OLD-TIMERS
FUN-FLY EVENTS FOLLOW-UP
By Bob Angel
samrcflier@verizon.net
IN MY PREVIOUS COLUMN, I recalled fun-fly events, starting with the Control Line (CL) Balloon Bust. I soon found that it had grown to be much more complex in the years since I’d flown it. With that discovery, I ran out of column space. Balloon Bust isn’t even listed in the current AMA Competition Regulations rule book for “CL Special Events.” It has become CL Dive Bombing and Strafing.
Examine the rule book sketch of that added barrier pole! The event seems to have joined some other fun-fly events as being a quick way to rid oneself of an old, oil-soaked aircraft that you don’t have the heart to commit directly to the trash.
The Catch-22 is that to score well in this event, you’d need to bring a nice, new, well-finished airplane because the maximum score for breaking balloons is 30 points, while appearance points seem to equal or exceed that (if I’m reading the rules right). If I’m not reading them right, that’s fine too because it might generate some reader input.
Getting back to that barrier pole, the online rule book sketch has a spot for the height of the pole, but the dimension itself is missing. My obsolete paperback rule book shows that it was originally listed as 10 feet tall. The pole material isn’t specified, but it could be an iron pipe! A PVC pipe would be little better, while a 10-foot length of balsa would be too flimsy.
I’d be intimidated about diving a nice aircraft closely over that 10-foot barrier. I had to chuckle, though, when I saw that the rules do their best to protect you under section 8, letter d: “Pilots must not” crash!
Another spooky item is in the first paragraph under section 9 for the official flight. It’s a speed run of seven laps flown at a maximum attitude of 15 feet for speed timing. That speed run could also serve as a precision event because you’d want to fly between 13 and 14 feet to not exceed the 15-foot maximum while overflying the 10-foot tall barrier pole!
The last rules section describes scoring. I’d somehow found my way through trigonometry and calculus, but the formula example shown in the rule book has me baffled. I can see why the event might have a limited following today.
If you think I’m being slightly critical of the rules, I am, but because it’s a fun-fly, I’m having fun doing it. If a club wants to stage a balloon bust, I suspect it could get a reasonable turnout by reverting to the simple, original idea as described in my February column. The four pages of existing rules could easily fit onto a single page.
RC Limbo
RC Limbo was another fun-fly event that was designed to unburden oneself from unsightly old aircraft or convert nicer ones into such. Similar to the old limbo dance/exercise, the idea was to keep flying between a horizontal ribbon and the ground as the ribbon was lowered each time after all had made a pass.
Some airplanes were eliminated by hitting one of the support poles on either side of the runway that held the crepe paper ribbons. Others were disqualified more humanely by cutting the ribbon. A few tangled in the ribbon with mixed results, and some would smite the ground heavily enough to pause the contest for the sweeper.
With experience, most clubs quickly started adding a low second ribbon, replacing the runway as the lower barrier. Still, the event seldom lasted beyond two or three fun-flys because “eligible” aircraft were used up and/or the club treasury was stressed by the cost of renting larger dumpsters.
Destruction Derby, Anyone?
Years ago, I heard and read about CL Combat fliers who used a more direct, no-nonsense approach to rid themselves of battle-worn, heavily repaired aircraft at the end of the season. The event was called Trash Can.
A trash can was set on the edge of the circle, with the object being to warm up for a couple of laps followed by a full-speed wingover to try and hit the trash can dead center. I think each entrant placed a dollar under the can to be collected by the winner.
I forget whether there was a formal scoring system or just a vote by spectators as to the splashiest finish. An alternative might have been to weigh the remaining parts, with the winner being the flier whose parts left outside of the can were the lightest. I wonder if that event still occurs or has benevolently faded into history?
Competitive Techniques
Competitive techniques for fun-flys are usually honed over a short time period because the events typically have a short (two- to six-outing) lifespan. Rules are usually hatched indoors, with the first trial being the inaugural event itself. That inaugural event is often the final one.
A few such events do catch on, grow, and eventually make it into the rule book. Odds are about the same as a high school football player making it into the NFL.
Tricks to winning emerge early, so it’s usually advantageous to fly as late as possible to observe what’s helping or hindering other fliers. I first noticed that when our sailplane club ran a one-time fun-fly as part of our weekly gathering with our lightweight, little rudder/elevator Thermal sailplanes.
It was a timed, out-and-back, single run between two flags. The course was probably around 100 yards long, with the entry flagpole and flagman placed at the high side of a gentle downslope that angled down toward the turnaround flag. A steady, light breeze was coming upslope.
The launch was from a hi-start that was anchored down near the turnaround flag. The flight regime at launch was a 5-minute window to fly back past the uphill entry flag, turn back, and enter the course. Within that window, you could elect to gain altitude by thermaling or turning and entering the course immediately.
With the cool morning breeze, there was no thermal activity and the slope was far too gentle to offer lift, so the later fliers saw no apparent advantage to trying for more altitude and elected to just turn and go for it.
I happened to be a contest helper at the upper flag as the flagman or maybe the recorder. I had the advantage of a good view of the proceedings, along with being one of the last to fly.
With the return leg of the course being uphill, most fliers were intimidated by the fact that they’d be eliminated by landing
short, but most of the sailplanes were finishing with altitude to spare. Pilots appeared to be aiming toward an
imaginary mid-altitude turnaround point from where they stood, but time was being lost to slow headwind penetration.
Having seen the results, when my turn came, I dropped the aim point lower, penetrating the wind faster and arriving at the turnaround at an altitude that wouldn’t appear to make it back past the start/finish line—except with help from the breeze. The return glide angle appeared to be too nose-high, but the assisting uphill breeze boosted speed enough to allow the airplane to cross the finish at a lower but still safe altitude. That technique worked well.
SOURCES:
CL Special Events 2022–2023 Competition Regulations
https://bit.ly/3HP5IUh
