RADIO CONTROL SCALE AEROBATICS
Mike Hurley, 11542 Decatur Ct., Westminster CO 80234; E-mail: [email protected]
IN THE PAST several years I’ve flown in and/or helped with a fair number of Scale Aerobatics (SA) contests. Many of them were run extremely well, and when that happens everybody has a lot of fun. But I’ve also been to several that were poorly run and frustrating to fly in. You’ve probably been to some of those: contests that start late, pilots’ meetings that don’t tell you much, dead time in which no one is flying, long waits between flights, “local” rules, and poorly trained judges, or even judging bias.
As a contest director (CD) you don’t want your event to get a reputation for any of the aforementioned characteristics, but it does happen. It’s your job as a CD to understand how to run a contest, and I fully expect that most of you do.
For CDs and fliers who are new to International Miniature Aerobatic Club (IMAC) flying, I’m going to give you a few tips and hints to help your contest be a great success. This is not a comprehensive guide; think of it as help in avoiding the most common mistakes made at the local level.
It is somewhat expected that IMAC contests are a little more laid-back and relaxed. A helpful, friendly attitude and a willingness to consider a rule’s intent rather than ruling to the letter are good things and will help keep IMAC a place where people who are starting out will want to go.
However, this is a contest, and a lackadaisical atmosphere is no place for competition. The CD and helpers should be tending to the business at hand—not hanging out with buddies, chewing the fat while contestants try to decide who is going to judge next. I know this next point is controversial, but a CD should not fly in his or her own contest. Plain and simple; it’s a conflict of interest.
Role of the Contest Director
The CD’s attitude about holding and running the event is the key to success. An enthusiastic and fresh approach will give you the energy to run an event that takes leadership, planning, and a lot of work. If you’ve run your contest for several years and you’re a little burned-out or your heart’s not in it, consider stepping back and letting someone else run it, even if you’ve already committed. The best contests are put on by new, optimistic CDs or veterans who remain excited and enthusiastic about SA.
Preparation and Volunteers
Preparation for the contest has to begin months, and maybe even a year, before the event date. Groundwork starts with rounding up volunteer helpers and supplemental judges. Granted, most contests are pilot-judged, but having a couple of nonflying judges helps take the burden off pilots and makes the contest much more enjoyable.
Qualified judges are hard to come by in many areas, so build a cadre of judges within your club:
- Hold judging seminars and one-on-one tutoring with volunteer judges.
- Give judges and helpers special attention so they feel needed and appreciated.
- Consider raffles, prizes, or nominal pay for judges and helpers to increase participation.
During the contest, make sure judges and helpers have plenty of food and water, adequate breaks between stints, and a canopy to keep the sun off them while they concentrate on scoring. A comfortable judge is a happy judge!
At the end of the contest, before handing out trophies to pilots, publicly recognize your staff of helpers and judges. Make sure they don't go home empty-handed—give them an award of appreciation or hold a special raffle. Do these things and you'll have more volunteers than you can handle next year.
A sure way to lose volunteers is to put all the burden on a few people, give them no education or support, keep them in the chair all day, and fail to acknowledge their efforts at the end of the contest. Don’t charge people to attend judging seminars—encourage participation and help as many people get involved as possible.
Rules and Consistency
When planning, advertising for, and running your contest, strive for consistency and adherence to AMA and IMAC rules and procedures. There's nothing more frustrating than traveling hundreds of miles to a contest and having to deal with hometown rules. If it's a club-members-only event and you all agree on doing it your own way, fine. But if it's open to all AMA members, your contest needs to abide by AMA and IMAC rules.
My pet peeve is the pilot/panel rule. It may seem odd, but it is a rule, and most pilots have taken the time and trouble to adhere to it. Yes, you can list it as a deviation in your AMA sanction if you feel strongly, but consider what that says to fliers who spent the time, effort, money, and took the weight penalty. Enforce it. Even if you don't like the rules or know a better way to handle things, it is in everybody's best interest to put personal ideas aside and run the contest by the intent of the rulebook.
Day-of-Event — Logistics
Make sure all participants understand what time the pilots' meeting will begin and when flying will start by listing it in your flyer and AMA announcement. Get there early and give yourself plenty of time to set up and be ready for the pilots' meeting. Have judges lined up for the first round of flying well before the meeting. Define the flight order and flightline designations before the meeting so flying can commence immediately afterward.
Be ready for the meeting with plenty of notes, and decide how the contest will be run well in advance. Keep copies of the AMA and IMAC rules close by for reference throughout the contest. If you use flightline tenders (helpers who keep pilots in the ready box so the line keeps moving), have them trained and ready before the pilots' meeting. It's a good idea to meet with your helpers the day before the contest so everyone is ready the morning of the event.
In the meetings with your helpers and the pilots, don't assume that anybody knows anything. Spell out every aspect of how you will run the contest and what is expected of each participant. A good pilots' meeting can make or break the contest. The more each participant knows, the smoother the day will go.
Pilots' Meeting — What to Cover
Some examples (not a complete list) of things to include in the pilots' meeting are:
- Define the box and how to spot and take action for boundary infractions.
- Completely outline flightline procedures, landing, and takeoff, including the two-minute restart rules.
- Define flameout, landing, and restart rules.
- Outline any deviations from written AMA or IMAC rules.
- Explain how the day will proceed (number of rounds, flying through lunch, etc.).
- Show people the flight order and their designated flightline.
- Explain how the impound will work—have an impound no matter how few the frequency contentions. It's far less hassle than picking up sticks from a 35% Extra and trying to smooth over hard feelings.
- Explain trim-pass procedures and time limitations.
- Fully define avoidance procedures.
- Explain where and when pilots are to start their engines, and place starting positions with judges' safety in mind (judges behind the propeller, please).
- Go over actual scoring procedures, how K-factors work, how many rounds are thrown out, and what normalizing means.
- If you're noise testing, outline those procedures.
Explaining these items up front will avoid confusion and save you from arbitrating conflicts throughout the event. Even though you think people should know, cover small details such as how two sequences make a flight round, who handles score sheets, and how the flight order will be changed between rounds.
Unknowns and Freestyle
Another pilots' meeting held on Sunday should outline the day and cover details about the Unknowns and Freestyle:
- Randomly choose and announce the flight order for the Unknown round.
- Explain whether pilots will fly one sequence or two on the Unknown flight (most contests fly one sequence).
- Be sure to have score sheets for the Unknown!
- Basic class will fly a normal round of two sequences—clarify this.
- Ask for questions about the Unknowns and explain how uncommon maneuvers (such as tailslides) will be judged.
- Explain how the Freestyle will proceed and encourage pilots to sign up during the pilots' meeting.
- Hold a quick meeting with Freestyle pilots and judges just before it starts to go over judging criteria, timing, starting and stopping procedures, and deadline infractions.
Scoring
Scoring manually can be a nightmare, and some scoring programs can be frustrating if you need to retrieve data, recalculations, or add a late pilot. Dave Smith wrote a new Excel-based program called "Score" that eliminates many issues with other programs. You can download it from the IMAC Web site for free:
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
