Free Flight: Indoor
ABOUT EIGHT MONTHS AGO chit-chat between Del Ogren and Roger Schroeder developed the concept of an Internet-based postal contest for the A-6 class. The A-6 class was proposed by Clarence Mather, and the San Diego Orbiteers club published the rules and began promoting the event. The first such contest is history, with excellent results, including an imposing international entry. Hats off to Del and Roger! The data below was taken from the Internet. Complete results are available from http:/n-lemma.com/indoor/. Contestant, Time, Adj Time (sec), Ht. Andrew Tagliafico, 6:40, 415, 47 John-Lenderman 6:36, 441, 47 Akihiro Danjo, 6:26, 400, 48.3 Mark Allison, 6:23, 398, 47 Lew Gitlow, 6:03, 378, 47 Emil Schutzel, 5:05, 334, 26.5
Free Flight: Indoor
NEW F1D RULES: Some drastic changes were made in the F1D event rules, to be effective after the 2000 Indoor World Championships. For those who haven't heard, minimum model weight was increased to 1.2 grams, maximum span was reduced to 55cm, and the rubber was limited to .5 gram. The proposal was generated by Andras Ree, a prominent Indoor flier from Hungary. He cited concerns over a worldwide decline in F1D participation, stating "Some of us are talking about the `freedom' of the present rules, but if you look on successful designs, nearly all are within, let's say, 10% of tolerances."
Free Flight: Indoor
TERRY JENKINS of Ontario, Canada wrote to mildly chastise me for "promoting Radio Controlled Indoor Flying." His well-taken point is that RC interests may well overwhelm all available Indoor sites, to the exclusion of "true" Indoor flying. This is a troubling possibility, but my not reporting this activity surely would have little impact on the site problem. There is no doubt that Indoor RC of any ilk is not compatible with other Indoor types. However, Indoor Electric FF, CO2 FF and Scale, all other Indoor Scale models except perhaps Lo-Cal, and P-24 models are equally incompatible with what I call "true" Indoor models. As fliers of duration models covered with microfilm or plastic, Jim Clem and I pay our pro rata share of site rental, and get (at most, on average) 50 minutes of flying time in return for a 70+ mile round trip.
Free Flight: Indoor
Joe Kehr believes he is enough of a newcomer to Indoor that his remarks can be considered to be objective, especially about F1D models. In response to the remarks Cezar Banks made in the January 1999 column, Joe suggests that the time for a change may be here, regardless of how attractive and slow-flying microfilm-covered models may be. Joe also supports the concept of moving to a 55cm span limit: "There are a handful of mainline model builders that wish to continue with the task of covering with microfilm . . . leave them to their bathtubs and hoops. However, consider those of us who would participate actively in the class if it didn't take years to develop the skill level . . . just to cover it. Handling manufactured film is difficult enough without the problem of finding microfilm solutions and flying sites which will accommodate their fragile nature.
Free Flight: Indoor
Health Watch at USIC: As expected, Jim Grant made it back, looking as well as he always has. It was also good to see Jim Buxton flying HLG, almost as well as he had before his accident. Before the competition, Jim had expressed some doubt about how well he would do. He had been working out, and had consulted a physical therapist about specific training. As it turned out, he very nearly won HLG-only a fraction of a second behind Bernie Boehm, his longtime mentor. Although Bob Champine hasn't flown Indoor for several years, he returned this year. Bob is in a long recovery from a serious stroke, and was able to fly several events. Welcome back, Bob! Dick Hardcastle learned early this year that he had melanoma on his back and cancer in one lung. In a dual operation, the melanoma was removed, and exploratory surgery was done on the lung. Dick said the doctors cheered when the lung cancer wasn't melanoma-and then they removed the lung. Dick was upbeat at USIC, flying several events. He is getting stronger by the day, with very good prognosis.
