Free Flight Indoor
John Kagan [email protected]
A serious discussion about the Science Olympiad and Wright Stuff programs
I’VE HEARD STORIES about the old Navy Nats days, when thousands of people would gather to fly model airplanes. That was before my time, and all I’ve ever experienced are the smaller, more closely knit groups we have today.
But just when you might start thinking those days are over, along comes a group of 14,000 schools with more than 100,000 kids competing in 37 science events that happen to include Indoor FF model airplanes!
The Science Olympiad (SO) is a national non-profit organization whose mission is “To promote and improve student interest in science and to improve the quality of K-12 science education throughout the nation.” Events cover Social/Life, Earth/Space, Physical/Chemistry, Technology, and Nature sciences with a mix of building and writing/thinking tasks.
Amid the myriad challenges from which schools can choose is one called Wright Stuff (WS). Fitting its name, WS involves designing, building, flying, and recording information about Indoor FF model airplanes.
I mentioned that the SO events “happen” to include FF Indoor, and that’s not entirely accurate. In roughly 1998 Tom Sanders, an active Indoor FF participant, helped transform a clunky, low-performance (as in several seconds, if lucky) glider event into one with a rubber-powered model capable of several minutes of flight. Since then, many thousands of kids and adults have experienced the wonder of Indoor FF through SO’s WS.
SO and the WS event are one of the biggest positive influences on our activity in modern history. Indoor FF is spectacularly cool, but you have to get it in front of people to generate interest. WS does this in spades and the effects are clear.
There is a steady trickle of new AMA Indoor FF event participants graduating from WS, changing the face of local and international competitions. Look around the tables at the US Indoor Championships (USIC) to see many new young but competent fliers. And it’s not just the kids; several parents and coaches have come along for the ride and taken up Indoor FF.
For the first time since I’ve been flying—and possibly ever—there have been actual competitions for the three Junior F1D team spots. And the resulting teams have gone on to take the first two individual places and the team title at the last two World Championships.
New cottage industries have sprung up to support WS, and Indoor FF in general has benefited. Winders, torque meters, kits, propellers, and many other bits and pieces are newly available as a result. Indoor sites, which are often tricky to negotiate, have become available through schools fielding SO teams.
However, along with these benefits come a few “gotchas.” Many AMA members mentor SO teams with great success, and the average times have increased dramatically as more and more schools acquire the fundamental knowledge and skills to make an airplane fly. But we have to be aware that this is someone else’s party. WS rules proposals and design intent have been discussed on the Indoor mailing list (before being recently—and correctly—relegated to SO the coaches’ forum), but this is a bit like a barroom decision to redefine the NFL’s pass interference rules.
I’m not saying we can’t have influence; I’m merely pointing out that, with the exception of a few AMA members who have taken the time and effort to participate in SO’s government, there is a difference between doing things in our organization and one in which we are peripherally involved.
A few Indoor FFers have made extraordinary efforts to provide kits, supplies, documentation, and other resources for the SO WS community, and in general they appear to have been happily received. However, despite best intentions, these kinds of situations are often ruled by perception and, right or wrong, some efforts have been viewed negatively.
There is a fairly fine line between sharing knowledge and giving a select group a privileged (and possibly unsportmanlike) boost. There is an even finer line between efforts being perceived as one over the other! I have no advice to give. Just be aware that if you choose to participate, you will probably have to deal with this issue sooner or later.
As with any kind of youth competition (pinewood derby comes to mind), there are the largely mutually exclusive goals of keeping the challenge accessible while allowing the freedom to excel. I’ve seen several debates generated by decisions intended to keep the cost and effort to participate in WS reasonable conflicting with a desire not to “dumb down” the competition or restrict the kids’ creativity.
Although WS is a big deal to us, it is one of 37 SO events and we have to face the possibility of its being bumped (hopefully temporarily). The SO government has stated
Also included in this column:
- The Technology Student Association and National Science Decathlon
- Record-setting model plans
- Don DeLoach’s report on the Colorado local Indoor FF scene
- USIC/AMA Nats
FF Indoor
John Kagan
Nevertheless, the benefits still outweigh the headaches. Find an SO team in your area to mentor and join the fun!
Technology Student Association (TSA) and National Science Decathlon (NSD): While researching SO, I ran across two other youth competitions that feature Indoor FF models: one I knew about and one I didn’t.
The TSA is a national, non-profit organization for middle- and high-school students who are interested in technology. It has more than 200,000 student members. The TSA has a high-school competition event called Flight Endurance, wherein “Participants ... analyze flight principles with a rubber band powered model aircraft.”
There is also a middle-school event called Flight Challenge, in which “Participants ... study the principles of flight and then design, fabricate, and test a glider. Using an original design and the materials provided on site, entrants create a glider designed to stay in flight for the longest period of time. Gliders are designed to be launched from a catapult provided on site.”
NSD “is a loose affiliation of teachers, parents and community volunteers dedicated to promoting science education by organizing competitive, science-based tournaments throughout the United States.”
NSD’s Indoor FF event is Cranefly: “… an engineering (or more specifically, aeromodeling) event in which students will be required to build rubber band powered airplanes out of lightweight cuts of wood like balsa, bass or spruce. These students will also be required to build their rubber-band powered airplanes using Science Decathlon specified dimensions and know how to prepare and fly the models they have built indoors.”
Check out their respective Web sites for more information and how to get involved.
Record-Setting-Model Plans: When a talented builder/flier sets a possible Indoor FF national record, one of the pieces of information required on the record application is a three-view drawing of the model. Wouldn't it be great to get your hands on this information? You could try to glean the key details and go for a record yourself. Or perhaps the information will help you develop your own models. Or maybe you just want to build a replica of a record-setting aircraft.
These valuable plans are just a phone call away. As an AMA member, you can call Sanction Secretary Michelle Lamb at (765) 287-1256, extension 232, or E-mail her at [email protected] to request a copy.
For now you will need to know the name of the builder and date of the record (available in the records list published periodically in MA). However, a project is underway to post these plans on a Web site.
The Colorado “Local Scene”: Don DeLoach sent the following great report about the Indoor FF scene in Colorado Springs.
“The Magnificent Mountain Men (AMA #177) is Colorado’s only FF-only club. Visit www.themmtclub.com. MMM was founded in 1957 and has had Indoor flying on and off since that time. We have always been primarily an Outdoor club, but since 2001 we’ve sponsored at least two contests a year in the Category II (40-foot) Colorado Springs City Auditorium. It has a smooth horseshair acoustical ceiling and floor area of about 150 feet x 80 feet.
“The Colorado Springs City Auditorium is an historic old concert hall built in 1921. Our contests are FF only, but there is a renegade group that also flies in there on Thursday evenings with everything from Delta Darts to SO to RC whizzers and helicopters. Kind of a zoo to be honest, but okay for testing heavier FF airplanes.
“Rob Romash is now the CD of the indoor contests in Colorado Springs (I had been for four years straight). Next contest is November 20th, 2005, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
“MMM also now has a regular test site at the Wings Over the Rockies Museum in Denver. Fly-ins are once a month, usually the fourth Sunday, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Entry to the museum is free with an annual museum membership ($30) or just $6 per day. FF only.
“It is the WW II-era Hangar #1 at the former Lowry AFB. Very historic hangar and a great museum; they have a B-1A, lots of Cold War jet fighters, a J-3, and several sailplanes. The center of the hangar floor is empty, and there is tons of room to fly. It has a 24-foot tiled ceiling, absolutely flat with recessed lighting. It would be a great Category I record trials site except that the altitude makes record times difficult.
“The contact for flying at the Hangar is John Lovins, MMM indoor coordinator, [email protected]. The top of the hangar is much higher, like 80 feet. We are told there is a chance that the lower tiled ceiling will be removed in the near future. It would be a very good Category III site! Visit www.wingsovertherockies.org for more info and pics of the hangar.
“Up until a year or two ago we also flew at the 40-foot Balch Fieldhouse at the University of Colorado-Boulder and the Arvada (suburb of Denver) Seventh Day Adventist church (26-foot exposed girder gym). The Colorado Springs City Auditorium and Wings Over the Rockies hangar are better sites, though.
“Probably the best site we’ve ever used is the Fieldhouse at the Air Force Academy. It is about 80 feet flat, exposed girders, but the government has a stranglehold on its use. A few times when we were in there, the football team would come in and start doing workouts or the blowers would come on without warning and blow models out of the sky. Also, the post-9/11 situation has made getting on the base difficult at times, impossible at others.
“In the meantime, Rob Romash is actively looking for other sites. There are some high-ceiling venues in Denver that need to be checked out, like the Denver Coliseum and the Equestrian Events Center.
“All in all, Indoor is very much alive and well up here. Denver and Colorado Springs are only 70 miles apart, so there is lots of traveling by our fliers.”
I met up with Don at the 2005 USIC, to which he returned after an extended absence flying Outdoor FF at one of the best sites in the world. He has been joined in Colorado by Rob Romash and, more recently, Bill Leppard. These Indoor FF powerhouses are designating Colorado Springs “IndoorTown, USA,” based on their collective trophy count at the Nats.
Send in a “Local Scene” report for your area and get some fame. I’m still waiting to hear from Texas, Connecticut, Buffalo, California, Wichita, and any places I don’t know about!
USIC/AMA Nats: The Eastern Tennessee State University Mini-Dome again hosted the National Free Flight Society’s US Indoor Championships and AMA’s Indoor FF National Championships, for five days following Memorial Day weekend.
Despite concerns about recent site changes, there was a great turnout of roughly 95 participants and everyone seemed to have a great time. Check out the reports and pictures on AMA’s NatsNews Web site. Plan on attending next year’s event—same time, same location!
Til next time. MA
Sources:
Science Olympiad www.soinc.org
Technology Student Association www.tsaweb.org
National Science Decathlon www.sciencedecathlon.com
AMA NatsNews www.modelaircraft.org/events/natsnews.asp
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
