AMA News: Focus on Competition-2013/02

I recently fielded several questions from participants and new CDs regarding the exact meaning and rules surrounding the Class C event. The easiest way to start is to throw in some history to head this discussion.In the early days of AMA, model aviation was built around competition of all types. It was not considered a Sunday afternoon social affair. Model aviation was created to mirror full-scale aviation for which pushing the envelope was the name of the game, and in reality, many of the early theories of flight and improvements were first tested as models.Two world wars and several other high-level conflicts later, there’s not much of an envelope left for aviation to push. Granted, there’s always something new to be learned but the environment now is different from what it was back in the 1940s and 1950s. The past 20 years have seen model aviation evolve from a contest-dominated endeavor to a Sunday flier, social gathering event. This transition has increased the need for the Class C event classification or non-rulebook type event. This doesn’t mean that a C event can’t be a contest of some sort, but it truly means the event will not be run according to the official AMA rule book.In the sanctioning process, the decision of event class is spelled out well—you either use the AMA rule book or you don’t. If you do sanction a rule book event, there’s still room to transgress from the rule book, but the changes must be listed on the sanction form and be approved by the Technical Director (me) before the meet, and the deviations must be advertised early so that all who plan to attend are aware of the changes and can be prepared. The Class C event is an entirely different animal. Most are social gatherings, but some can also be contests such as fun-flys or mock Scale. Combat and club Pylon Racing have become popular. These events have rules and some may come from the AMA rule book, but are not required to. The CDs of these events and Class C events are urged to advertise or post the rules they will be using well in advance of the event, but it is not a requirement. The C event is also given the same 100-mile-radius protection area as the A and AA events. Class C events can also have Traditional Event status the same as A and AA, with the only stipulation being the event must be sanctioned at least six months in advance of the event’s date. These two items can be found in the Competitions section of the AMA Membership Manual.Keep in mind the next time you attend a Class C contest, that you’re going to a social gathering that may happen to include a little friendly competition and realize the rules might be quite arbitrary. Keep it all in perspective and have fun.