Summary:
Participants will build a scale electric motor driven, radio-controlled airplane model of a WWII aircraft that was never used in combat (in WWII), and demonstrate that it is capable of controlled flight. At the end of the design portion of the competition, a panel selected from the Flite Test forums will score the entries and select winners from the completed and flight-proven models posted on the forums. Additionally, several in-person group activities will occur at the Flite Fest events to celebrate and demonstrate the accomplishments of the participants for those who can attend. In-person participation at a Flite Fest event is not required to participate in this challenge.
Objectives:
Part 1 - The Design-Off Rules:
1. Subject must resemble an aircraft designed for military use in World War II that never engaged in active WWII combat. Scale outlines may be changed within reason to improve flight characteristics or for ease of construction. Aircraft that were used in military surveillance missions but never shot at, designs that were on paper only but never built, early jets that were in development but not not completed in time for WWII action, and planes that were built but never flew are all fair game. The aim is to celebrate the unusual and advanced concepts of the time period. Please consult the community in this thread if you have doubts about a specific aircraft's inclusion.
2. All designs must use electric power with motors from (or equivalent to) one of the Flite Test Power Packs. Exceptions for really crazy planes can be proposed, but are discouraged in the scoring. This way the largest number of community members can participate with existing or easily accessible equipment. Until Flite Test makes available an EDF power pack, jet or rocket designs may use any available EDF or modify the airframe for pusher prop or prop-in-slot with no scoring penalty.
3. Building designs to 1/10 scale is encouraged, but not required. For example, an aircraft with a 42' wingspan could be built at 1/10 scale with a 50" wing and perhaps a C pack motor, or at 1/20 scale with a 25" wingspan and perhaps a pack A motor.
4. To include as many builders as possible in the challenge, FT building techniques should be used as a foundation. Other more advanced techniques may be used but you should keep in mind that others may want to build YOUR airplane and may require additional skills to do so - be sure to provide clear build instructions for these techniques. Incorporation of FT power pods, FT Elements firewalls is encouraged for this purpose, but are not required.
5. To include as many pilots and teams in the challenge as we can, aircraft are encouraged to have multiple flight crew members to operate bomb drops, camera surveillance, turret functions, etc.
6. Entries must demonstrate that they are capable of controlled flight before the Design-Off closing date to be considered for judging for the Design-Off portion of the community challenge. Only videos of the entry in flight will be considered proof of flight-worthiness.
7. Already started builds may be entered.
8. A complete set of digital plans must be available in the entries build thread by the close of the Design-Off. Vector-based formats are preferred but not required.
9. Build instructions MUST be provided through video instruction, textual write-up, or build log. Techniques different from standard Flite Test skills should be clearly explained. An excellent example can be found here: http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?36200-Baby-Bugatti-700m
10. Participants may submit more than one entry, and multiple entries for the same design from different participants are acceptable.
11. Participants in the design challenge do not need to be able to attend an in-person Flite Test event (although we hope you can!) Scoring and adjudication of the design entries will occur through and be announced via the FT forums.
Coordinator's Instructions:
FTFC18 Part 1 WWII Scoring Rubric
Part 2 - Group Demonstration Events:
At each 2018 Flite Fest event where sufficient participants gather, several group activities will be coordinated to demonstrate airworthiness, awesomeness, craftsmanship, and team camaraderie. A community volunteer coordinator will need to be identified for each event to ensure we can pull these group challenges together.
The Briefing: A coordinated static presentation of all participating models at the flight line for community show-and-tell. We've done this in the build tent, and on the flight line - and the flight line was much more accessible to a wider spectator and pilot audience.
The Timed Invasion: A coordinated flight will occur with all participating models to flood the skies with all models, operating at the edge of their speed envelope. To simulate a mission cycle, aircraft will take off as simultaneously as is safe and feasible, and land following a 5 minute flight. Randomly assigned spotters for each aircraft will time the flight from takeoff to landing, and closest time to exactly 5 minutes wins.
The Bombing: A simulated bombing run with all aircraft capable of dropping a payload (or ejecting their pilot). All dropped items must follow AMA restrictions, and be clearly marked for identification purposes. Payloads controlled or dropped by a team members other than the primary pilot gain a 1 meter advantage. Closest (adjusted) payload to the target wins.
Coordinator's Instructions:
Participants will build a scale electric motor driven, radio-controlled airplane model of a WWII aircraft that was never used in combat (in WWII), and demonstrate that it is capable of controlled flight. At the end of the design portion of the competition, a panel selected from the Flite Test forums will score the entries and select winners from the completed and flight-proven models posted on the forums. Additionally, several in-person group activities will occur at the Flite Fest events to celebrate and demonstrate the accomplishments of the participants for those who can attend. In-person participation at a Flite Fest event is not required to participate in this challenge.
Objectives:
- Celebrate the obscure, unusual concepts and advances of WWII aviation
- Foster interest in building foam board model aircraft from community plans
- Promote designing and building as one of the aspects of the FT community
- Compete in flying events where any level of experience can be a winner
- Engage in some friendly forum banter
Part 1 - The Design-Off Rules:
1. Subject must resemble an aircraft designed for military use in World War II that never engaged in active WWII combat. Scale outlines may be changed within reason to improve flight characteristics or for ease of construction. Aircraft that were used in military surveillance missions but never shot at, designs that were on paper only but never built, early jets that were in development but not not completed in time for WWII action, and planes that were built but never flew are all fair game. The aim is to celebrate the unusual and advanced concepts of the time period. Please consult the community in this thread if you have doubts about a specific aircraft's inclusion.
2. All designs must use electric power with motors from (or equivalent to) one of the Flite Test Power Packs. Exceptions for really crazy planes can be proposed, but are discouraged in the scoring. This way the largest number of community members can participate with existing or easily accessible equipment. Until Flite Test makes available an EDF power pack, jet or rocket designs may use any available EDF or modify the airframe for pusher prop or prop-in-slot with no scoring penalty.
3. Building designs to 1/10 scale is encouraged, but not required. For example, an aircraft with a 42' wingspan could be built at 1/10 scale with a 50" wing and perhaps a C pack motor, or at 1/20 scale with a 25" wingspan and perhaps a pack A motor.
4. To include as many builders as possible in the challenge, FT building techniques should be used as a foundation. Other more advanced techniques may be used but you should keep in mind that others may want to build YOUR airplane and may require additional skills to do so - be sure to provide clear build instructions for these techniques. Incorporation of FT power pods, FT Elements firewalls is encouraged for this purpose, but are not required.
5. To include as many pilots and teams in the challenge as we can, aircraft are encouraged to have multiple flight crew members to operate bomb drops, camera surveillance, turret functions, etc.
6. Entries must demonstrate that they are capable of controlled flight before the Design-Off closing date to be considered for judging for the Design-Off portion of the community challenge. Only videos of the entry in flight will be considered proof of flight-worthiness.
7. Already started builds may be entered.
8. A complete set of digital plans must be available in the entries build thread by the close of the Design-Off. Vector-based formats are preferred but not required.
9. Build instructions MUST be provided through video instruction, textual write-up, or build log. Techniques different from standard Flite Test skills should be clearly explained. An excellent example can be found here: http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?36200-Baby-Bugatti-700m
10. Participants may submit more than one entry, and multiple entries for the same design from different participants are acceptable.
11. Participants in the design challenge do not need to be able to attend an in-person Flite Test event (although we hope you can!) Scoring and adjudication of the design entries will occur through and be announced via the FT forums.
Coordinator's Instructions:
- Registration for the Design portion of the challenge will be by posting participant members’ FT user name, the model to be entered, and a link to the entries build thread on this thread, NOT via PM to the OP. All aspects of the design challenge are coordinated virtually through the forum: in person participation or demonstration is not required (and in fact not available).
Example of entry format:
AwesomeForumMember
WWII Plane Name
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthrea...7-AwesomeBuildThread
Build threads should be titled in the format:
FTFC'18 WWII [plane name] designed by [designer name]
With the shortened version of 'Flite Test Forums Challenge' in the prefix so searches and causal forum browsers are all the more likely to notice these projects.
Entrants are encouraged to add why they chose this model, and link to documentation for historical appropriateness of the design for this challenge. (Wikipedia, Janes' Planes, etc.) Links to historical confirmation should be in the build thread for scoring purposes.
- Registration for Design entries will open no later than August 1, 2017.
- The Design portion of the challenge will end on December 31st, 2017. This is to facilitate time for community members to build aircraft well in-advance of the 2018 Flite Fest events.
- Registration to participate in the group challenges at a particular Flite Fest Event (East, West, South, etc) will open the day the Flite Fest event is announced, and remain open until the event occurs.
- Design challenge adjudication will be completed and points accumulated will be posted by January 31st 2017.
- It is recommended that designers not review the rubric during the course of their project. To foster creativity and fun, review the rubric at the start, make your plan, build, and then review when nearing completion to see where you may accumulate additional points. The scoring rubric will be attached to this thread.
FTFC18 Part 1 WWII Scoring Rubric
Code:
[B]Design-off Scoring Rubric: 170 points total[/B]
1. Selection of views: 10
[INDENT]a. Quality and accuracy: 5
b. Additional reference material for modifications: 5[/INDENT]
2. Aerodynamic design: 20
[INDENT]a. Wing design - scale airfoil, incidence, washout: 5
b. CG, and loading (area or cubic): 10
c. Other replicated aerodynamic design components: 5[/INDENT]
3. Materials: 40
[INDENT]a. Quality and selection of materials for strategic use: 5
b. Covering selection: 5
c. Resourcefulness: 5
d. Thriftiness: 5
e. Durability: 5
f. Prefabricated parts (higher score for less used): 5
g. FT Power Pack motor (or approved EDF/Glider exception): 10[/INDENT]
4. Scale features: 25
[INDENT]a. Closeness of design to selected scale: 5
b. Cockpit: 5
c. Engine (dummy, cowl, vents, exhaust, etc.): 5
d. Scale landing structures (fixed or retractable gear or water capable as appropriate): 5
e. Other scale features (Provide comment): 5 ___________[/INDENT]
5. Flight (not based on pilot skill): 20
[INDENT]a. Take off: 5
b. Stability: 5
c. Maneuverability: 5
d. Landing: 5[/INDENT]
6. Basic rules: 55
[INDENT]a. Subject meets "intended for WWII use but did not see WWII combat" requirement: 25
b. Quality of plans: 15 (higher for FT-quality)
c. Quality of build instructions: 15[/INDENT]Part 2 - Group Demonstration Events:
At each 2018 Flite Fest event where sufficient participants gather, several group activities will be coordinated to demonstrate airworthiness, awesomeness, craftsmanship, and team camaraderie. A community volunteer coordinator will need to be identified for each event to ensure we can pull these group challenges together.
The Briefing: A coordinated static presentation of all participating models at the flight line for community show-and-tell. We've done this in the build tent, and on the flight line - and the flight line was much more accessible to a wider spectator and pilot audience.
The Timed Invasion: A coordinated flight will occur with all participating models to flood the skies with all models, operating at the edge of their speed envelope. To simulate a mission cycle, aircraft will take off as simultaneously as is safe and feasible, and land following a 5 minute flight. Randomly assigned spotters for each aircraft will time the flight from takeoff to landing, and closest time to exactly 5 minutes wins.
The Bombing: A simulated bombing run with all aircraft capable of dropping a payload (or ejecting their pilot). All dropped items must follow AMA restrictions, and be clearly marked for identification purposes. Payloads controlled or dropped by a team members other than the primary pilot gain a 1 meter advantage. Closest (adjusted) payload to the target wins.
Coordinator's Instructions:
- All models participating in these events should be built using designs meeting the Design-off guidelines.
- Designs do not need to be completed in time for the Part 1 challenge scoring to participate in the Part 2 events. You can pick up on a design idea started by another forum member and finish it for this!
- The participant does not need to be the designer - please build other people's awesome designs and bring them to Flite Fest!
- Registration for the in-person events at Flite Fest (East/South/West/wherever) will be via posting in a specific thread created for those events, when the dates of those events are announced.
- A listing of these coordination threads and results will be in a dedicated post down here.
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