Flight Times

[smartkid222]

Recently, there was an indoor contest in Tustin, CA, in a former blimp hanger. The winning time was 5:11 !! 4:09 got last place! The 5:11 flyer will be at the US indoor Championship to take on all challengers.

I was actually about to post about that. The bar for nationals is set at 5:11, for now. The height of Tustin was about 150-160 feet. I hear the winner has done sci oly in the past and has become quite an expert, judging by the times.


*edit* i belive they use the 2010 specs. but check to make sure.

[leetx]

The SO plane doesn't climb to the ceiling at Tustin, only about 80 feet. So the same kind of times can be attained at the Nationals.

So, yes, the bar is set at 5:11. I didn't think it was possible until I witnessed it myself.

Yes, for sure, 2010 rules were used. No bonus wings.

[mg]

Does anyone know the illinois state top times?
Thanks,
MG

[talicoa]

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.

[leetx]

Here is a link to the schedule of the US Indoor Championship. You will see that the Wright Stuff event takes place May 28, 2010.

http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/2010 ... hedule.pdf

The Contest Director is Carl Bakay, [email protected]. Contact him for entry information.

Students can fly for a steep discount.

Note that if you can also compete in other events. For example, the limited penny plane (LPP) is a reasonable next step from Wright STuff. These models have a minimum weight of 3.1g and can fly more than 15 minutes at the site.

[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.