Hi Guys.... To be clear... there is NO 60° rule in IMAC....This went out 2 years ago (for those who have not attended a recent Judging Seminar). The only thing that exists is the "Aerobatic Airspace" & there are no defined parameters except the "deadline" which is 100 feet out.
When we originally had the "box" there was no definitive way of exactly saying who had broken the box. Various methods were tried including experiments with a GPS system. In reality, the only way would be to have boundary judges set up at each contest.

This reality just will not work in MOST contests since we don't have enough sequence judges as it is and additional "boundary judges would put a strain on an already stretched situation. In addition, boundary judges certainly could be sitting in "alligator alley" or some sort of tarantulla nest etc. on the outer fringes & even at the back of the box.... So what do we do?

At present, the Airspace Control Score is the way to try to get pilots to learn to keep their sequence in a space that the judges can see it properly & judge accordingly. If pilots can get used to this idea & place their maneuvers where they can be judged optimally then they will be rewarded with a higher score on their ACS (Airspace Control Score).

At the recently concluded National/International Judging School [link]http://www.sewbusy.com/IntlJSchool2008.htm[/link] we experimented with possible scores input into a scoring program. When the scores were generated it was revealed that the difference between a 0 & a 5 OR a 5 & a 10 that the final score PER JUDGE (in each sequence) in the Unlimited class would be 20.3 of NORMALIZED points. The ACS score has more "BITE" than we really believe, since an Unlimited pilot can rack up a significant increase in points if he flies in a smaller footprint. The variation goes down as we move into the lower classes.

So, based on this, a pilot should be concentrating as MUCH as possible to place their sequence in a smaller footprint to attain the highest ACS score possible.

Hope this helps.
Wayne
IMAC Judging Instructor