Technically Speaking... - 2009/02

SANCTION RULES: As I stated in one
of my early columns, when the need
arises I’ll use this space to clarify and
maybe interpret some of the AMA rules
when there seems to be a
misunderstanding. I’ve been asked
several times in the recent past about the
event classification system and just how it
works and what exactly it means. These
questions have come from participants as
well as new contest directors.
Down the right side of the contest
sanction request form, there is a list of
event classifications and, as CD, you are
required to choose one. The section is
broken down into two categories: rule
book and non-rule book. Under rule book
events, the classes are listed as A through
AAAAA, B, and FAI.
Without going into too much detail,
the sanction classifications are mainly in
place to protect the draw area distance
according to the importance and scope of
the contest. As the importance and scope
goes up, so does the distance of the area
protected.
Also, rule book events are, as the
name implies, rule book events, meaning
that they involve strict use of the AMA
Competition Regulations as published.
Any deviation from the current published
regulations must be spelled out and
advertised well in advance of the contest,
to allow potential participants the option
prior to traveling. The deviations must
also be cleared through the Technical
Department prior to publishing.
Non-rule book events are just that,
meaning that they will not be flown
according to the published AMA
Competition Regulations. In fact, most
non-rule book events are not contests at
all. There has been a growing popularity
in the past several years of an event that is
noncompetitive, or a “fly-in.”
The vast majority of these “fly-ins”
are for the IMAA members (Giant Scale),
which prompted the use of the term
“restricted” after the Class C event. A
simple Class C event would be a non-rule
book event with no restrictions other than
a participant must be an AMA member.
The Class C restricted event is restricted to
a certain SIG membership or group of
pilots.
Those events can also be restricted by
the type of aircraft to be flown, such as
“Warbirds,” “Gyrocopters,” etc.
One frequent misperception about
Class C events is that many think they
cannot be a contest because of the
classification. Often there are awards
given at Class C events, but the criteria for
the awards, whether flying, static, or other,
is not written in the official AMA
Competition Regulations and therefore is
not a rule book event. It is recommended
that if there is to be a contest associated
with a Class C event that the rules be
advertised in advance, but it’s not required.
The other classification under non-rule
book is the “D” event, or Demonstration.
This class is to enable a sanction to be
written for air show-type situations,
whether public or private, in which
insurance is still needed more for spectator
than participant.
If you would like more details on this
subject, you can read the actual regulations
pertaining to classification in the AMA
Competition Regulations under the
General Section, pages 1 through 5. The
following Web address will take you
directly to the page: www.modelaircraft.org/
files/events/rulebooks/0708general.pdf.
See you at briefing. MA