ORIGINAL: Montague

Actually, yeah, that is BS. I have numbers over several seasons of combat that show that mid-airs go UP as speed goes down. Slower speeds keeps the planes concentrated into a smaller area of sky in all 3 dimensions. Planes spending more time in a smaller area means more mid-airs. In the faster classes, the planes take more space to turn and cover more ground, so they tend to spread out and use more space. 2610 is the fastest class, and has the lowest mid-airs. Open B is next. Limited B and SSC can be almost non-stop "bumper cars", 1/2A felt like you were never more than 5 feet from another plane, and we rubbed wings almost non-stop. I don't think we ever finished a heat in 1/2A or there was one "survivor" still in the air. It was mid-air city.

REPLY: Kirk, in all frankness, you are the mid-air-ingest pilot I've ever flown with in all my years of combat. Your data on midairs may be applicable to you, but not necessarily to all. I have participated in all 6 classes of combat (Open B, 2610, Limited B, SSC, 2548, and 1/2A) that have been active over the time since 2000 on a regular basis and I don't see such a compelling trend as you assert. I will agree that SSC seems to be worst for midairs, there are often heats where no planes are left flying. But that is not only because of the frequency of midairs, but also because the planes tend to go in more from a hit, because they have less power to pull out of trouble, and the engines are killed more readily. Also the pilot pool in SSC is the biggest, meaning there are more pilots with less-developed skills (by their own admission, those who think they aren't ready, or good enough, to compete in the faster classes) and they lack well-developed skills for pursuit and midair avoidance. Finally, 2548 is very slow, and yet the midair frequency is relatively low, in our experience, which is completely counter to your assertion. We've flown 1/2A for three years. The action is close in, and it's much easier to see midairs coming. The planes are extremely agile and you can avoid midairs if you care to, better than most other classes. I disagree strongly that all 1/2A heats end with all the planes down.


Now, you'll note that I didn't comment on the damage from the mid-airs. the .25 planes DO take more damage from mid-airs. That's one reason I DON'T like Limited-B. All the mid-airs of SSC with the damage of Open B. SSC has much less damage, and 1/2A planes ARE very surviveable, at least the airframes are. But from what I've seen, 1/2A planes are hard to set up, don't handle winds well, don't handle streamer mops well, and frankly aren't as much fun for me as SSC. If you have more fun with 1/2A, then fine, go for it.

REPLY: I disagree that Limited B is "all the midairs of SSC with the damage of Open B." It defies physics. Limited B is slower than Open B. You are flying a 4 pitch prop at a max of 14.5k, while in B you typically see a 4 pitch prop north of 19k. Impact energy goes up with the square of speed. B ships cause much more damage in an impact, its plain physics. The Limited B rules have a min weight of 3.25 pounds. That figure was selected because a builder of average skills could build a well-armored plane with full-size servos at that weight. BUT, what has happened is that people are building planes for Open B (that is, light with minimal armor), for max performance in B, and then BALLASTING THEM with up to 4 ounces of DEAD WEIGHT so they can fly the same plane in Limited B by just changing the muffler and prop. So they are sacrificing armor to enable themselves to fly the same airframes in two classes. That is their personal choice, and if they want to complain about the resulting damage, it shouldn't be blamed on the "class rules." They could help themselves by building more armor into their planes, to toughen them up. On the plus side, Limited B engines are much more reliable and simple to operate than SSC engines. If you are 500 rpm down from the max in SSC, you're a sitting duck, downwind launches become a challenge, and you can't tow streamers well, especially the dreaded looped streamer that acts like a parachute. In limited B if you are 500 rpm down, you still have gobs of thrust, can take off easily, and have plenty of pull to be competitive and drag a streamer load. Limited B is much easier to set up, for both airframe and engine, than SSC, for a newcomer or casual competitor. My son Brian utterly dominated LImited B last year, winning RCCA NPS as well as the NATS, and he flew TWO PLANES all season, one of which flew 90% of his heats. Both of those planes are still airworthy and will be flown at our next meet. He is an aggressive pilot and will go after the tiniest streamer. But he is also excellent at avoiding midairs. He gets on someone's tail and chases them down, which keeps midairs to a minimum. Side swipes and other high-risk attacks are prone to more midairs. "Furball" fliers are going to have more midairs.

Oh, and if you're "jousting" and making head-on passes, you need to work on your piloting skill. Really. Head-on passes are something to avoided in any class at any time. One if the key differneces between the guys who win contests and the guys who don't is simply avoiding stupid things like head-on passes at people. Take that extra split second to go around your target and get behind them, no matter what class you fly. The only time I hit anyone head-on in any class at any time is when I screw up.

REPLY: A similar argument can be made for midair frequency. You're an excellent pilot, but recklessly agressive. Put some of that skill to midair avoidance, your fellow pilots will thank you. Showing up with 6 ready-to-fly planes and going thru them like Sherman through Georgia is not necessarily the way most normal humans like to fly combat. Some do it out of necessity. We'd all breathe easier if the carnage went down, and folks were less reckless in the air.