Focus on Competition - 2005/05

ARE WE OUR own worst enemy? This is
not a safety column, but as competition fliers
we all must be safety conscious, perhaps even
more so than the everyday flier. After all,
contests are much higher profile; they often
attract spectators, media, sponsors, retail
booths, and displays.
I think competitive fliers also like to
show off at times. The competitive flier is the
closest thing in our sport to a sport hero.
Heck, we all like to hear the applause from a
crowd for a well-done maneuver or flight.
That little bit of encouragement may cause us
to do something we wouldn’t normally do.
Push it lower, push it faster, more extreme,
bring it closer in, launch near other people.
Sound at all familiar? Are we our own
worst enemy? I think we all are at times. I
don’t think any of us ever takes off or
launches a model with the specific intent of
being unsafe. However, our egos and a little
encouragement can sure cause us to become
unsafe.
I can remember years ago I used to love
to fly straight at me from a direction directly
in front of me and pull up into an Immelmann
turn. It was a cool maneuver to do and watch.
In my own defense, I only did it when I was
the only one at the field. Of course, that was
not too smart either. That compared to what
models are now capable of doesn’t even
compare, but the point is the same.
As competitive fliers/pilots, I feel we
need to hold ourselves to a higher standard.
Often, younger fliers look to the competitive
pilot for advice, and they want to become or
do what that pilot/flier does. If we act
irresponsibly, what kind of message do we
send to them? Are we our own worst enemy?
I feel the message is clear; in general we
are our own worst enemy. Simply put, we
need to clean up our act. I’d venture to say
there is not one of us out there who has not at
one time or another, intentionally or
unintentionally, violated a part of the AMA
Safety Code. The Safety Code is in place to
protect us from ourselves. If we all used
common sense, there would be no need for
the Safety Code.
Don’t let peer pressure or a lapse in
common sense cause an accident or cause you
to do something you know is unsafe. Enough
said.
Broadband Over Powerlines (BPL) issues
seem to have settled down a bit. I really do
not have anything new to report. A report was
featured in last month’s Model Aviation; look
for it for additional information.
Testing that has been done continues to
lead us to believe that BPL is not a problem
for Radio Control operations. We will
continue to monitor progress and request that
you contact us with anything that may have
been brought to your attention.
We (AMA/Muncie IN area) may
actually be seeing the system implemented in
this area. This will give us some firsthand
knowledge if it actually happens. Maybe I’ll
finally be able to get broadband at home now!
Of course if it interferes with my helicopter
flying in the back yard, you can bet I’ll be
screaming long and loud!
I continue to be amazed by the technological
advances we are seeing in our hobby/sport. If
you told me 10 years ago that we’d have flat
pieces of foam flying the way we do now, I’d
have told you that you were nuts.
Battery and motor technology has finally
gotten electrics popular and affordable (for
the most part). Did you ever think you’d see
an electric RC Aerobatics model competing at
the World Championships level?
How about micro RC helicopters? I sure
have been having fun with the three I have. In
fact, there are several employees at AMA
who have been able to get their hands on the
sticks (successfully) and hover around in the
building. These are nonmodelers, but they are
having fun doing it–maybe modelers in the
making.
The park flyer explosion we have talked
about in the past–wow! Again, seeing RC
aircraft (not toys) in a mass-market retailer is
a humbling experience. We continue to have
a lot of work to do to get the folks buying
these models turned into modelers, or is it
sportsmen in this case?
The entire ready-to-fly market is huge
and growing by leaps and bounds. Gone are
the days of receiving an ARF from
somewhere offshore and wondering (hoping)
it was built properly. The current ARFs/RTFs
are really works of art, carefully assembled
with good hardware, and, in general, very
easy to fly.
The newer crop of transmitters is
absolutely incredible. I’m blown away by one
in particular. The features are almost endless,
but it remains easy to use. Almost all
manufacturers now have extensive
microprocessor-based transmitters that are
cheaper than a basic six-channel was 10 or 15
years ago.
We have receivers that can count
glitches, help you fly, and monitor battery
condition. We have models that use a laptop
computer to program when and how to
dethermalize or change a control-surface
setting. We cut out ribs with lasers, we
instantly bond parts, making them stronger
than they originally were. We use space-age
materials like carbon fiber and Kevlar.
On a somewhat sad note, has anyone
tried to buy a kit lately? I mean a box of wood
with a set of instructions that tell you to
assemble it to look like the picture on the
box? You know, the wood you have to cut
with a Zona saw, joints you have to make
perfectly by hand, and wood without the
telltale black edges indicating a laser-cut part?
If you have not, good luck finding one;
they are becoming fewer and fewer. It is in
fact a changing time that we live in (model
in). Many of you don’t like the current trend.
However, it is probably a necessary trend to
perpetuate model aviation. Food for thought.
Til next time… MA