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1. It turns out that F1Q can be flown in a free format (five flights) at American Cup Contests, as shown the following correspondence:
First, my e-mail to Jim Parker:
One of the problems F1Q faces is the requirement to fly 7 rounds before flyoffs. In fact, this is considered as a hardship by some electric fliers. What I’m suggesting is that the America Cup will officially allow a lighter alternative (relative to the 7 round FAI format) along the following lines:F1Q Light format (optional)
1. Five flights will be flown until a pre announced cutoff time at 12 or 1 PM.
2. Depending on the forecasted wind speed, the contest director can shorten
the max to 2:30 or 2 minutes before the contest begins.
3. The fliers who are maxed out will continue in a synchronic flyoff, to be flown
in a 10 minute windows, curtailing the motor run by 5 seconds each round.Jim Parker’s response was:
“Aram, current rules allow this:
F1A, B and C Contests must be a minimum of 7 rounds plus flyoffs if required. First round max durations should require the current extended flight times as stated in the FAI Sporting Code. F1G, H and J contests must fly a minimum of 5 rounds plus flyoffs if required. The F1A, B, C, G, H and J events must have discreet rounds and must be flown from a launch line. F1P, F1Q and F1E are flown as a provisional events and may deviate for the standard FAI rules such as they may be flown jointly with other events, not in rounds not from a line etc. In the case of deteriorating weather or for safety reasons, contests can be terminated after 5 rounds, and the Contest Director must provide the situation description. The CD must also indicate which round max durations were shortened from those stated in the FAI Sporting Code”.…. “Q is getting close with 14 contests flown and an average of about 2. After the requirements are met, SCAT will determine the particular to go “Full” and obtain a F1Q perpetual Cup.”
“Thermals, JIM”These rules allow enough “wiggle room” to fly the F1Q Light format above in the American Cup.
2. Recently, B-electric and E-36 have been aded as provisional events in the National Cup, as the following e-mail from Bob Matters (11/17/08) attests :
“Electric Power – There are some who believe electric power is the future of powered model aircraft – free flight included. … At the NATS 2 people flew in A Electric and 8 flew in B Electric. Typical for the gas and rubber were 10 to 20 fliers in each event. Additionally the quantity of fliers in the electric events at regional and local contests, E-36 included, is unknown due to the lack of any national level record keeping. To see if and when there is sufficient interest in electric power to consider an Electric National Cup, these events will be added on a provisional basis to the N/C Report form. If the CD’s will offer some of the electric events and report participation we will do the tracking and report activity on a yearly basis.”
3. In either an American Cup, or a National Cup, one should strive to have F1Q and B-electric scheduled on two consecutive days of a weekend. This way one can fly in two back-to-back electric contests with the same model(s). It boils down to requesting CDs to include both F1Q and B-electric in next year’s flying season. And since contest sanctions are filed well in advance, these requests should be made soon.
Looks like we are all going to have lots of electric fun next year. But don’t forget to build a few new models in the mean time ….
Just spoke with Jim Mayes who reported on the King Orange F1Q contest yesterday (December 29th). Dan Berry won, Ed Luparelli came in second (too exhausted to fly the last flight) and Vic Nippert came in third with a model in a tree. Congratulation to all three!
The interesting point is that Dan was flying 15-seconds motor runs while Ed and Vic were flying 25-seconds motor runs. We all know that a 25-seconds motor run will practically put a F1Q model out of sight (OOS) and that these models can comfortably do 3-minutes with a 15-second motor run – as Dan demonstrated.
The F1Q rules in the FAI sporting code specifically state that the motor run can be up to 25-seconds. (The original American proposal was to have motor runs up to 20-seconds, based on what we observed in B-electric at the time). Being a new provisional event might explain why CIAM got carried away and upped the ceiling up to 25-seconds, but it is clearly prefaced with an “up to”.
Since everyone is using Lithium Polymer batteries with their high Watt per grams output, the rational to use shorter motor runs is even stronger. Over performance is actually a disadvantage – as illustrated above. So, I’m asking F1Q fliers to use a 15-seconds motor runs next year and avoid misinterpreting the FAI-F1Q rules (turning a ceiling into a target).
Since this is somewhat related to the previous topic, I’m adding it to the same thread. Happy new year to everyone!
I am still in Florida.
I must admit that I used a 20 second motor for all 5 rounds. I lost sight of the plane on the 4th flight. Too high.
I knew I was in the running for the AmCup, so I used 5 seconds of insurance. I don’t like being that high. The chance for a long retrieve is high.
Ed missed the last round on such a retrieve. It was WAY out in some rough terrain.
If you weren’t there , you shoulda been. Weather was great for 2 days and Texas-like for the 3rd.Thanks for the kind words. It was an exciting day for me.
Now I need to get more batteries for my rig. When in doubt, power up!Dan, If you are thinking about a 4s battery check out Fusion-Pack. You don’t have to buy two 2S packs and wire them togther … that’s yuck. FP will make the 4S pack for you and cheap. Contact: sales@fusion-pack.
Dan,
1. Yes, go with 4S 360 mah 25C.
2. Yes, you gotta have a charger that will handle the higher 4S voltage.
3. You want more power? You gotta spend money….
DickWell, I’m all for spending more.
I’m assuming said pack will come with a balancer hookup.
They show as out of stock on the 2s 360mah. I’ll check on the 4s pack.
I’m getting to be like a rc guy— ‘it don’t fly good, I’ll put a bigger engine on it’.How many amps can you draw from the 360 mah cells without drawing them down to the kick out threashold?
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