HAPPY NEW year, members. I hope this
proves to be a great year for you!
Shortly after you receive this issue of Model
Aviation you should be able to find the 2007-
2008 edition of Competition Regulations (the
rule book) on the AMA Web site. As you
view the files you’ll note that each section of
the rule book is broken out into a separate
section.
That was done with the previous version
as well. However, for this edition each
section has its own cover page that indicates
when it was published and any updates that
have taken place.
You will also note that each section has
its own unique page-numbering system. As
an example, page 12 in the Radio Control
Aerobatics section would be listed as “RCA-
12.”
The entire rule book has been converted
into a standard word-processing format,
which means that updates can be made
quickly and by almost any staff member with
word-processing ability.
In the past we had to rely on only one or
two people who had the knowledge to deal
with the specialized desktop publishing
application in which the rule book had been
created. The files posted to the Web site are
in Adobe Acrobat format. Acrobat Reader is
a free download from the Adobe Web site.
I do know that a few of you would much
prefer the rule book to be published in the
hard-printed booklet format it had been
published in for years. This is especially true
of those of you who fly many different events
and found it convenient to have all the
competition rules with you all the time.
This newer format does work well,
however. We have received several
comments from members who find it easy to
work with and especially like the fact that the
rule book is up to date (with even the most
recent changes) on the Web at all times. As
with all major changes, this just takes some
getting used to.
We announced in mid-2006 that we would
be increasing sanction fees and changing the
way we provided “Contest Calendar” listings
with the event sanction. After consideration
by the AMA Executive Council, it was
decided not to put this increase in place. The
fees for Supplemental Ads have increased,
however, as previously announced.
I’ve been enjoying some indoor flying with
my mini-helicopter and some other light
aircraft. These indoor events are growing by
leaps and bounds.
I attended the JR Indoor Electric Festival
in Columbus, Ohio, in November. It was
another superbly run event; I was pleasantly
surprised to see that the number of vendors
had at least doubled from the previous year.
The flying was wild and a great deal of
fun to watch. I’ll be heading over the Great
Planes E-Fest in Champaign, Illinois, in
February. This is another great event that
I’ve grown to look forward to each year.
These indoor RC events have something
for almost anyone. Spectators really seem to
enjoy them too since there is a lot of action
all the time. At the Columbus event there
was even some Free Flight action going on
that was very much welcomed. If you’ve not
been to an indoor RC event, head out to one;
they are great fun.
If it’s cold where you are, remember when
flying that components tend to act
differently in cold temperatures. Ball links
and other linkages can become stiff,
batteries tend to lose a little capacity, fingers
don’t seem to work as well, raw fuel makes
your hands cold, and a propeller whack hurts
roughly three times more than it does in the
summer.
The point is to be careful, have fun, and
fly safely.
Til next time ... MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/01
Page Numbers: 172