The SCSA competitions 2008 page

Competitions 2008

Fun Comp - July 16th, Electric Thermal on Minchinhampton
Fun Comp - July 16th, Limbo on Selsley West
Fun Comp - June 18th, Glider Golf on Minchanhampton
Cross Country Competition (April)
Paper Airplane Competition (January)
Boxing Day Competition
Previous Years Competitions

Electric Glider Thermal Comp 20th August 2008 on Minchinhampton.

Despite a fairly windy and very grey evening 10 people turned out to either enter or help with this competition.
The comp was a thermal duration task using electric powered gliders. Each model was weighed and the power going into the motor was measured at full throttle using a wattmeter. By applying some well tested maths, based on the measurements, a figure was produced for each model which stated how long the motor at full throttle would be allowed to run, in one single operation, from launch. This is intended to get each model up to a similar height after the motor run time, eg. a heavy model with the same power as a lighter model would need more run time etc.

Brian Boucher applied the magic numbers to 6 competitors and split them into 2 heats of 3 flyers. A 10 minute time slot was started in which time the models were launched at full throttle and then the motors turned off after the individually calculated times. The objective was to fly for the full 10 minute slot and land within a landing circle. Overflying the 10 minutes would be a zero score. The time from launch to landing was taken for each competitor and an extra 50 seconds was added on to the time if the model landed within the landing circle.

2 rounds were run before the light started to fail, the second round produced better flying duration than the first but nobody got any where near the full 10 minutes due to the lack of thermal activity.

The final scores are shown in the table below.

Many congratulations to Doug who won both his rounds and scored a maximum of 2000 points thus making him the over all winner.

Everybody who flew said that they enjoyed the comp. I would like to thank Brian Boucher for running the comp and for providing the equipment to weigh the models and measure the power etc.

Name	Slot 1	Slot 2	Total	Position
Doug Garland	1000	1000	2000	1
Guy McKenzie	966	1000	1966	2
Andy Dunan	980	882	1862	3
Brian Boucher	1000	710	1710	4
Mike Brinkworth	678	815	1493	5
Phil Hayward	768	721	1489	6

Competition organized by Brian Boucher, just for fun.

Limbo Comp 16th July on Selsley West slope.

Despite the forecast of rain, 9 competitors turned up to try their hand at the limbo comp.
As it happened the rain held off and the wind varied in strength but was Westerly in direction, making it ideal conditions for a limbo.

We set up the limbo comprising 2 calibrated, 8 foot poles with guy ropes and a 6 metre length of thin black knicker elastic stretched between the poles.
In the first round of the comp. each competitor had to launch and fly under the 8 foot high limbo as many times as possible in a total time of 2 minutes. The model had to keep flying on after going under the limbo in order to score.
Subsequent rounds of the comp were elimination rounds, each competitor having to fly under the limbo just once in a time of 1 minute. Failure to complete these rounds meant that you could not fly the next round. The limbo was lowered to 6 feet, 5 feet, 4 feet and 3 feet in successive rounds until we had a single champion.
Congratulations to Phil Hayward, he was the only one to master the 3 feet limbo. This was harder than it sounded because the grass was about 1.5 feet high leaving a letterbox type area to fly through of about 1.5 feet. Fly slightly too low and the grass dragged the model down. The rest of the results, if equal heights were achieved, were judged on the most number of limbos in round 1.
I think that most people enjoyed themselves - I know that I did - and thank you to all who helped with the running of the comp. The line judges had to be particularly brave and survive being hit by off target models!

The day turned out to be fairly misty & murky with, at times, variable lift in a north easterly breeze.

The course consisted of a gentle walk around to the cattle trough on the south easterly slope of Rodborough, back to the NE corner and then 3 loops, all below the horizon which every one found fairly easy. The final task required the main road to be crossed for a measured landing spot on the flat part of the common behind the car park.

Phil the Fridge flew the best recovery after flying out in the valley during a patch of poor lift. Brian Boucher had an unfortunate crash after RX battery failure but Bryan Tucker won the comp after with a good landing 250cm from flag.

Name	Position
Bryan Tucker	1
Andy George	2
Phil Hayward	3
Doug Garland	4
Pete Wolfenden	5
Brian Boucher	6

The competition was held in the Garden Lounge of the Bear Inn, There were thirteen members present of which 12 entered this fun competition. Mark kindly provided a first prize comprising a package containing 365 different paper aeroplane models to be made up (one for each day of the year) covering a whole range of different types, Bi-planes, Jets, even a twin boom lightning.

The model had to be made there and then from a piece of A4 paper supplied at the time. The competition was a straight knockout between two people, best of three throws the winner being the plane that stayed up longest. It was good fun, with all sorts of tactics being adopted to gain an edge.

Ultimately the three finalists, Phil, Mark and Mike lined up for the honour of being first and taking both the prize and the trophy.

We had a good turnout this year at Frocester with 8 active flyers and a total of 24 members who gallantly manned the flags and stop watches. This was intended from the start to be a fun occasion and the course was simple, about 200 yards along the slope at Froster with each person flying 5 laps, repeated three times. The top three then flew neck to neck to decide the winner.

Because it was a club fun race any model was eligible although there was a preponderance of Zagies it was ultimately won by a Dave who was flying a pylon racer.

I shall organise about six competitions this year, roughly one per month dependant on the weather. There are intended to be fun and we would love you all to come and have a go, and even if you do not fancy competing then come and see what it is all about, you can fly normally after to make the journey more worth while.

The scores and positions are lain out below and these will be added to as time goes by

Name	Position	Points	Total Points
Bryan	1	10	10
Andy Dunan	2	9	9
Phil Hayward	3	8	8
Mike Brinkworth	4	7	7
Brian Boucher	5	6	6
Andy	6	5	5
Guy McKenzie	7	4	4
Pete Godesll	8	3	3

Doug Garland Secretary and (the shanghaied) competition organiser

Name	# of Limbos	6 Feet	5 Feet	4 Feet	3 Feet	Position
Phil Hayward	5	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	1
Bryan Tucker	6	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	2
Mike Brinkworth	3	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	3=
Pete Wolfenden	3	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	3=
Andy Dunan	2	Yes	Yes	No	No	5
Brian Boucher	2	Yes	No	No	No	6
Doug Garland	0	Yes	No	No	No	7=
Don Leatt	0	Yes	No	No	No	7=
Chris Bishop	0	No	No	No	No	9

Name	Throws	Position
Mike Brinkworth	14	1=
Pete Wolfenden	14	1=
Andy Dunan	15	3=
Doug Garland	15	3=
Bryan Tucker	15	3=
Phil Hayward	16	6