|
| |
|
Welcome to the IMAC Northwest Region. If you are new to
IMAC and seeking information, please click on Regional Contacts in the link bar
or click here and contact the Assistant Regional Director in your area.
New Stuff
- Snohomish Results -
The results from Snohomish are posted -
Click Here. The
regional standings have been updated to reflect Snohomish,
Click Here. Pics are posted,
Click Here...
- New Edmonton Contest Date -
The date for the Edmonton contest has been moved to 9/13
& 14/08. The contest flyer has been posted. See the Schedule page.
- RAMS Field At Risk -
The RAMS are facing a notice of eviction from their
field. As part of their effort to retain the field they are building a
petition of support that will be included in their defense of the field
lease. Please follow this link,
Click Here - It will give you more information, allow you to sign up
as a petitioner and thereby assist the RAMS in their battle. Thanks!
- Pilot's / Judges Corner Library-
All the Pilot/Judges Corner write-ups since 1/07 have
been collected and are published here in the Pilot Judges Corner
Library. There is an entry in the link bar that gets you to the library
or, Click Here.
- Pilot's / Judges Corner -
This time I will don my flame retardant suit and cover
what tends to be the most contentious maneuver we judge and fly - the snap. So Click here
to get the info on judging the snap.....
EVENTS:.
-
Next Up - Pacific Coast Freestyle -
The weekend of 7/24 to 27th we are in Molalla for one of
the biggest IMAC contests on the west coast. Thursday is reserved for
the Basic guys and Thursday and Friday are for the other four classes.
The entry for Sunday's freestyle will be drawn from the finishers in the
IMAC contest. Come to a great contest and to see some of the best
freestyle going....
-
Next Next Up - CDA Heat -
On 8/9 & 10 we are in Coeur d'Alene for what is
always a great contest. This year Brad & Jerry are taking a break from
the CD job ( many thanks...) and our Regional Director Keith B. will CD
the contest. Expect the usual terrific Coeur d'Alene hospitality and
lots of flying. You don't get to sleep in at this one. They start
early....
-
Next Next Next Up - Nampa Escape -
The weekend of 8/23 & 24 we are in Nampa, ID. Last year
the inaugural contest was a great success and this year will be even
better. Beautiful field for Brandon P. to CD a great contest. Come to a
nice part of the NW and fly.
| |
|
|
| |
SU26's.... |
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
| |
Hot Pic
- give me your Candidate.... |
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
Patches & Kyle - Molalla 07.... |
|
New CD Stuff:
| Open Flying During Contest Weekends: |
| Above and beyond sequence flying, it
is your prerogative as the CD to decide when your field will be
open for general/fun flying during the weekend. However, in
allocating time for field use we should all observe the
following items in order to provide consistency and fairness at
our contests: 1. Once
sequence flying starts for the day, the field is closed to any
flying except sequence flying until sequence flying concludes
for that day - and this includes the lunch break, if any.
2. The field is closed to all flying on
Sunday morning before the start of Unknowns. This is the
practice in the NW and has been for years.
3. If a pilot has an electrical or
mechanical problem during the weekend and needs to test fly during a
period when the field is restricted to sequence,
he should request permission from you to do so. Note that
electrical or mechanical problems must be real "does it work
or not"
kind of problems
and not mix adjustments, trim changes or fine tuning of the
motor. Once the request is made,
you decide when it is reasonable for the guy to fly and tell him
when to do so. His test flight is to be brief (~ 5 min) and should
only consist of turn around maneuvers, i.e., no snaps,
point rolls, hammers, extended inverted flight, etc, etc.... |
| F&JG Pilot Panel Rule: |
| The requirement to have both a pilot
figure and an instrument panel in the plane remains in force. However, this is a
part of our scale requirement and therefore does not
apply to BASIC. Please be sure that your scorers do not check
the "no pilot/panel" check box for BASIC pilots when doing set
up in the score program. |
| Pets: |
| A new item has been added to the NW
safety practices list regarding pets. If people bring pets to
contests the pets must be contained or on leash. It is a hazard
to allow them to be loose at the field while the field is open
for flying. It is up to you, the CD, to decide if they are to be allowed
to roam during periods when the field is not being used for
flying. |
Check Final Scores: |
| There is a bug in the Stoner score program
we use. It is rare but
Sue encountered it a couple of years ago and we just experienced
it at Zillah. To guard against announcing erroneous finish
positions, you
should do a final check on your scores after all scores have
been entered and before the awards are announced. Look for any
final pilot scores within the Standings that exceed the max possible score, For
example: if we fly 6 sequences and an Unknown we will score 4 Knowns and the Unknown and therefore, once normalized, the max
possible score will be 5000. If this error occurs the
program fails to normalize a sequence for a class and adds the unnormalized
scores into the final totals. In the couple of cases we have
had, this results in scores
above the max possible. The remedy is that you have to manually
normalize the sequence(s) in error and enter those numbers. |
| Regional Scoring Equipment: |
| Rick Sowell has generously donated a
brand new HP Desk Jet printer to the region. So, now we have
both laptop and printer for use by the contests that need them. |
|
|
Pilots / Judges Corner -
- A Snap??? - maybe....
The first issue you must decide when judging snaps
is that he did or did not do the type of snap called for by the Aresti.
Snaps can be positive (pitch to the canopy) or negative (pitch to the
wheels). If he does the wrong type, he gets a zero for the maneuver -
the whole maneuver. If he gets this part right, you go on to judge the
rest of the maneuver.
“Is it a snap” is the second decision you, as a
judge, must wrestle with. This is a binary choice. There is no gray
area. You must decide if he did or did not snap. If the answer is no,
you zero the maneuver - the whole maneuver. If the answer is yes, then
you proceed to judge the applicable downgrades for the snap and apply
them to the maneuver.
So lets deal with “Is it a snap”. To be a snap
there must be a stall and there must be autorotation. That is what the
F&JG tells us. The stall is a high speed stall induced by the pilot with
a rapid pitch movement that increases the angle of attack sufficiently
to stall a wing. The lift on the wing that is still flying will force
rapid rotation about the roll axis and also, combined with rudder
deflection, will produce a yaw in the direction of the roll. So
everything is moving here. A judgeable snap will have movement on all
three axis - pitch, roll and yaw.
When must the
pilot get these three motions all moving? Unlike the spin where the
stall and wing drop are supposed to occur simultaneously, the snap may
have the pitch (stall) and the autorotation begin simultaneously OR
sequentially in that order (pitch then autorotation). No downgrade
applies if he starts the pitch and autorotation together. No downgrade
applies if he pitches and then immediately starts autorotating. If,
however, he initiates the rotation first without a pitch you ding him .5
for each 5 degrees he rotates before he shows you the pitch. If he gets
to 90 degrees without a pitch, you zero the maneuver. Note that many
pilots intentionally and legitimately delay the start of autorotation
momentarily to be sure to clearly show the pitch/stall before the start
of autorotation in order to minimize the risk of getting a zero
So, how do you, the judge, know that all this is
happening as it should? Its hard since it all happens so quickly but
you can clearly identify the pitch that starts it all. Without a pitch
there will be no stall. No stall equals no snap and results in a zero.
Just don’t ding the guy if the autorotation starts at the same time as
the pitch/stall. At the point of the break (stall) into the snap you
have a couple of indicators that you can use to make the “Is it a snap”
decision. If he did snap:
| - |
There will be displacement of the plane’s
pitch axis relative to the entry line, i.e., entering the snap
the plane should not be on the same exact line as it was prior
to the snap. If he stalled, he went either to the canopy or the
wheels and he shouldn’t be on the identical line. |
| - |
There
will be yaw displacement. The rudder deflection and stall of the
wing will yaw the plane in the direction of rotation. So on
entering the snap the plane will be pointed at some angle (it
may be small) to the line he was on before the snap. |
Note that these are only indicators. They are not
of themselves judging criteria.
But, to look at it another way, if he remains on exactly
the same line during his snap effort he did an aileron roll. If he
spirals around his entry line, he is doing a barrel roll. Neither case
qualifies as a judgeable snap and each should be zero’d.
Before we talk about downgrades for judgeable
snaps, lets consider what the pilot must do after the snap. What he must
do is immediately get the plane back on the required flight path in the
appropriate attitude. So, given the discussion above, since he has
pitched and yawed from his original track, he will likely have to make a
pitch and a yaw correction to resume the correct flight path. If the
snap is being done on a line, the post snap line should be parallel to
the pre-snap line but not identical to it since it will be displaced by
some distance from the pre-snap line. This may be a very small distance.
If the snap is being done on an arc, he may or may not need to realign
in order to continue along the radius he is flying. The critical point is
that you should not downgrade the guy for realignment movements done
immediately after the snap. These movements may not be perceptible but
if they are he is allowed to “straighten” the plane without downgrade.
He must do this immediately after completion of the snap. If the
realignment is necessary and he delays it he will be showing you a
misaligned line
or arc that is inconsistent with the Aresti and you should
downgrade that line or arc.
OK - he did a snap, it was the correct type of snap
and you did not zero it. What are the downgrades that may apply. For the
snap element itself, the only downgrade is under or over
rotation. Once autorotation is initiated in the snap the pilot must
maintain autorotation to exactly the stopping point called for by the
Aresti. If he stops early, you downgrade .5 for every 5 degrees that he
under rotated. Same if he over rotates. Note that it is common to see a
pilot come out of autorotation early and aileron to the finish - and
some pilots do it very skillfully. This gets a downgrade and is treated
as the under rotation just covered, i.e., you ding him .5 for 5 for
however much he is aileroning to the finish. The indicator that you look
for to identify that this is happening is a change in the rate of
rotation. Rotation rate is not in itself a judging criteria within
snaps, but the rate of rotation within an autorotation will be pretty
constant and any change will be gradual as the plane loses energy in the
snap. So, a perceptible and perhaps abrupt change of roll rate toward
the end of the snap is a clue that the pilot is not autorotating to the
finish but, rather, is completing his snap with ailerons. It can be a
tough call.
Beyond the snap element itself you must, in
judging a snap, be alert to the following:
- Line centering:
If the snap is done on a line, it must be centered
on the line. If it is not the following downgrade applies based on the
two line segments either side of the snap:
| |
- |
Line segments vary but the difference is less that 2 to 1 -
deduct 1 pt |
| |
- |
Line segments differ by 2 to 1 but less than 3 to 1 - deduct
2 pt |
| |
- |
Line segments differ by 3 to 1 or more - deduct 3 pt max |
| |
- |
Omits one line segment - deduct 4 pt |
| |
- |
Omits both line segments - deduct 2 pt |
- Exit of a part loop:
If the snap is done when exiting a part loop such
as at the exit of an Immelman it must be done exactly at the completion
of the part loop. If not the following downgrades apply:
| |
- |
If done early before the completion of the part loop ding
him .5 for each 5 degrees that he is early |
| |
- |
If done late and he shows you a line after completion of the
part loop and before
the snap, it is at least a two point deduction - more if
the line is extended. The F&JG doesn’t help us with applying a
deduction of more than two points. Also, at some point the line
can get so long that the maneuver should be zero’d. Again the F&JG doesn’t help us here. It is up to you to set some personal standard for
these cases. Just be consistent. |
- Entry to a part loop:
If the snap is done when entering a part loop such
as at the beginning of an Split S, the arc of the part loop must begin
immediately after completion of the snap.
| |
- |
If he shows you a line after the snap and before starting
the arc, it is the same “at least two points” deduction
just discussed above. Again, you have to personally come up with
a scheme for handling the “more if extended”. |
| |
- |
If he is late and starts the arc (establishes a radius...)
and then does the snap we again are left on our own. If he only
impinges a little on the arc and does the snap I would ding him
.5 for 5 for being late. If he is very noticeably late I would zero the maneuver. What is a “little” and what is “noticeably
late” again requires that you set a personal standard that you
can apply consistently. |
- Arc centering:
If the snap is done on an arc (loop or part loop)
it must be centered on that arc. If it is not centered the following
downgrade applies:
| |
- |
.5 for each 5 degrees that he misses the center |
- Follow the arc:
If the snap is being done on an arc (loop or part
loop) it must follow the radius of that arc during the time that it is
being executed. The alternative is to flatten out the radius and do the
snap on a line. In general, adding a line where you shouldn’t have one
is a 2 pt deduction. So, if he does not follow the arc during the snap
and instead does it on a line, or shows you well defined lines before
and/or after the snap, the following downgrades apply:
| |
- |
2 pt if he flattens out and does the snap on a line |
| |
- |
- 2 pt per line if he shows you a defined
line (no radius) before the snap is initiated or after the snap
is completed. What is the length that makes it a “defined line”
is up to you. |
Note that the snap may be done as part of a
combination of optional elements. For example: a line that has a snap
followed by an opposite half roll. If so, then the downgrades discussed
above (centering, follow the arc, etc...) always apply to the total
combination. The exception to this is the spin. The spin is an optional
element which ends with a down line. Another optional element such as a
snap after the spin may be required on that down line and if so there is no centering
requirement imposed upon it.
So that is pretty much it. The difficulty in
judging the snap lies with the speed of the maneuver and how quickly it
all happens. You really have to be paying attention and anticipating the
snap so you are concentrating on what the pilot actually shows you. As
with all judging it is critical to know the sequence to avoid looking
away from the plane - and, as always, the pilot gets the benefit of the
doubt
|
|
Old CD Stuff:
| NW Safety Practices: |
| Also, be sure to review the NW Safety
list before the contest and be very hard-nosed in enforcing all
items. Click Here. |
| Contest Forms / Documents: |
| All the info, forms and contacts you
will need to run your contest are included in the
"Useful
Stuff" page on this
site. For registration, in addition to the AMA Event
participation and Safety Declaration forms, use the "IMAC Contest Sign In" form.
It has columns for frequency, pilot/panel, senior and "paid".
This is all info you must capture at registration,
Click Here. |
| Obtaining Unknowns for Your Contest: |
| The Unknown Sequence request link to
IMAC National is included in "Useful
Stuff" - follow the links you find there. You must make this request to National at least 10
days before the contest. You log onto the National site (have to
be a member) in order for it to display the request page.
Make sure you click on the "Submit" button before leaving
the request page. It is down at the left bottom and it is
not obvious. The Unknowns are emailed by National on the Monday
before your contest to whomever you specify as recipient in your
request for Unknown |
Miscellaneous
- 08 Pre-Registration -
We are getting better at this but it is still a little
like pulling teeth. Not sure why. No one has said anything to me and I
would appreciate some input. If there is something we can do to
facilitate this, I am happy to give it a try. Please let me know.
Click here to
get to the pre-reg site. The first time you go there you will have to register
which amounts to giving it a username & password.
Thanks
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
A Brücker... |
|
Tucson Shootout 07:
Tucson 07 is history. As usual it was a great time for everyone and our
guys showed well. Particular congratulations to Tony for making the cut
into Saturday. Great job by all
| |
Sportsman: |
- |
Mike Raines |
| |
|
- |
Tony Thomasian |
| |
Intermediate: |
- |
Darren Kuhn |
| |
|
- |
Mike Verswyvelt |
| |
Advanced: |
- |
Jim Gilbert |
| |
|
- |
Mike Carreiro |
| |
Unlimited: |
- |
Kyle Woyshnis |
| |
|
- |
John Wondra |
In addition, congratulations to Kyle who flew in the Four Minute
FreeStyle with the best in the world - next year he is going to fly a
few inches higher....
07 Regional Champions:
| |
Mike Carriero - Advanced |
|
| |
Darren Kuhn - Intermediate |
|
| |
Bruce Hanley - Sportsman |
|
| |
Keith Bodeau - Unlimited |
|
| |
Bruce Hanley - Senior |
|
Contest Pictures:
I can accept pics at any time you come up with them and post them to
this site for your contest. Just email me whatever you find and I can
add it to the photo gallery. I try to post something between 15 -25 pics
per contest and identify what/who is in the pic. So if I am unlikely to
know the people or things in the picture, please send me some ID info...
|
|
|
|
