Control Line Scale - 2012/02

FCM contest results
[[email protected]]
Control Line Scale Bill Boss
Also included in this
column:
• 1/2A Scale at the
Nats in 2012
FCM CONTEST: Allen Goff, from the
Fellowship of Christian Modelers (FCM),
provided a report about the organization’s CL
contest that was held at the AMA’s National
Flying Site in Muncie, Indiana, Saturday and
Sunday, August 27-28, 2011.
The contest included Stunt, Carrier, and Scale
events. Allen noted that the biggest surprise of
the contest were the 22 airplanes entered in the
Scale events. This was probably the largest
number entered in a Scale contest, aside from
entries in the Nats, in the past several years.
It took all day Saturday to run the Scale
events. Static judging took considerable time as
did the 40-plus flights. At the end of the day
there were many tired judges and pilots.
Kenny Stevens, with his Yak, placed first in
the Fun event with a score of 103.25. Second
was John Rist with 92.25 points, and Fred
Cronenwett placed a close third with 91.75
points.
Right: Kenny Stevens Jr. and
Sr., from Kentucky, are reading
the rules for Static judging.
Kenny Jr. placed first in the Fun
Scale event. Some of the 22
models entered in the contest
are shown in the foreground.
Goff photo.
Chuck Snyder sets up his HS 219
for Static judging. Chuck was on
the 2008 US Scale team with this
airplane and placed second in the
Profile event, only two points away
from Richard Schneider’s winning
Art Chester Jeep. Goff photo.
Above: Charlie Bauer, Will
Hinton, Kenny Stevens Sr., and
Jack Sheeks are preparing for
Static and flight judging. More
than 40 flights made for a busy
day of judging. Allen Goff
photo.
Sport Scale top honors were taken by Grant
Hiestand with a score of 186.5 for his greatflying
1/3-scale Spacewalker, while second place
was captured by Richard Schneider with 181.0
points. Fred Cronenwett placed third with 171.5
points.
Placing first in Profile Scale was Richard
Schneider with 179.5 points with his Art Chester
Jeep. Chuck Snyder was second with 177.5
points and in third was Harry Crespo with 172.5
points.
Scoring was close in all three events. It was
great to see that Grant Hiestand and Fred
Cronenwett are once again on the contest scene.
Allen credited the judges for helping make
the contest a great success. They included Steve
Couch, a 2010 US Scale team member; Jack
Sheeks, a frequent Scale team member; Will
Hinton, from Ohio, who will be our head judge
for the 2012 Nats; and Bob Furr, from Nebraska.
These men did a great job of judging. Tabulators
were Shirley Sheeks and Allen’s wife, Jan
Goff.
The FCM organization is based in Muncie,
and was founded in 1995 at a Sig
Manufacturing CL contest in Iowa. The FCM
has more than 1,000 members who fly RC, CL,
FF, Soaring, and helicopters in the US, and 15
foreign countries. See “Sources” for the
organization’s website.
Tentative dates for the 2012 FCM contest
are August 25 -26, at the AMA National Flying
Site.
1/2A Scale event at the 2012 Nationals: Allen
Goff told me that there will be a 1/2A Scale
event at the 2012 Nats. The purpose of the
event is to encourage the building and flying of
small, 1/2A Scale models. The event’s rules
promote the building and flying of relatively
simple, primarily profile Scale models.
Although full-fuselage models are eligible to
February 2012 135
02sig5.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 12/16/11 4:25 PM Page 135compete, they will have no advantage in Static
judging. Partially or fully cowled engines are
also permitted, but they will have no static
scoring advantage either.
Following are the official rules that will be
used at the 2012 Nats:
1. A model of any manned, heavier-than-air
aircraft is eligible. Profile models are
encouraged, and will not be downgraded in
Static judging.
2. Models of jet or rocket-powered aircraft
are permitted. They can use conventional model
propellers.
3. Engines shall not exceed .061, or 1cc, per
engine.
4. Seaplanes may use non-scale devices to
assist in takeoff and landing with no scoring
downgrades.
5. No mechanical operations, such as throttle
control or flap deployment, etc., shall be
permitted.
6. Flight Judging: Three attempts to make
two official flights each day of the contest will
be allowed. An official flight is one that has
progressed through at least one lap of level
flight. The final flight score will be the sum of
the two best flights.
Flights will be judged and scored on:
• Realism and smoothness of the flight, 10
laps of level flight, and the landing: 0-40 points.
• One point for each level lap, with all
engines running, up to 10 laps, immediately
after takeoff: 0-10 points.
• Five bonus points for any multiengine
model, provided the additional engine(s) runs
during the majority of the flight (excluding
landing): 5 points.The takeoff will include the first airborne
lap after the model leaves the ground.
• The landing will be accomplished with at
least one engine not running.
7. Static Judging: Static judging and scoring
will be based on the documentation furnished
by the entrant, and will be done at a minimum
distance of five feet from the model. This
documentation must be sufficient to allow the
judge to easily and quickly determine the
accuracy of the model regarding its scale
outline, color, finish, and markings relative to
the full-scale aircraft modeled.
Documentation will typically consist of one
or more accurate three-view drawings of the
full-scale aircraft for judging the scale outline
of the model, and colored photographs and/or
published color illustrations, or written
descriptions, for judging color, finish, and
markings.
It is not the intent to require extensive
research be expended, or voluminous
documentation be presented. A maximum of
four pages in standard report size and format
will be sufficient, and is all that will be allowed.
Models will be static-judged and scored on
scale outline (side view: 0 to 20 points, plans
view: 0 to 15 points, end view: 0 to 5 points),
accuracy of color (0 to 10 points), finish (0 to
10 points), markings (0 to 10 points), and
craftsmanship (0 to 10 points).
8. The final score shall be the sum of the
Static score and the final flight score.
9. A proxy pilot is permitted if the builder of
the model is present, is the entrant, and is
physically unable to fly the model.
10. The pull test will be 10 times the weight
of the model.11. All AMA general safety rules will
apply.
The side-, plans-, and end-view scores,
respectively, decrease in importance. That
reflects a Profile model’s ability to match the
full-scale airplane outline in these views.
That should help in equalizing Profiles with
non-Profiles, although the judges are
supposed to overlook the differences.
I wanted to share the information and
rules of this new 1/2A Scale event for the
2012 Nats competition. I wish Allen Goff and
his crew of modelers the very best with this
endeavor, and hope that the turnout for this
new event exceeds their greatest
expectations.
Check the AMA or the National
Association of Scale Aeromodelers’ websites
for the event dates. None were available at
the time of this writing.
Please send ideas, notice of upcoming CL
Scale events, contest reports, and especially
photos of CL Scale activity to me at the email
address at the beginning of this column. MA