ORIGINAL: rhklenke
Very interesting... I'm going to stay tuned to see what the AMA says. Personally, I think that this event has the potential to be safer than a jet speed event. Yes, I know that kinetic enegry is determined by both mass
and speed and a big, slow model can be as destructive as a small, fast one. However, I think that the techniques for building very big models as opposed to very fast ones are simpler and better known to most experienced modelers, the strength needed for a heavy weight is more easily tested than that required for very fast speed, and a big, slow model is easier to get out of the way of if it starts to go astray...
Bob
FWIW, at Bomber Field a few weeks ago, a very experienced pilot was flying a large P-38, and lost an engine on take off. The airplane became unstable and went into the tents. Went through a tent and crashed into a $2,000 prop plane under the tent. People were running everywhere.
I've seen this happen a couple of times over the years, less than five. And the one thing that I have taken away from this, is that to state that a big slow model is easier to get out of the way if it starts to go astray, I believe is simply not true.
There is a joke a friend tells about a Ducted Fan F-4 that was headed to the pits a couple years ago. He says, "I looked at Doug, Doug looked at me, and we ran half a mile and only went 10 feet".
You simply can not anticipate with much accuracy which way to run IMO.