Flight Times

[illusionist]

the bonus for state and national tournament is given if your wing chord is under 7cm right?

[lunxiong]

The bonus for state is given if the wing cord is less than 7 cm; the bonus for national is given if the wing cord is less than 6cm.

[Littleboy]

The best time was 4:00 on the state bonus wing. Calculated out it was 4:48. It was very impressive to watch. AA winner was around 4:30 also impressive. Our best time was 4:05, in practice 3:25 when it counted. It was enough for 4th place AA.

How tall was the gym?

I had my best flight ever today. 2:56

[jcollier]

This post is not really about the seasoned flyers who are putting up great times, but about what a novice can accomplish. My #2 WS competitor built his first ever plane this year just before regionals, and got the plane to fly around 55 sec. back in March. He finally is getting some nice flights. Today he almost hit 2.00 and the plane is flying very nicely and consistently. He used the Cezar Banks Leading Edge, as did my son. He made some errors in construction, but not too bad for his first attempt. This plane has been broken and repaired many times, and is somewhat over 7 grams, but he hung in there, we got a prop/rubber combo that worked well, and his hard work and persistence has been rewarded. If anyone on this board is still struggling, I urge you to stick with it, and exhaust all tuning possibilities. It is so worth it when you finally can see the plane fly well.

To update this post, Phil was flying a lot of practice at States when he had time. He kept flying after the competition, and was fortunate enough to get some feedback from John Clapp. He ended up getting a best practice time of 2.58! He had several flights in the 2.40 range. The persistence he showed and what he was able to do and learn were very impressive to me. Way to go, Phil!

[wlsguy]

This post is not really about the seasoned flyers who are putting up great times, but about what a novice can accomplish. My #2 WS competitor built his first ever plane this year just before regionals, and got the plane to fly around 55 sec. back in March. He finally is getting some nice flights. Today he almost hit 2.00 and the plane is flying very nicely and consistently. He used the Cezar Banks Leading Edge, as did my son. He made some errors in construction, but not too bad for his first attempt. This plane has been broken and repaired many times, and is somewhat over 7 grams, but he hung in there, we got a prop/rubber combo that worked well, and his hard work and persistence has been rewarded. If anyone on this board is still struggling, I urge you to stick with it, and exhaust all tuning possibilities. It is so worth it when you finally can see the plane fly well.

Good Point !!

Our team has a variety of places built throughout the season. Some have been repaired, some are heaverier than others.
At the beginning of the season we thought 1:30 was a good time in a normal 24' gym.
At the end of the season every team member consistantly hit 2:20 with almost any plane and our better planes would hit 3:00.

Basically, if you build a plane with a kit or according to one of the popular plans, you can have a good time.
We found that building the plane was the easy part.

To have a good time;
Keep up the practice and make small changes, one at a time, and document EVERYTHING that you do.
I would also recommend reading every article you can find on stretch winding and using a torque meter.

[mcgoarty072]

I have been flying my plane at a consistent 2.10-2.15 with my best at 2.34 but i am going to do more to add time. How do you think i will do at PA states with these times?

[wlsguy]

I have been flying my plane at a consistent 2.10-2.15 with my best at 2.34 but i am going to do more to add time. How do you think i will do at PA states with these times?

First the good news.
If your time is based on a "normal" gym height, 2.34 is a pretty good time. You are already flying better than most teams and being able to fly consistantly over 2.00 is a good thing.

The bad news.
One the the PA teams, Bala Cynwyd, flew a 3.13 at one of the invitationals this year. If I remember correctly, the ceiling height was ~23'.

Don't give up and keep trying. You can make significant improvements with proper stretch winding and with minor adjustments to the plane. It is far more important to fly your best time consistantly than it is to occassionally hit a good time.

[jcollier]

Your times would have gotten 3rd place last year. This year, it's anyone's guess. I expect it to be much more competitive since teams have had an extra year with few changes needed to designs, other than the larger stabilizer. I will be helping the Supervisor, John Clapp, in some capacity next Friday, but I don't know what yet. I have been a timer and weighed motors in the past. Good luck to you.

[Littleboy]

What were the top 10 flight times at the MI state competition last year?

[Taran]

Let me guess, 5:11 was using a made from scratch plane?

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