Judging Clinic Northern VA
03-29-2015, 04:44 PM
#4
Several Q&As that came up during the seminar (which were taken as action items for follow up)
A few follow-up answers to questions:
Slipping during maneuvers. I could find no references in the AMA or FAI books regarding this during flight.
"In all cases, straight and level flight means flight parallel to the flight line, at a constant altitude, and with wings level"
And page RCA-17 of the AMA regulations states, with regard to wind correction, "For example, a half loop turnaround is tracking South (180 degrees) to maintain a wind corrected path with the flight line. The crab angle is 15 degrees and the actual model heading is 195 degrees (180 degrees plus 15 degrees crab). After the half loop turnaround the model must now be heading 345 degrees and tracking North (360 degrees). This keeps the model in the same vertical plane (within reason). In order to make the required heading change the model may be rolled gradually so as to bring the wings perpendicular to the flight line midway through the turnaround and further rolled to establish the correct wind correction on exit without downgrade. This gradual roll, in effect, keeps the wings level and parallel to the flight track throughout the maneuver."
So the only reference to slipping the aircraft is during landing: The pilot slips to a landing€¯ to handle a crosswind condition in which case a wing will be low.
"Hot Dogging"- (e.g., a pilot wants to check knife edge trim during a free pass?)
The execution of free-style aerobatic maneuvers or hot-dogging during the allowed free passes after takeoff and before landing is specifically prohibited. Contestants may maneuver the aircraft as necessary for trim purposes, and may employ any simple 180 degree turnaround maneuver of their choice to position the aircraft for landing or entry into the maneuvering area. If, in the judges opinion, a prohibited maneuver has been performed during the allowed free passes, the following maneuver shall be scored zero (0).
Positioning of maneuvers
One item related to positioning manevuers has an exception- that is related to a sun condition. "The judge should follow through to the best of his/her ability, and resist the temptation to downgrade the maneuver for this unfortunate circumstance. It may be possible for the competitor to offset maneuvers to avoid the sun. If this is to be done, it should be discussed between the competitor and the judges prior to the flight. If, after such discussion, an aircraft crosses the sun unnecessarily, the judge is perfectly justified in being quite severe."
Stall turn pitch.
The question came up with regard to "pitching before the turn" in Intermediate downgrade, "Model not pitched to vertical at start and finish of stall turn".
The rule book does not discuss this. The only reference is the One Point per 15 Degree Rule, i.e., a flopped¯ turn (rotation through the pitch axis rather than the yaw axis) should be downgraded one point for each 15 degrees of deviation from defined maneuver geometry. A flop of 45 degrees would earn a 3 point downgrade, while a flop of 160 degrees or more would receive a zero. These downgrades should be applied in addition to downgrades for any other defects. I will inquire further on this item.
This and all other information can be found at: http://nsrca.us/index.php/sequences
A few follow-up answers to questions:
Slipping during maneuvers. I could find no references in the AMA or FAI books regarding this during flight.
"In all cases, straight and level flight means flight parallel to the flight line, at a constant altitude, and with wings level"
And page RCA-17 of the AMA regulations states, with regard to wind correction, "For example, a half loop turnaround is tracking South (180 degrees) to maintain a wind corrected path with the flight line. The crab angle is 15 degrees and the actual model heading is 195 degrees (180 degrees plus 15 degrees crab). After the half loop turnaround the model must now be heading 345 degrees and tracking North (360 degrees). This keeps the model in the same vertical plane (within reason). In order to make the required heading change the model may be rolled gradually so as to bring the wings perpendicular to the flight line midway through the turnaround and further rolled to establish the correct wind correction on exit without downgrade. This gradual roll, in effect, keeps the wings level and parallel to the flight track throughout the maneuver."
So the only reference to slipping the aircraft is during landing: The pilot slips to a landing€¯ to handle a crosswind condition in which case a wing will be low.
"Hot Dogging"- (e.g., a pilot wants to check knife edge trim during a free pass?)
The execution of free-style aerobatic maneuvers or hot-dogging during the allowed free passes after takeoff and before landing is specifically prohibited. Contestants may maneuver the aircraft as necessary for trim purposes, and may employ any simple 180 degree turnaround maneuver of their choice to position the aircraft for landing or entry into the maneuvering area. If, in the judges opinion, a prohibited maneuver has been performed during the allowed free passes, the following maneuver shall be scored zero (0).
Positioning of maneuvers
One item related to positioning manevuers has an exception- that is related to a sun condition. "The judge should follow through to the best of his/her ability, and resist the temptation to downgrade the maneuver for this unfortunate circumstance. It may be possible for the competitor to offset maneuvers to avoid the sun. If this is to be done, it should be discussed between the competitor and the judges prior to the flight. If, after such discussion, an aircraft crosses the sun unnecessarily, the judge is perfectly justified in being quite severe."
Stall turn pitch.
The question came up with regard to "pitching before the turn" in Intermediate downgrade, "Model not pitched to vertical at start and finish of stall turn".
The rule book does not discuss this. The only reference is the One Point per 15 Degree Rule, i.e., a flopped¯ turn (rotation through the pitch axis rather than the yaw axis) should be downgraded one point for each 15 degrees of deviation from defined maneuver geometry. A flop of 45 degrees would earn a 3 point downgrade, while a flop of 160 degrees or more would receive a zero. These downgrades should be applied in addition to downgrades for any other defects. I will inquire further on this item.
This and all other information can be found at: http://nsrca.us/index.php/sequences
Last edited by Don Szczur; 03-29-2015 at 04:47 PM.
03-30-2015, 07:58 AM
#5
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The wording "pitched to vertical" is (I believe) a holdover from some previous attempts to describe downgrades to a stall turn. I think the idea that was trying to be expressed here is better explained by saying "Track must be vertical" i.e. apply a downgrade if upline and downline tracks are not vertical. I will get this changed on the NSRCA website.
