ORIGINAL: Wings-RCU
Hovering on the deck a few feet away is really no different than any other RC flying we have been doing for years.
If you truly believe this, and if you convince others to agree, then we are in serious trouble. Not trying to pick a fight, but 3D flying is not the same thing. Most 3D manuevers are a stalled condition, so you are not really flying. It is not more than grossly over powering a plane and manipulating it. You could do the same thing to a 2x4, put control surfaces on it and an engine big enough to do it and I guarantee you it could hover.
FLYING an airplane means that the plane has enough momentum that if you were to completely chop the throttle it would not just fall out of the sky. An inverted pass over the runway low enough to bump the rudder might cause the plane to crash, but in the same direction as it was travelling. A hover over the runway low enough to bump the rudder will cause the plane to fall in the direction of it's CG if more power is not applied, here's the important part, WHICH COULD BE ANY DIRECTION. Obviously we know that this can be done successfully, but it is dangerous. We need to maintain a level of safety......we need to keep our distance
Don't get me wrong, I love to 3D, but we NEED to keep it safe.