Club Flying Competitions

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

To save our club from those problems we invite the local Maire with  her local 'workforce' who look after the holes etc on the roads

and to our Paella day ( free for them ) also our teaching days when the local kids come and fly our planes and drones,,,( fpv included )

as it's a small town word gets around and we stay in their 'happy books'.

[Brian Cooper]

A comp for certain types of models only:

And not for the faint-hearted. 

 

Takeoff, 6 spins and land as close to a marked spot as possible. . All against the clock. 

Fastest time is good but you get points deducted for the distance from the "spot". 

[Cuban8]

My previous comment re the 'fun police' was somewhat tongue in cheek and I'm sure a ribbon cutting comp as described could be made to minimise collisions and avoid broken models raining down on bystanders.  Depends on the circumstances - a no no if you fly in an area open to the public but hidden away in the countryside, then well, why not?

 

I must admit to having an extreme  aversion to breaking models - always consider it a failure on my part no matter what the circumstances - if we're honest, very few crack ups cannot be put down to anything other than pilot error or  poor judgement of a number of factors. I have learned to accept that things don't always go quite as well as we might like, but I still find it difficult to just laugh off breakages as many chaps find it so easy to do.

Edited December 10, 2022 by Cuban8

[SIMON CRAGG]

As this is a new venture, I would start off gently as nobody will want to take part in anything to risky. Here is a list of the "Fun Events" I have planned for next year for our eleven BIG FUNS:

 

Timed flight. (Pilot judges set time in the air eg. 2min 30 sec) from wheels leaving ground to landing.

Speed and height (Target speed and height are stipulated and verified by installed "Speed Flea") eg max 50 mph & 150 metres).

Fastest and slowest runs between two flag men.

Cone Race. As already mentioned.

Height and glide.

Max loops in 30sec.

Spot landing.

ROOPS (Three rolls / three loops / land) in the shortest time.

Balloon Bursting (Balloons pinned down and pilot tries to burst as many as possible in a touch and go fashion).

 

Got a load more in mind, but this should get the ball rolling.

 

Oh, and static judging of the "Best Model" at club night before the mayhem begins!.

 

Hope this helps.

[Cuban8]

We used to have a 'scramble' comp. IIRC, engines had to be hand started at the beginning of the five minute window - loud hooter! (30 second penalty for using a starter - no leccy models ) and the object was to fly as long as possible within the five minute 'window' - penalties for flying too long! Something like that anyway. Could be quite rough on the models when you have a dozen models all trying to get airborne together ASAP at the start and all trying to land together at the end of the five minute window.......... Some were really expert at this and would post times where they'd lose only  a couple of seconds hand starting and then land dead on time.

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

I used to go to the Lunel epp fun fly week ends you weren't aloud to go home till you had crashed,,

 

,

 

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Musical chairs, all climb to same ish height, call land, last one down is out, repeat till you've a winner.

[leccyflyer]

Balloon bursting and limbo are always popular, as are spot landing competitions, or simple task based routines, such as -take off, 3 loops, 3 rolls, circuit and land -fastest to land successfully wins. I really enjoyed the ad-hoc bombing competition, which saw a plastic cup fixed to the model, containing a small ball and you were to drop the ball however you chose - a loop, bunt, or half roll and see who could get closest to a target in the middle of the strip.

[SIMON CRAGG]

I think any " fun events" are popular, once you can entice members to take part.

 

For an example, we also run a Phoenix 2000 one design comp. throughout the year, and have a maximum of about eight members taking part.

 

On the day, we usually have a row of onlookers enjoying watching the spectacle of two gliders fighting it out to the last inch above the "hard deck" before calling powering up.

 

By all the banter this generates, I would have thought more members would have wanted to take part, so why don't they?.

 

It can really only boil down to three reasons. Not being competitive, cannot afford it or fear of failure.

 

With the BIG FUN events I am organising, I have tried EVERYTHING  I can think of to make it affordable, safe and fun.

 

At the end of the day it boils down to that old saying: "Its the taking part that counts"!.

 

 

[John T]

One of the more popular events at the club I belong to is the Rookie powered glider comp.

As the name suggests, this is a one design comp for the Dave Boddington designed Rookie glider, with a pylon mounted engine above the wing.

The aim is to fly for exactly ten minutes, with a one point deduction for every second above or below the target time.  The is also a 30 point bonus if all of the model finishes on the mown strip.

Any engine can be used, but the fuel tank is limited to 7.5cc.  Most people use small diesels, but the odd glow engine is also used.

We hold the comp over two legs, and each leg consists of five flights with the worst score of each five being discarded.

The Rookie is very easy to fly, so anyone that can fly solo should have no trouble flying one.  The only downside for some is the fact that there is no RTF version available so you actually have to build the model.