATS event, but that this format could easily be made a scale aerobatic competition at the local level by selecting aerobatic planes as the only type competing. Flying maneuvers were to be consistent with the full scale prototype, and pilots and or CD's were free as is always the case, to modify the format within the rules to hold a local scale competition with emphasis on aerobatics. Well this effort has been hashed and rehashed and the event fizzled in spite of our efforts. It seemed that most scale pilots in the US simply had no interest in formal competition or lots of rules. The ISSA discussion was influenced by Pete Goldsmith's effort to perhaps include an informal aerobatic competition at the first JR Aerotow. The Result of that discussion was endless arguing on the part of some, insisting on their form of Aresti patterns rather than adopt the German figures that were already established, were readily available, not too difficult for the intermediate sailplane pilot, and published on the internet for anyone to copy and practice. It became obvious as the discussion went on that many scale guys just did not want to go through the hassle associated with organizing a competition. The final analysis remains that there is little interest in such serious competition among scale sailplane flyers. The TOC guys showed a little initial interest, but for whatever reason, time most likely, did not constitute a new contingent of scale sailplane acro flyers. John Diniz and Pete George even performed at the break at one of the last TOC competitions. I think there is potential for this someday in the U.S. The format needs to be relaxed enough to be fun for ordinary weekend pilots, yet challenging enough, and organized in such a way as to establish a standard and attract skilled pilots as well. Classes for non scale, scale acro planes, and perhaps vintage scale might draw a larger cross section. XCscale seems to be the next trend, and hopefully, it might be a more accessible format for flying scale sailplanes and competing. I left out tons of info, and hopefully did not raise too many hackles out there. JD Endless Mountain Models http://www.scalesoaring.com email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > -----Original Message----- > From: Adam Till Cal [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 7:45 PM > To: Soaring@airage.com > Subject: [RCSE] Scale Glider Aerobatics - Current State of Affairs? > > Hi all, > > Are there are any glider aerobatic competitions scheduled for North > America in 2005? RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
