SEN 3380

1. Curtailing Piggybacking
2. Luddites Live
3. Elephant in the Corner

 

Curtailing Piggybacking
From: Aram Schlosberg

AS Oct 9, ’25 ? 479 ? Ver 7

(The stimulus for this note is a CIAM proposal to reduce F1B’s motors to 25 grams, a 16.6% reduction, because too many flyers reach the first Flyoff, and too few drop in the first Flyoff. The following focuses on piggybacking.)
Curtailing piggybacking is at the core of free flight contest management. The standard line with poles is presumed to be perpendicular the prevailing drift or wind. Contestants or teams move each round to cycle the flight line once during the regular rounds. Line position matters if a thermal is crossing the line. Piggybacking flourishes once the drift is no longer perpendicular to the flight line and could be massive if the drift is down the line as downwind flyers always have an advantage.
However, switching between adjacent flight lines set in different directions to retain perpendicularity to the drift or wind is impractical and disruptive. F1B has been selected because it has the most overhead in terms of support equipment.

Proposal
F1B flyers are split into two groups, depending on the last digit in their sporting license (or an equivalent). The hour is divided into 4-minute units. The ODD group, with BLUE stickers could only launch in the first two minutes slot of each 4-minute unit. The EVEN group, with RED stickers could only launch in the second two minutes slot of each 4-minute unit. Color stickers are 5 cm in diameter, one placed on the wing’s lower, the other on the upper surface.
An iPhone clock or its equivalent determines when each group’s 2-minute launch slot begins and ends. Cross launches (in the other group’s launch-slot) are ignored and could be repeated before the round’s end.
In large contests, the organizer is encouraged to have a time-slot display upwind, visible from the flight line, colored RED on one side, BLUE on the other, that will be flipped or turned every 2-minutes by an assigned operator, based on their iPhone. The operator could sound a short signal, say 10 seconds before a 2-minute launch-slot ends, if there are F1B flyers preparing to launch in that launch-slot.

Comments

1/ Cross-launches in the other group’s lunch-slot are immediately recognized by the model’s color stickers. Most would probably be a few seconds late and should not be penalized by an attempt.

2/ Everyone has an iPhone and the definition of launch-slots every 4-minutes is straight forward. The added overhead is having a time display upwind with a dedicated operator in large contests.

3/ All flyers will have to wait for their launch-slot to begin. Piggybackers in the same group risk being late if their launch-slot expires. Piggybackers in the other group will have to wait for their launch-slot to begin. In general, launch decisions will have to be made faster or delayed. The net result is less piggybacking and smaller Flyoffs.

Luddites Live
From: The editor

There is a second approach to solve the  “too many f1B in Flyoff problem” which is to forbid any thermal detection  device.  There was a proposal from Mike Woodhouse along these lines in a previous SEN.  This might have some appeal because I noticed in Aram’s above it requires some technology, a solution killer for some members of our community.  Do not remember if the no thermal detection banned short trousers .

There has been a request by someone other than the regular event organizers to have an additional F1B in Feb that uses the Woodhouse approach = no thermal devices with or with out a simpler than the above restricted window approach. No decision on this yet. It is hard to fit in the schedule.

Elephant in the Corner
From: the editor

There are a couple of elephants in the corner that probably more important for the longevity of FF than the number of people in a F1B fly off.  The first solution is probably to time the flight more accurately. There are always people who get more time than they earned.

The first thins is to require organizers of FF level 1 and 2 event to publish the results on line within a predetermined delay.  There has been some discussion around using a commercial system used for for some R/C soaring event. That is not really needed it probably can be done (we have done it forcat 1 and 2 events)  with something like Google sheets.  … But then the luddite or commercial group.

The second thing is to time the models accurately. There are the BVLOS issues that are wrapping us around the axle.  There is no point in all the elephants , pigs.  Windows or banning thermistor if we do not time the model properly or tell our world wide community what is going on at our events.

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…………..
Roger Morrell