So your thoughts on the whole money at event things?

Honestly I could care less what he thinks or says.

Mike

Meh. I can take it or leave it, I go to events to interact with others that enjoy the same hobby I do. I certainly do not use the prize fund as a barometer to judge whether it was, "successful" or not.

On the other hand, I have hosted and run events that have donated many thousands of $$ to local charities. I would consider those events, "successful" (for the charities, if for nothing else), and it could be ASSUMED that many of the participants considered it successful, as they freely spent their money at the event one way or the other (food, raffle, entry, just a plain donation without expectation of anything in return). The REAL measure of a, "successful" event is the satisfaction achieved by those who attended. I am sure that for every "successful" event that I have run, there have been those who attended that did not feel the same way.


Astro

You said the majority of the crashes happen in the upper left of the photo of your field as they turn to land.

I was thinking about that last night, by chance would the predominant wind direction be from top to bottom as you look at that field pic you posted?

The whole "prize money" thing is usually attached to invitational events and are really not the norm. I could probably name numerous national events ( such as the Nat's) where you get a plaque or trophy but most important bragging rights. Most "everyday" events raffles and so on are just to cover expenses of putting it on or donations to charities. Everyone I know who attends these it's about the flying and the people along with the hobby and not about handing them a check..

Mike

And that is precisely what you did:

you were advocating for the drone thing in Muncie, Mike replied with a picture from said event and challenged your grandiose description of said event with his comments that it didn't look to be as large a scale as you portrayed and you returned with, "Got pics of your last event, cash prize listings as well?"

Now I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but this is exactly what you have done!

Regards,

Astro

In most instances the wind is going north, so from the bottom of the pic upwards, so in theory this should actually help the aircraft as it makes it's left turn, at least until it lines up with the runway. If it was a turn into downwind, it would be even worse! Its pretty common to see the planes head upwards once they start that turn, in those wind conditions. The problem (I think) is that folks let the planes get into the tree line and since it's moving away from them, just have a tendency to lose depth perception and the forward speed, and when they turn, they go into a stall and then panic. I've done it myself a few times but was saved by the tall grass. I approach the turn above the treeline now and feel like it gives me a better view on speed and decent, god knows there is plenty of room to correct glide slope etc etc before landing. I try for the runway most times, just because it's there. Those trees have collected many a "toll". The other thing with our field is that it's surrounded by nature trails. It's protected wetlands with lots of wildlife and the residents of the home we are behind have carved a bunch of nature trails in those woods. They are lined with mulch, and have benches and seats along the paths. The canopy is about 40-60 feet up, and usually the planes get blown down eventually by the wind. The walkers will normally bring the plane back to our shed and just leave the carcasses on the table. Some come down quick, some a few years.

Right, it's easier to just say something and not have to respond to an alternative viewpoint, case in point the whole money thing at events. You'll mock a drone group for promoting the event and indicating they have cash and prizes, but are going to remain silent when I give three specific examples of "traditional" flying events doing the same exact thing. I'm left to wonder if you didn't know those other events did that, or would just apply a double standard to those events because they fly fixed wing only. Or both. Who knows.
For someone who can take it or leave it, you sure seem to take it a lot! But you're still deflecting or dodging the issue. Mike specifically mocked the fact that the drone events talk about cash and prizes (I mean, the alleged events) but I've given three specific examples of events who do that as well. I know he won't respond because it's really not easy to do so when faced with the facts, but I'm curious as to your thoughts on his position. It's bad for the droners, but seemingly o/k for the fixed wing crowd.

I agree 100% with you on the metric for judging success, ie finances. We've never held an event with the dollar signs in our eyes, it's always been about having fun. One of our main events we hold every year is free, no landing fee, no parking fee, just come and have fun. We will do burgers and dogs for a couple of bucks, our goal is just to not lose money on that. We also serve the seniors who live behind our field free food and drinks. Keep in mind, the starting rent at this place is about 10,000 a month! We set up a viewing tent at show center just for them and their families, and man do they love a free hot dog and coke, lol. This past weekend a few of them brought their kids and grandkids, saddled right up for the free food. We gave away at least $100.00 in food (at cost) to them, but we see it as a drop in the bucket.

We've moved away from the big donations/raffle table we had years ago that would have to be manned for two days, and of course would take all year to beg for the items. Now we hit up two local hobby shops once a year, and get two good items for each event. This time it was a Carbon Z T-28, and a DX6i. We did about 700 in sales on that...pretty nice. A portion of proceeds from every event we have goes to our towns food bank, and the purchase of (sorry for the plug here) MA subscriptions for all the town's libraries and middle/high schools.

I don't begrudge any of the events advertising what their cash or prizes are, I see it as another fun part of the hobby.

You're still comparing two completely different things. An invitational is one thing, a local fun fly is another. The MR/FPV racing is in fact invitational, just like the 3 examples I gave, so it should stand to reason that if you have a big issue with the MR folks talking about money, you should have the same thought process about the fixed wing ones doing it too, but I suspect you will give them a "pass".

Of course folks come to the fun fly's for fun, and because they enjoy being around like minded folks who enjoy the hobby as they do. I'd go so far to say the folks at the invitations events do the same, the prize money is just a bonus. Another one of our most attended events is done on Jan 1st of every year, it's also free. Actually we usually "lose" money on that getting coffee and donuts. Most of those attending are from other clubs and just like to come and fly and kill some time in the freezing cold. Makes about as much sense getting tanked the night before.

The majority of the races are not invite only. That organization for well off people was invite only.

I have no clue were he got that were invitational.The AMA website has a link to the event and how MultiGP held qualifers to get to the nationals.
Mike

Clearly some events are, some are not. The issue that you seemed initially focused on was that of prize money. Some offer it, some don't. But again, we're talking about two different types of events. One is the local events that most of us go to, the other is a larger, either invite only, or hosting folks who have qualified for a place in racing.

Here was/is the link to the event which did go off without any issues, was actually livecast for 10 plus hours. Lot's of other interesting info on that SIGS webpage, certainly more active than most of the other SIGs pages I've seen. Just more confirmation of the popularity and continued growth of this type and style of flying. Pretty soon, it will be considered "traditional", just like turbines and helis.

http://www.multigp.com/

A press release from last week noting the MR race as one of three activities going on at Muncie this weekend. Seems pretty busy, certainly understandable why we would want a world class facility representing our hobby.

http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/L...theAMA2016.pdf

And this thread, in a nutshell, shows why I don't post in the AMA forum anymore. I've seen basically nothing that has been on topic the past 40+ posts. I see attack and parry over and over again. Maybe one of you should request a moderator to shut this thread down

And yet you posted in this AMA forum. The AMA threads all tend to meander a bit, as the issues are mostly related. Outside of the obvious attacks, the discussions are ongoing. Trying to shut down threads when contrary opinions are noted is discouraged here, thankfully, and not something that's usually done. It's usually an attempt to censor or silence. Did you have anything to add on the thread topic?

Why add anything? It will just be ridiculed or refuted as pretty much all my posts have been in every other AMA thread by you and Sport. I've gave my opinion on this thread and won't be posting in it again

Well we all have our opinions don't we, and the personal choice of whether we want to participate in a discussion or not? Are the AMA forums supposed to be a collection of people just +1'ing and agreeing with each other? Is it really such a big deal to have an opinion challenged? I don't always agree with Sport, or Franklin for that matter but it doesn't stop us from having an ongoing conversation. I don't get the idea of "not posting" just because someone might not agree with something I've said. I'd rather hear a different point of view than have everyone just agree with me, but again, we all have choices. Have a good night.

http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/ama...ue-flying-fpv/

Further updates from the AMA on the issue.

When are you posting up pics of the crowds at your events? Interested to see the difference in crowd sizes. Do you guys give away cash prizes? Any up and coming 12 year olds featured at your events?

Here, I'll throw one up from our event this past weekend. 45 registered pilots, about 100 or so spectators. 30 Pulled pork sammys, 75 dogs and an equal amount of Burgers. Two raffle items, the Carbon Z T-28 and a DX6i. Lots of tickets sold, lots!





Meanwhile, more info from the AMA on the event at Muncie.

http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/blo...nship-winners/

It's funny to read Frank trying to grill the AMA. I don't think Frank understands what he has posted or understands the word abeyance.

The whole concept of "within" isn't taking hold no matter how many times it's presented. Personally I think whoever answers those questions does a great job despite the limited amount of prodding and guff they get thrown at them. After answering the question twice I wouldn't respond anymore.

Especially when the person performing the questioning thinks they have a "gotcha" moment (like a commentator on MSNBC) and posts information that directly contradicts their argument.

WHY do you continue to yammer on about the cash prizes? You already said you don't care about cash prizes, it's all about the enjoyment, right?

BTW, I noticed your event didn't offer cash prizes!!! LOL

Astro

Hmm...you might want to ask Mike the same question, or does he get a pass? I believe he was the one mocking the use of cash at the events he claims don't happen.

LoL...but in the to deflect you might have glossed over the fact that we did give out cash prizes, actually the pilots also got a gift bag at the time of sign in. Not that our events are invite only as has been noted, or host international pilots, or are competitive...but why bother comparing apples to apples when a point is to be made right? But no worries, no apology or mea culpa needed, would you like to move on to the food we served, or the standing room only issue, or stick with the thread topic?