Author: John Kagan
Edition: Model Aviation - 2011/04
Page Numbers: 127,128,129
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The 2011 Science Olympiad program

SCIENCE OLYMPIAD 2011: The AMA is a proud sponsor of the Science Olympiad (SO), which is an educational program for elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. Per the website:

"Science Olympiad is an international non-profit organization devoted to improving the quality of science education, increasing student interest in science and providing recognition for outstanding achievement in science education by both students and teachers."

The program includes a competition involving a large variety of science events, including a few that are directly related to Indoor free flight (FF). The current cycle features Helicopter for Division C (grades 9–12) and a trial event for capacitor-powered monoplanes. (Rubber-powered airplanes are rotated out for the time being, but are expected to return.) AMA members Chuck Marcos and Larry Michalowski masterminded the capacitor airplanes. Chuck designed the airframe parameters, and he reports:

"Larry is an electrical engineer and was responsible for obtaining and evaluating the power train. The capacitors are available from NooElec, formerly known as Noodlehead Electronics. They have been most helpful in providing specs and keeping the capacitor listing on their eBay account.

"Tim Warren drew the plans from a rough sketch that I provided. The Science Olympiad has scheduled Wright Stuff Capacitor as a Trial event for the National Finals in Madison, WI in May 2011."

In addition to developing the scientific leaders of our future, SO is one of the best things that has ever happened to our corner of the modeling world. With more than 2 million students participating, an unprecedented number of people are getting firsthand exposure to the joys and challenges of free flight.

Take a look at the SO website (the address is in the Sources list at the end of this column) to learn if any of your local schools participate. Share your knowledge and enthusiasm, and see what kids of the video-game generation are capable of doing. SO can often use mentors to guide development and volunteers to help run competitions.

If your schools aren't involved, take the reins and get a team started. The SO website tells you how.

SO participants (and anyone else, for that matter) who are looking for more flying time in one of the best sites should consider heading to Johnson City, Tennessee, May 25–29, 2011, for the AMA Indoor FF Nats and the National Free Flight Society (NFFS) US Indoor Championship.

Limited Pennyplane Pro-Am Redux

Along with sessions for the SO events, the Indoor FF Nats will again feature the Limited Pennyplane Pro-Am.

Back by popular demand, this class pairs newcomers with experienced fliers. Ams receive handcrafted competition models to keep, courtesy of their Pro partners. The Am must wind and launch, but the Pro can tweak, tune, encourage, and advise.

The Pro-Am is a great way for SO pilots, and anyone else who is interested in Indoor FF, to get into AMA Duration events. Skip the usual barriers to entry (building a model, finding good rubber, collecting support equipment, finding someone to teach you the nuances, etc.) and get directly to the thrills of competition flying. These models are capable of flights pushing a quarter of an hour!

Registration is $10, and the event will run during the Pennyplane sessions in the afternoon and in the evening on Saturday, May 28.

See the AMA website for Indoor FF Nats information, and contact the column email address to register for the Pro-Am. Registration must be done in advance to ensure that the Pros have enough time to construct their models. Previous Ams are welcome to return. If you've built your own Limited Pennyplane and have achieved at least a 10-minute flight, join the Pro ranks and help bring a new Am into the fold. If you haven't, be sure to bring your Pro-Am model from the first time; Limited Pennyplane donations are limited to first-time participants. Your Pro can help with any repairs that might be needed.

EAA Family Flightfest Contest

The EAA is hosting an inaugural AMA Indoor FF contest this year in conjunction with its Family Flightfest, which will take place April 1–3 inside the Eagle Hangar at the AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Enjoy fun-flying with participants of the annual EAA Family Flightfest on Saturday and Sunday. Show off your favorite demonstration models and help a kid (or parent) get the most out of his or her free Guillow's glider. On Friday and Saturday afternoon/evening, you can break out the good stuff and put in some serious competition flights.

All Indoor FF events are welcome, with an emphasis on Hand-Launched Glider/Catapult-Launched Glider, Limited Pennyplane, EZB, F1L, and MiniStick. Heavier models fly early and light models later. The exact schedule will be determined once people register and the events they plan to fly are known.

And as if any chance to fly Indoor FF isn't enticing enough, the museum features more than 250 historic airplanes, five movie theaters, and the KidVenture interactive gallery for children of all ages. It's airplane overload for the aviation enthusiast.

A $10 entry fee includes the whole weekend of flying and museum admission. Pre-registration and an AMA membership are required. You can get an entry form and contest flyer by visiting the website listed at the end of the column.

NFFS Membership Offer

Gene Ulm, public relations chairman of the NFFS, sent along the following announcement.

"Not a member of NFFS? Announcing a special offer for new members: two years for half price!

"Free flighter Roy Hanson has made a generous offer: He thinks so much of the NFFS and its publication, the NFFS Free Flight Digest, that he is paying out of his own pocket half the cost of every new member who signs up for two years. $29 gets you two years if you are 19 or older; $9 if you are younger. Non-U.S. members pay just $37.50 for two years.

"The Free Flight Digest contains at least 40 pages, delivered six times a year. Each issue is crammed with free flight how-to, plans, contest reports, photography and more. Digest covers every aspect of free flight: AMA, Indoor, FAI, FAC, SAM, Nostalgia—the works.

"If you are a former member who has let their membership lapse for a year or more, now is your chance to re-up for half price. To make it easy, you can even hit the link below and use your credit card.

"Founded in 1967 to 'preserve, enhance and promote the art, sport and hobby of Free Flight model aviation in all its forms', the non-profit 501(c)(3) National Free Flight Society is the largest Free Flight advocacy group in the world. For more than forty years NFFS has been serving free flighters through various charitable programs.

"NFFS stages the AMA Nationals, publishes the annual NFFS Symposium Reports, and disburses tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships to deserving youth. For more information on NFFS and its programs visit www.freeflight.org."

2012 USA F1D Team Selection Program

I have accepted the role of Team Selection Committee chairman for the next F1D cycle and am looking forward to a great season leading up to the finals this year.

In addition to the normal functions, there are a few other tasks I'd like to see accomplished. Those include:

  • Fixing the date on which we elect a new chairman and implement any program changes. We are doing both at the start of this year, but the current Team Selection cycle started last year (F1D has a two-year Team Selection cycle). The program concludes with the final Team Selection contest, which is often held Labor Day weekend but is sometimes scheduled for other dates to accommodate a particular site.
  • Ensuring the team's continued funding. There are two criteria that affect a team's funding level: participation and performance. We currently receive the highest level of funding based on the team's excellent performance history. (It was recently pointed out to me that there has never been an F1D World Championships that didn't see at least one US podium spot, including 15 US World Champions and three podium sweeps.)

I would also like to see the program lock in funding via participation. We would need 20 or more competitors at the Team Selection Finals or 25 or more active members in the Team Selection Program. So in addition to the fun and challenge available through the program, you can also help solidify the program's funding by participating in it and attending the finals. Fly F1D!

  • Ensuring the Junior team's current funding. The Team Procedures Book specifies that "If there are five or more entries for a World Championship Junior Team, the team will be fielded and funded at the discretion of the FAI Executive Committee."

This means we have a continuous task in front of us to bring new Juniors into the program as the existing ones graduate. Achieving this goal will also help us field a full three-person Junior team—a key step toward achieving a team podium spot. The last two Junior teams had only two members. With a third they almost certainly would have achieved a podium finish, if not the team championship.

If you know of any SO hotshots or any other aviation-minded kids who would be up for the challenge, contact me via e-mail and I will help hook them up with local mentors.

A new web forum is available to discuss the program, share documents, see the latest regional standings, etc. The address is included at the end of this column.

Hip Pocket Aeronautics F1D Build

If all this F1D Team Selection talk has you inspired, check this out. In preparation for his first F1D World Championships appearance, Australian Tim Hayward-Brown has been constructing some new models. He chronicled his latest build on the Hip Pocket Aeronautics website.

Follow along with Tim's detailed descriptions and copious photos. There are even comments and suggestions from several current World Championship participants from around the world.

Tim's process isn't the only way to get a model done, but it is one complete path with many innovative techniques. I have constructed more than 20 F1Ds, but even I learned a few tricks.

Till next time. JK

Sources

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.