Looking into competing and have questions
 

1st question is I have an older giles 202 1/4 scale with a 120 os ax on it, will this work to start with?

2nd question I am located in southeast missouri closest large town is memphis tennessee about 2 hour drive away, what region would I be in if i joined and also where would be a good place to compete for the first time, I have done a full scale competition in our pitts but never a model one but I am interested in doing this as well as persuing the full scale.

3rd If there are no locations within a couple hour drives what about a smaller model I could fit in one of our full scale plane(Citabria or a Cardinal RG) that I could fly to maybe, I have a great planes extra 300s .40 kit that I fly a lot as well, is this to small.

4th Can there be any modifications made to a kit or does it have to be stock per the plans?

Thanks in advance I'm sure I'll have more

A little background on me is that I've been flying model for about 15+ years therefore I feel pretty comfortable with flying acro and do routinely practice my full scale stuff with my model to help me visualize the routine. (which I notice the primary for IMAC is about like the Sportman for the IAC, which is cool but just something I noticed) I fly full scale but I do enjoy the models about as equally you can find me at our airport in one day fly our pitts s1 in the morning then cropdust after that to pay for the toys :) then if i get done doing that pull one of my models out to fly it too so I am not some one thats mr. full scale looking down on a modelers because I was a modeler before the fullscale again thanks for the input and hope I can get into this stuff too.

RE: Looking into competing and have questions
 

You seem to be in the northeast corner of South Central as far as regions go, not far from the border with South East and North Central. I don't see that it matters much what region you're in, what matters is where are there contests you can get to over a weekend.

You can go to mini-iac.com, check out who is the Regional Director for South Central and ask him what the usual contest locations are, but you'd probably want to check Kentucky & Tennessee as well, which are in other regions.

I've seen 40-60 size glow powered planes compete at IMAC contests, and they are certainly enough to get you started. However, once you're been to a few contests, lust for a gasser will most likely overtake you. Your G-202/120-OS will do fine to get you started. If it's the Great Planes model, I've seen that fly with a 160FX, and that was competitive. For Basic IMAC, any AMA legal model airplane will fill the bill. It's only in Sportsman and higher classes that the scale aerobat rules apply. You can modify any kit pretty much any way you want and still be legal in Basic.

Here in New England we occasionally hold an IMAC contest at a full-scale airport, so you could fly in by full scale and be at the contest field as soon as you set your wheels down, but most contests are at model fields, not fullscale airports, so you'd still have the problem of local transport for your model.

I consider myself lucky to have three contests a year within a two-hour drive for me, but I doubt you'd have that advantage where you're located. I think most IMAC flyers figure on driving even 6-8 hours to get to some of their contests. Many of them haul their 1/3 scale models in a trailer; others drive a van or big SUV. But I've seen some fairly large models get stuffed into passenger cars, sometimes by taking out back seat, passenger seat or both. You have to understand that guys flying in the upper classes spend several thousand dollars on their 40% gassers, so another few thousand for a trailer is not such a big deal for them, and it provides safe and convenient storage for their babies when they get home.

RE: Looking into competing and have questions
 

Thanks Major for the advice I was afraid I was not going to be close to one, its the same for the full scale for me too. My giles with the 1.20 will almost hover, surprised me since everyone said it wouldn't be enough power but after doing some calculations it really has an advantage on this airframe because of the almost pound lighter than the 1.6 so I beleive this model would've been a hit if everyone would've used the the 120 but just my opinion again thats for the advice and I'm going to see if i can't find atleast one or two contest I can try out next year. This looks like a lot of fun!

RE: Looking into competing and have questions
 

Your giles would work fine. I started out with a Midwest Giles with a SuperTigre 1.43 (2300) about 8 or 9 years ago.

As for contests close... there are at least three in Illinois within 3.5 hours. These would most likely be the closest ones for you. There's one on the east side of St Louis in Pontoon Beach. There's one in Effingham. There's one in Browns. This is assuming of course that all of these contests will be returning next season. There are two contests in Clinton, IN, just north of Terre Haute, that are run at a full scale airport as well.

Good luck and keep the questions coming!

Gary H.

RE: Looking into competing and have questions
 

thanks gary I may have to get to those! does the bigger plane help? can a 40 size extra compete and be able to win in the lower class?

RE: Looking into competing and have questions
 

Does the bigger plane help? Absolutely. I'm not going to lie. Look at it like this... you can use a tack hammer to hammer a 10d nail, or you can use a framing hammer. The framing hammer will sink the nail in a couple swings, assuming you have good aim! The tack hammer is going to put that nail in the board as well, but you're going to have to work a lot harder to get it there! The airplanes are tools to show your ability as a pilot. Having the right tools just makes your job easier.

Can the .40 size extra "compete and win"? That really is up to the pilot and his abilities. If you can fly that airplane in a truly straight line, keeping the wings level... if the airplane has enough power to not struggle on an upline or a loop... if you can "present" the maneuvers to the judges effectively with that airplane, it can compete with anything out there. However, if you're constantly struggling to keep your wings straight, level, etc..., your scores are going to show it.

I fly in the North Central region. This past year I judged a few of the basic rounds at some of the contests. There were airplanes from .40 size glow to 40% in that class. ...and ya know what? That had to be consistently the most competitive class I saw all year top to bottom!

My suggestion to you is don't worry about coming out there and winning your first contest. Get some experience under your belt. Compete in a couple contests and see the way things are run, the way the upper class pilots present their maneuvers, and mostly just to get used to flying in front of the judges. Don't be afraid to ask questions while you're there.

The most important thing is to keep it fun! Don't get intimidated by the larger airplanes you fly against.

gh

RE: Looking into competing and have questions
 

I will back up what IMACflyer says about plane size. Yes, big planes are easier to fly, they do 'present' better to the judges, they do resist buffeting by the wind better than smaller planes. They are also a lot more expensive, and more of a nuisance to lug around.

We just finished an IMAC meet last weekend, with three entries in Basicone 72" Slick 540 and two 50 cc gassers. The Slick won the class. My co-CD started his IMAC career with a Sig Somethin' Extra, flew it for a season. I never heard whether he won any contests with it, but it was good enough to take him through a season. His second IMAC plane was a Hangar 9 120 size Edge, which he flew with an OS 160FX, and he did win his class with that. My first IMAC plane was also an Edge, 72" wingspan, 1.50 size glow. I've seen a variety of models in Basic, down to .40 size glow, so you wouldn't be bucking tradition if you compete with a small glow model. One of our other pilots in the Northeast Region won Sportsman a couple years back flying a Goldberg Sukhoi glow model.

If you're interested in IMAC, the most important thing is to get yourself out to a meet, take in the experience that you can only get by being there in the thick of things, talk to the guys, see what they fly, how they fly, how they score. That plus plenty of practice, and whatever you can find for a coach to fly with every now and then. Most meets open their fields for practice on Friday before the event, and every IMAC pilot I ever met has always been happy to watch a Basic practice round and offer suggestions to improve your flying.