Still with full right aileron?!
Apart from just enjoying the flying, this is what they were all trying for. Shaun (2nd), Christopher (The Champion!), and Hennie (3rd).
Fun Fly is changing for 2006!
As he threatened at last year’s National Fun-Fly AGM, Dave Armitage has passed on the baton for Fun-Fly to a new committee of three.
Your new committee, Andrew Hirst, Johan Sieling and Henry Kurowski, want to give a big THANK YOU to Dave on behalf of the almost 300 pilots who have enjoyed taking part in the series over the years. He conceived the idea, and has made it work for the last fifteen years with support from Pam Baker
New brooms and all that… we plan to make some changes this year and we want to hear your comments and suggestions. First and most important there will be a new SPORTSMAN CLASS. Just as in the Open class the best performing pilots in the series rounds will be invited to compete in the Masters event at the end of the year, and there will be trophies and prizes.
This is intended for the pilot who would like to have a go, but maybe doesn’t have the latest and greatest fun fly model, or who doesn’t feel up to competing with the lightning thumbs of the youngsters who these days seem to be practically weaned on consecutive knife-edge loops with a Shock Flyer.
Models in this class will be limited to a wing thickness less than 12.5% (the Shotgun is around 16%) and a wing loading greater than 17 oz/sq ft (Shotgun about 10). For those who have any idea what a decimetre is, this translates to about 50 g/sq. dm. This is intended to exclude specialist fun-fly models and give the Sunday flyers’ Stiks and better trainers a chance.
You can choose which class you would like to enter, but if you have qualified for the Masters you won’t be eligible for the Sportsman class for the following 3 years.
Sportsmen will fly the same qualifying rounds together with the hotshots, but where necessary we will simplify the events for sportsmen – for example, we won’t ask them to do inverted flat spins and outside loops with a 40 trainer!
The other changes we are planning are mainly around how we will design and select the 6 events for each round. We intend to publish a fairly long list of possible events in advance, and one non-flying member of the committee will select the six for each round from the list and prepare the sealed competition envelopes to be sent out to participating clubs and groups. This should ensure that the descriptions are clear and unambiguous so we all end up flying the same manoeuvres!
The 3 rounds in the series will be held in March, May and July. Any group of pilots can run their own series event on any weekend in that month. All they will need is at least two independent judges and a place to fly – plus a set of rules for the round and some basic equipment that most clubs have anyway!
It could make a good Club fun day with any competent pilot able to take part in Sportsman class while the Open class pilots go for broke (not literally, I hope). Why not organise an event between two or three clubs, with each round flown at a different club?
You do not have to be a SAMAA member to fly in the series, but you will have to be a member to fly at the Masters. The only membership fee for this interest group is the entry fee for the competition rounds.
Any club or group wanting more information should contact one of the National Fun Fly Committee members. We will try to circulate basic information to every club, but often it goes on the back burner unless one or two members take a pro-active role – you are welcome to contact us direct. We can only send rules for each round to clubs or groups that request them or that have participated or shown some interest in the past.
Contacts:
Still with full right aileron?!