That's funny that this is brought up cause it happened more than once at the Peach Classic contest. In the cases during my judging time, the plane flopped only 90-degrees off. I wasn't sure if the flop AND the correction were counted as the downgrade or just the flop. I gave a 3 for one stall turn and a 2 for the other (90-degree's off was 6 points off, plus other downgrades).

Seeing as the Nats are just around the corner, and just back from a contest, it might work to everyone’s advantage to see the link below and read through the rules for the AMA downgrades (page 18 on) for a fresh reminder.

Page 18 [link]http://www.modelaircraft.org/events/rulebooks/RC%20Aerobatics.pdf[/link]

Stall Turns: Stall turns are subject to 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 observed in the maneuver. For example, a pendulum movement following the stall would call for an extra full point of downgrade, while a slight difference in entry and exit radii might merit an added half point deduction.

I actually questioned myself as to if there was a downgrade for the correction as well and wanted to refresh my memory as to what it was. There is no mention of it, so I was ok in what I gave as scores. They have some good notes. Like on the stall turn, 45-degree’s off is a 3-point deduction, 150+ degree’s is a zero. Add to it 90-degrees is a 6-point downgrade and it is a good “quick reference” for the stall turn.