Flite Fest 2017 International Air Races

[willsonman]

Things have been quiet here so I want to make a summary of things that seem to make the majority of folks happy.

Races:

• Hard hat or helmet REQUIRED for all participants.
• 3-pylon course
• Q-40 in size (0.25 mile/lap)
• 200 ft. from flight line fence to innermost pylon
• Each pilot must provide one spotter that will be assigned to a random pilot that is not his/her own pilot
• Cut laps do not count for either race

Spotter responsibilities:

• Safety inspection
• Prop check for cracks and general operation
• motor mount
• control surfaces
• Time monitoring for Bixler Trophy
• correct passage of pylons
• Hand-launching

Furey Cup:

• 10-laps (2.5 miles)
• Design must be from the design off
• Max 4S

Bixler Trophy:

• Pace plane, if it passes you, you are out.
• Most laps until your battery dies (as Josh Bixler would fly)
• Start with same energy (1300mAh is my own idea. its constricting but doable for this size for a limited flight)
• Minimum wingloading? (no real discussion about this but I think we can eliminate it)
• Design must be from the design off.

Exhibition:

• Static display in a tent
• “Warmup” flight for exhibition only, not a race.
• Includes ALL air racing themed aircraft. No restrictions at all.
• any size
• any aircraft
• any power system

NEW
Possibly People’s choice award for static display?

• Participation is not required
• Penny-vote system. 1 penny = 1 vote
• Each aircraft will have a bucket for collection and the most votes wins.
• ALL $ from votes will be donated to a local charity (TBD)

 

[earthsciteach]

Here's my Air Race entry. Josh, I don't to hear anything about "specs" or "scale." As long as I can work out financing with monthly payments of $200 or less, I will be flying this thing around Furey Field. Adam, I don't want to hear squat about this. As the pictures show, it really exists. If anyone needs a ride to FTFF17, hit me up.

http://www.platinumfighters.com/strega

 

[Corbarrad]

I like the charity thing. Maybe we should allow bigger denominations for the voting process, but whether you drop a penny or a dollar into that bucket it should count only as a single vote.

 

[HilldaFlyer]

Here is an idea - not that you have to use it.
At work, I organize a gingerbread house building contest. Groups of people build gingerbread houses over the course of a month. When the get done, the community votes by purchasing a ticket for $1 at reception and placing it in a box near the house. The $ goes to a local food bank and the winners get bragging rights. At the end of the contest, a ticket is drawn from the box and the person who wrote their name on the ticket gets to take the house.

Alternatively, each of the planes could be given a number, purchase a ticket, write the number on the ticket and put them in one box. Count the numbers... and the winner is? If someone really wanted their plane to win, they could purchase many tickets - all in the name of fun and charity.

 

[Mid7night]

^^ This ^^

I've seen this method used at high-school fundraisers as well. Silly 'popularity' contests like "Favorite Teacher" or other some-such...They each have a bucket and students/parents purchase tickets. Proceeds go to the school programs.

 

[willsonman]

What I've outlined is very similar, Hildaflyer. Let's face it, FT groupies are some of the most frugal people I know, yet they are some of the most generous too. While I'm not expecting to generate a lot of $ for any particular cause it is an opportunity for the community to do some good. I've come to learn that you should never pass up an opportunity to do so. I've still not heard back from Austin on this but we do have time to plan it. Even if it goes to the local PD or FD, I'm cool with that.

The idea is to capture what folks are willing to donate and where they donate reflects their preference for the model they appreciate the most. The point is to strike a balance between a static display competition and doing good for others. If you can get past any notions of bias and see the end goal then it becomes more fun and heart-felt generosity.

 

[willsonman]

Hoping to wrap up the rules by the end of December. I publicly recognize that they may upset some and make others rejoice. I plan to do the very best to accommodate everyone but mostly just focus on fun be safe.

 

[Fidget]

Does anyone have a good simulator for practicing this style of race?

I have PhoenixRC and can't find a pylon race for it. Looking around in RC Groups, I can't find a user-made course mentioned.
Also have RC Desk Pilot, which does have pylons, but they seem to be in a different configuration.

Thanks.

 

[willsonman]

Short of RealFlight, I'm afraid I'm not much help.

 

[Fidget]

Short of RealFlight, I'm afraid I'm not much help.

Thanks. Does RealFlight have pretty good pylon setups? It's hard to tell much from the website other than that they have something.

Thank you for setting this all up!

 

[willsonman]

It has different challenges ranging from fairly easy to quite difficult. I've only played with it a little but it seemed hard to be able to change to the aircraft you wanted to fly. I'll mess around with this and report back.

 

[Craftydan]

If anyone was wondering what the racers will have to keep pace with . . .

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?31796-FF2017-Int-Race-Pace-Plane-Beck-Mahoney-Sorceress&p=320576#post320576

 

[Mid7night]

Awesome Dan!

In your offline-hashing, did you decide on a pack size limit?

 

[Craftydan]

I'm still lobbying for a Wh limit equivalent to a 3S 1300mAh (~14.5Wh max, you pick your own voltage), but Wilsonman . . . well, rules are one of many distractions and he's got a Bugatti to build

 

[Mid7night]

I'm still lobbying for a Wh limit equivalent to a 3S 1300mAh (~14.5Wh max, you pick your own voltage), but Wilsonman . . . well, rules are one of many distractions and he's got a Bugatti to build

Whoa, that's TINY compared to what I've been flying my SK3 on, which is a 3000mAh 4S... O_O Then again, this is supposed to be a slower-paced "endurance" race, and keeping the max Wh's down will keep the "endurance" (read: Audience attention required) to a minimum.

 

[Craftydan]

Exactly. If you're guzzling, it's not even a drop in the bucket, but from the amount of time I can keep a bloody wonder aloft on a 3S 1300, I'm barely satisfied that's not too much

 

[Raccoonworks]

Has there been any mention of dates for FTFF 2017?

I believe it's July 13th-16th jim_buxton

 

[Raccoonworks]

My entry

Has anyone done the Howard Ike yet? If not, this is my entry.

 

[willsonman]

Has anyone done the Howard Ike yet? If not, this is my entry.

I hope you took a bit of time to read the first post a little bit. The contest is basically over. The judges are currently evaluating the entries.... HOWEVER I want to encourage you to still build the Ike. As we are expecting an exhibition part you could easily build it for that portion. I do hope you participate in one way or another.

 

[willsonman]

As Austin has had a recent addition to his family I will not be able to confirm the ability to do an exhibition flight or the static display. I'll reach out to him when I know he is back to work. I'm not going to bug a guy with a new baby... that's just mean. When I get confirmation of everything I will update here.

The attached image is a good illustration of what I am thinking for the course layout. Since we are not going with official racing rules we are not going to have the pylon judges. We are more after some good fun. Spotters will be responsible for ensuring proper rounding of pylons. Speaking of pylons, these are a good design that are fairly compact. I'm going to see how cheaply they can be made. At 20' tall they may prove difficult to transport, even disassembled.