Focus on Competition

Technical Director Steve Kaluf [email protected] THIS IS BEING written in early June, so the contest season is in full swing. 1 hope you have done well so far. If you are a regular reader of this column, you know that rules-change proposals are the hot topic right now. October 1, 2002, is the postmark deadline for all basic proposals for the 2005 rule-book cycle. We have also had a few proposals that have been classified as urgent in the last couple of months. All of these have been published here. Results of the voting for those proposals are as follows (passed proposals will go into effect January 1, 2003): Helicopter engine size change— passed, Radio Control (RC) Racing Q-40 Propeller—failed, RC Scale Aerobatics noise rule—passed. As a result of the above-mentioned RC Racing proposal having failed, a new proposal has just been submitted to accomplish the same purpose; however, it uses wording that is expected to be more to the liking of the Contest Board. This proposal is reproduced below. The board will be voting shortly on this proposal; it is suggested that you contact the RC Racing Contest Board member for your district if this proposal is of concern to you. If approved, this proposal will go into effect January 1, 2003. RC Racing Urgent Rules Change Proposal Brief summary of the proposed change: To allow the use of an approved plastic (composite) propeller for Q-40. Exact wording proposed for the rule book: Amend paragraph 16.1.2.b to read: 16. Event-specific rule formulas 16.1. Event 422 Q-40 16.1.2. Powerplant b. Propeller 1) Material: Either wood or a chopped carbon fiber filled injection-molded compound with tensile strength at least equivalent to that of Ticona Celstran PA6-CF35-15. 2) Dimensions: No limit for wood. Injection-molded propellers shall have a diameter, pitch. blade width, and blade airfoil identical to that of the approved part number at every measurable station. 3) Availability, modification: Wood propellers may be modified. Injection-molded propellers shall be commercially available and stock except for balancing, etc. as permitted by paragraph 7.5.2 under "General Model Aircraft Requirements." 4) Prior approval: APC part number LP07480C, bearing raised markings "7.4 x 8" on the blade outside the hub, is approved. 5) Eligibility for competition: A propeller once approved shall be eligible for competition so long as it remains commercially available, as defined in section 2, "Defined Terms." —Submitted by: Mike Condon, AMA 71839 I have a couple of other items to talk about this month. The Application for Sanction Event has been redesigned and is available from HQ. The form was designed to improve the information flow and hopefully include more instructions on how to fill it out properly. We are beginning to see this used now. and it does appear to be helping. Please use the new form. It may also be downloaded from the AMA Website. Contest directors seem to have the most difficulty in filling out the event-listing information. This is the information that we use to develop your listing in the "Contest Calendar." If you don't fill the information out. we cannot develop a good listing for you. Till next time ... AM