This is a great response!!! If I ever find another level V contest I'll need you time for me.
Thermalbum
From: "George Voss" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "'Joseph Newcomb'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: [RCSE] Calling for F3J and TD contests
Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 15:28:23 -0500
>Joseph,
>
>This is an excellent question and one that I have very strong feelings
>about, so here goes:
>
>First and foremost, the timer/caller is there for the safety of the
>pilot/caller team. After getting the flyers radio and time card from the CD
>the pilot only has to worry about getting the plane to the launch zone and
>hook up the tow ring when it's time. The timer should be watching out for
>his pilot making sure he is aware of his surroundings, protecting the pilot
>from falling into a hole or tripping on a clump of tall grass or weeds while
>leading him to the landing zone. Protecting the pilot from other people and
>planes is another primary task. I've had a number of times I've either had
>to push the pilot out of the way or jump in front of the pilot to protect
>him/her from getting speared while in the landing zone.
>
>The timer should know either before the flight starts or at the very start
>of the task what type of information the pilot wants and how he wants it.
>For relatively short flight tasks, say under 10 minutes, I want my flight
>time every minute until the last minute where I want it every 10 second.
>Then, at the 30 second mark, I want the timer to read the time directly off
>of the watch, i.e. 30, 31, 32 etc. I will tell the timer at some point
>around the 5-10 second mark that I'll call "no time", meaning I want him to
>shut up and quit counting because I want to concentrate on the landing.
>Knowing what information your pilot wants and how he wants that information
>presented is paramount to being a good timer. I know a number of pilots
>that want their time counted down rather than up, meaning they go from say
>30, 29, 28 etc. Regardless of how the pilot wants the time, there is little
>reason to count past the target time, since it will equate to jumping up and
>down screaming at the pilot telling him he's LATE! At that point, he
>already knows that so you aren't giving him useful information.
>
>Concerning the actual flight, I try to keep my pilot calm and informed of
>the air he's NOT in, and what the other planes are doing compared to the air
>the pilot is in. If I'm timing for a very seasoned pilot, I'll usually say
>little about "How" he's flying, but concern the discussion to the air
>quality of air in areas he can fly too that are within the planes ability.
>If I'm timing for a novice or someone who is a bit more 'nervous' I'll
>calmly and with a fairly soft tone, tell the pilot to fly smoothly as they
>are probably trying to mix a cake with the transmitter sticks. For all
>flyers I give them information in a calm even tone so as to not excite them.
>
>Next, the timer needs to get the pilot to the landing zone with plenty of
>time remaining, and then when he is ready to land, I keep him informed of
>the time in the manner he wants it, and I watch for other planes to
>coordinate the landing zone with other pilots if needed. With usually 2
>minutes left in the flight, I'll check with other flyers timers that look
>like they may land within the next 3 minutes to see what order the planes
>will be landing in and I'll notify my flyer so he knows what's going to be
>happening when he sets up his final approach
>
>There are many contests where multiple landings will occur within 30 seconds
>of each other in the same landing zone. If that's the case, I'm jumping
>into the zone as soon as the plane stops moving and either take the
>measurement for the landing or mark the spot for later measurement and get
>my pilots plane out of the circle for the next person landing.
>
>Now, if my pilot is "in" the contest and he's made his time and needs the
>landing points to remain in the contest, and, if the flyer landing before
>him didn't make his time and isn't 'in' the contest, I'll ask them to either
>abort their landing, choose another landing zone if possible or to get their
>plane out of the landing zone as quickly as possible.
>
>With those tasks complete, I'll inform the pilot what his time was, confirm
>the landing with the pilot, I'll put the scores on the card and turn in the
>transmitter and the time card.
>
>According to AMA regulations, the timer isn't allowed to count down the last
>20 seconds of flight, rule 10.2.2e if I remember correctly. However, I've
>never seen a CD enforce that rule and every contest I CD I notify everyone
>at the pilots meeting that that rule is waived for that particular contest
>contests.
>
>I'm sure there is enough that can be written on this subject to fill
>volumes, but the above should cover most of it. There are many others that
>will respond to this question and they will provide additional, excellent
>additions to the above.
>
>George Voss
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Joseph Newcomb [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2005 1:05 PM
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [RCSE] Calling for F3J and TD contests
>
>Hello all,
>I was wondering what all of you guys thought about calling. If you are a
>Timer/caller in an F3J of TD contest, what is the best way to call? What
>do you think your most important job as a caller is?
>
>thanks
>Joseph
>
>
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