District XI—Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington
Chuck Bower
Vice President
cbower@whidbey.com
6075 S. Coles Rd., Langley WA 98260
Tel.: (360) 632-9211; www.amadistrict-xi.org
I recently asked Mike Mosbrooker about being a Scale event judge. Here is his reply.
What is it like to be a judge at a Scale competition? For me, it has always been satisfying, and full of pleasant camaraderie, but, in all honesty, with a few disappointments thrown in. The task is as satisfying to me as any technical task when you know that the job has been done right and to the best of one’s ability.
There are many great people involved in Scale competition and meeting them and talking about what they do is an honor and a great pleasure. Disappointments? There are a few. Probably the greatest in my opinion is when a well-crafted Scale model, that probably took several years to build, fails in flight and is either destroyed or is left in need of a major rebuild.
What does a judge do at a typical contest? During a three-day period, one day will be spent doing static judging. There are three judges doing this. One looks at the outline and compares the model with the documentation provided. A second judge looks at the color and markings of the model and compares the model with the documentation. These two judges view the model at a distance of 15 feet. The final judge scores craftsmanship at a distance no closer than 4 feet. This judge looks at the work done and the quality thereof. For example, if the mechanism for moving control surfaces uses typical model control horns and exposed servo arms, when the actual aircraft’s controls are completely hidden, points will be deducted.
When you show up at the event, you should be able to handle either of these tasks if you have been certified as a static judge.
On the second and third day, the judges will score aircraft in flight. There will be approximately four rounds and judges are usually rotated from one entry category to another. Each flight will see 10 maneuvers, five of which are mandatory, with the rest selected by the contestant.
What do I get out of this effort, which, depending on the number of judges available, might have you sitting in the sun for three days? You will earn the appreciation of the contestants and contest directors. You will learn how to score well if you elect to become a contestant, because the selection of an aircraft to model and maneuvers to be flown needs a bit of thought. And very important to me, you will have a chance to give back to a hobby that has been very good to me for more than 70 years.
How do you get to be a judge or a Scale competitor? The U.S. Scale Masters website (www.scalemasters.org) will get you started.
One important point I want to make is that you do not need to spend several years building and perfecting an airplane to enter. There are entry levels for all. As you might expect, if you do well at a certain level, you will be required to advance.
I recently visited the Bell Air R/C Flyers field located north of Bellingham, Washington. Jay Schoening, our newest District XI associate vice president, was enjoying blue skies and flying one of his Scale competition models. ✈
Associate Vice Presidents: Darrell Anderson, Great Falls MT; (406) 899-6438; d.Landerson@bresnan.net Brian Batch, Spokane WA; (509) 487-7870; bbbhobbies@qwestoffice.net; Del Herring, Wenatchee WA; (509) 679-8402; del.herring301@gmail.com; Tom Kopriva, Eugene OR; (541) 484-6048; freeflyer123@comcast.net; Mike Mosbrooker, Lynden WA; (360) 679-9139; mosbrookerx4@comcast.net; Chris Rankin, Bend OR; (541) 693-3294; MissileMist@rocketmail.com; Jay Schoening, Lynden WA; (360) 220-0407; jschoening@msn.com; Robert Stephens, Anchorage AK; (907) 440-0478; rstephens@hotmail.com; Al Watson, OR; (541) 593-2294; MissileMist@alaska.com
Brian Wood, Boise ID; (208) 412-3254; bw5493@yahoo.com.
FF/CL Coordinator: Mike Hazel, P.O. Box 505, Lyons OR 97358; zc5speed@aol.com
RC Coordinator: Michael Ingram, Wenatchee WA 98802; (208) 573-5542; firercer@cs.com
Webmaster: Chris Rankin
