As an R/C racer myself since 1987 in both onroad and offroad, indoor and outdoor, 1/10th scale to 1/8th scale, gas and electric, ROAR to IFMAR, USA to Europe and Asia ... most crashes I see are driver error while negotiating the track. Be it cutting a corner a little too tight and clipping the wall, braking a half second too late and overshooting a corner, or just trying to pass a slower car, nearly every crash is some sort of driver error. Even car to car contact can usually be attributed to one driver making a mistake that collects other car(s). Off road racing compounds the issue with bumps, jumps, low/high traction, and a myriad of other rough conditions. Unsurprisingly, our tanks drive offroad also. So what has this to do with tanks? Welp, even if a tank does not go as fast as a 2 lb r/c car, the tank still carries a lot of mass and inertia which can do significant damage to a person and/or property. All it takes is a mistake by a driver playing the game to potentially cause damage. Although a 150 pound tank moving at 5 mph may not seem as dangerous as a 2 pound r/c car moving at 30 mph, remember that the car will stop when it hits someone ... the tank won't stop and will keep plowing on. A little story about tank speeds: Frank was manning the Tiger set up as an artillery piece during a battle. I was driving the 8 mph SV15 as a supply vehicle. On a run out to the Tiger with a fresh load of paint, I gave the Spartan full throttle, raced up to within 5' of Frank and skid braked to a turning halt literally within arms reach. At the time I thought it was well done. Frank on the other hand looked like he was halfway through a heart attack. Sorry Frank! All it would have took was a miscalculation by me to have caused an accident. It wasn't likely (re all of the driving expirience listed in the first paragraph of this email) but still possible because of the environment. The incident was enough to prompt some speed discussions by the tankers that night. Speed limits could mitigate damage in case of an accident, but ultimately it is the driver that has to avoid causing one in the first place. Just like an R/C car race, every tank driver is responsible for staying out of trouble. Mike
From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2013 1:05 PM Subject: Re: [TANKS] Re: About time to implement discussed rules update By no means am I advocating a tank capable of the obscene speeds of a racing touring car. But I do disagree with the painful plodding pace of 5-7mph Ive seen tossed around. in racing people were not on the track during racing we all stood on a drivers tower, which Im fully aware is simple not feasible in a tank battle, however standing within a step or 2 of one of these tanks while engaged in combat with it seems foolish to me as well. it puts the user more directly within the field of fire from an opposing tank, even with the mask I dont want get shot(I play paintball too). Personal responsibility of definately a huge part of the game here. and I really do like the talk going on regarding the rate of fire limiters as even that has a safety aspect with markers capable of exceedingly high rates of fire in stock form these days. as for the rc racing crashes, for the most part both drivers were in control of their vehicles when they make contact, its a fact of racing that contact will happen form time to time especially when they are competing for the same piece of track to get around as fast as they can, im not talking about one car t0boning another but rather side to side or from to back rubbing that, combined with driving the car near its limits of traction and suspension combined with the speeds caused cars to crash, it was something we all tried to avoid since a gentle nudge could end your race with a busted car or cost you finishing position. contact in racing happens, its part of the game, whether RC or real cars or even the motorcycles I race, and I sure as hell dont want ot make contact with another bike, but it has happened. the tanks aren't competing for real estate in the same manner From: "Frank Pittelli" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2013 12:23:56 PM Subject: Re: [TANKS] Re: About time to implement discussed rules update There's a big difference between R/C race cars on a track and R/C tanks on a battlefield ... the tanks weigh up to 150 pounds and they are designed to run into and over things without stopping. Throw in the fact that the operators are within a few yards of them at all times, with paint balls flying in all directions and you now see the safety issue. So yes, they don't go 60 mph, but 150 pounds at 10 mph is not something you want smacking into your ankle or shin. In close quarter battling, a wrong jog of the joystick can easily send the tank the wrong way and cause problems. The risk increases as the speed increases and every operator has an upper limit to their skills. Mind you, we have many skilled members, some of whom have been operating R/C vehicles for over 25 years (longer than some of our mailing list members have been alive), but they will be the first to agree that above a certain point, the risk overtakes the fun. We rely on personal responsibility to prevent such problems and that has worked well for 10+ years. When personal responsibility can no longer be relied upon, no set of rules will be able to maintain the same level of fun, competition and safety. Battlers are expected to protect their fellow battlers, regardless of the rules. We've never been shy about swiftly correcting mistakes when they happen, such as shooting down-range when people are un-masked or refilling a CO2 bottle improperly. Safety comes from vigilance, both as individuals and as a group. BTW: You say that most race car crashes "were due to contact with other cars", but not because the operators "lose control". Does that mean that the operators were usually in total control when they ran their car into the other one? On 12/18/2013 12:52 PM, [email protected] wrote: > regarding the speed limits subject... > the concept of these tanks being too fast and the operator losing > control of it seem kinda funny to me, especially since they really > aren't capable of fast speeds. I say this coming from an RC background > that includes a variety of off road gas powered trucks, racing gas > touring cars on prepared tracks, as well as flying RC planes. my gas > touring car was capable of about 65mph in a straight ling and had > handling abilities that allowed amazingly quick turns at speed. ever > while racing with 8-10 other cars on the track did people lose control > more that a rare freak event. more often that not crashes were due to > contact with other cars. -- -- You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. To post a message, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "R/C Tank Combat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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