Kudos to Tim Bennett for coming up with a new variation on his contest format similar to one of his formats for HLG-size planes. I agree with Dave Register's comments (see below). I flew in one of Tim's Class-A Scramble events a couple of winters ago in Dallas (winter in Duluth, NICE in Dallas) and enjoyed it immensely. I later got the written contest rules and materials specifications from Tim, put together four Up-Starts, and we started these contests this past year in Minnesota, to the great enjoyment of the participants. Tim's format has all the good qualities mentioned by Tim and Dave. This winter at least a dozen of the MN soaring club members are building new 1.5 meter-or-less planes to be able to fly in the upcoming "smaller plane" events, after hearing about the very positive response to the contests we had this past year. I'd suggest not only trying Tim's new format for the larger planes, but also his similar, tried and true, format for the smaller ones. This may get to be as popular in Minnesota as it has been in Dallas. The pace is fast, there is a lot of laughter and camaraderie, exciting moments as two or more fliers battle it out in a weak thermal 20 feet off the ground then one plane lands a quarter of a second later than another, lots of appreciative banter, cheering. . . everyone likes it a lot and those who don't have the right planes for it decide on the spot to get one. It's about fun, and Tim's format is hard to beat for that. With bigger planes and their higher launch altitudes, the whole process will be more sedate, but it sounds to me like it would be fun in its own way because of the faster pace than usual in that category. Each kind of contest is fun and a challenge; Tim's suggestion is worth a try. A lot of clubs would like it a lot, I'll bet. Looks like Gordy thinks so, too (see below). I agree with Gordy, too. Al >Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:34:43 -0600 From: David Register <[EMAIL PROTECTED] (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (mailto:[email protected]) Subject: Re: Contest Format Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED] (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) > Guys, I've flown a variant of Tim's proposal at SLNT on quite a few occasions in their Class-A Scramble event. It's a great task, gets the load off the CD and keeps pilots involved all the way through the event. Extending it to TD classes is a really interesting approach and addresses a lot of issues that can come up at club contests. I suspect the format works best for club events in the 8 to 20 range or thereabouts. Why don't some of the clubs give it a try for their monthly events and report back to RCSE or RCGroups? The rules may merit some tweaking but the best way to figure that is to give it a shot. The Class A format draws more entries each month at Dallas than just about anything else - and that's a pretty competitive group of guys. One of the things it DEFINITELY accomplishes is draw more club members into club activities. If you're in it for the group and not just for yourself, that's not a bad outcome. Way to go Tim! - Dave R
>Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:12:06 EST From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [email protected] Subject: "The Problem of Tim's Contest Format" Duh, I can't believe I have to post this :-) The biggest problem with Tim's Contest format is us all missing flying it. Gordy **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489
