Flight B/C

[poonda]

Regarding the wobble of my plane, how do I readjust the pitch on my propeller? I have the stock Ikara propeller

your plane could also be wobbling because the prop blades are out of balance; see if the propeller tends to "fall" to one blade and add weight to the other until they seem to balance out
someone else can probably explain this better than i can

[Astronomyguy]

Hi everyone,

New to this forum! I have a question about something that was said in the rules. In the rules, it said we could use helicopters. Me being curious:

1) What would a design helicopter look like?

2) How would you use a rubber band to power a propeller completely vertically?

3) Lastly, has anyone seen any team build and use a helicopter?

Just something I'm curious about in this event.

I believe Coach Brian posted a video demonstration on how to wind a rubber band somewhere in these forums. He uses a helicopter in the video. As for its use this season, I believe that helicopters aren't used because the weight of each device must be above 8 grams. IIRC, good helicopters can't compete with good planes time-wise with the weight restriction.

[bjt4888]

Hi everyone,

New to this forum! I have a question about something that was said in the rules. In the rules, it said we could use helicopters. Me being curious:

1) What would a design helicopter look like?

2) How would you use a rubber band to power a propeller completely vertically?

3) Lastly, has anyone seen any team build and use a helicopter?

Just something I'm curious about in this event.

I believe Coach Brian posted a video demonstration on how to wind a rubber band somewhere in these forums. He uses a helicopter in the video. As for its use this season, I believe that helicopters aren't used because the weight of each device must be above 8 grams. IIRC, good helicopters can't compete with good planes time-wise with the weight restriction.

Astronomy,

Based upon my experience coaching teams in the helicopter event, I am agreeing that an 8 gram helicopter (even with rotors as big as the box will allow) with only 2 grams of rubber is not likely to be competitive. An 8 gram Heli would need large diameter rotors to fly well and with large diameter rotors a lot more than 2 grams of rubber would be needed to turn the rotors for a reasonable flight time. Other years we had the Heli event the minimum weight was 3-3.5 grams and the rubber was unlimited.

The other significant issue with a helicopter is that most rooms provided for the Flight event will be gyms with girders and other ceiling obstructions. Gyms are appropriate for Flight of course as this is a good venue for airplanes, helicopters get stuck in the girders when they are flown in gyms.

The last time our Region hosted helicopters in a gym 50% of flights got stuck in the girders. A good room for helicopter needs a flat ceiling; a tall ceiling is not necessary. So, an event host typically has to make a choice this year between supplying a good venue for airplanes or a good venue for helicopter. Very few schools have the perfect flat ceiling gym that would work for both Heli and airplane.

Brian T

[randomdogonapc]

Recently, I competed at the West Liberty-Salem invite in Ohio. Because I am not sure if it is allowed to post the full results, I will just say the highlights for flight. The #1 flight time was a 2:46, and this should be the current best in state, considering that most teams in Ohio were there. I must say, the rumors of a 4 minute flight time were scaring me, and these more tangible numbers are a huge relief to me. Oh, by the way, this was Div B.

[pumptato-cat]

Phew! I can sleep at night now...
4 minute times are genuinely terrifying.
Do you have ceiling height? Thanks so much for the data!

[BrianZ]

My team's very first flight on our plane was 3:32 in a 37 foot ceiling arena (the arena where regionals and state are held, in Missouri) with the air on. We were so pumped, but we haven't gotten those results since, and in regionals we barely broke a minute due to some unlucky crashes with a wall, a wire hanging from the ceiling, a basketball hoop, the ceiling, and another wall, all in the same flight. One or two insane flight times aren't worth nearly as much as repeatable, consistent flights. Our goal is a four minute flight at state, and I'm sure it's possible, especially if we can get them to turn the air off, which they didn't at regionals. There is a big drift across the arena, even when the air is off (it was off for SO last year), but especially when it is on, and the big looping wire that used to go the the hanging scoreboard is right in the middle of the court. It is pure luck if you hit it or not. One team flew between the two wires (maybe 18 inches apart) in the loop twice in one flight, and their next circle missed the wires by 5 feet.

Even my own school either can't or won't turn off the air handlers this year, after getting a new system. It's so hard to figure out what our planes are doing when they're blown around that much. There is bound to be a big ol' circuit breaker somewhere that I can pop, but sometimes it feels like what's the point of practicing in calm air anyway, if the air is going to be blowing at the competition. It's disheartening, and I fear the rise of computerized thermostat systems are going to be the demise of this event.

[Banana2020]

Recently, I competed at the West Liberty-Salem invite in Ohio. Because I am not sure if it is allowed to post the full results, I will just say the highlights for flight. The #1 flight time was a 2:46, and this should be the current best in state, considering that most teams in Ohio were there. I must say, the rumors of a 4 minute flight time were scaring me, and these more tangible numbers are a huge relief to me. Oh, by the way, this was Div B.

Any idea what the ceiling height there was? I know teams were most definitely over 3 minutes at Mentor and Kenston because of the relatively high ceilings. I do have a feeling that Tower Heights has the ability to get higher times than they're showing right now.

[Frost0125]

Hi!

I know this may be a difficult question to answer, but I was wondering what flight times I should be aiming for for regionals? I'm from John T. Hoggard in NC in the Wilmington region. I've been in Scioly for a while, but this is my first year doing a build event. I have what I think to be a fairly well-built Freedom Flights plane, but I haven't gotten the chance to fly it yet, due to lack of gym space.

Also, is there anyway to see flight/wright stuff times for past regionals/state tournaments?

[bjt4888]

Hi!

I know this may be a difficult question to answer, but I was wondering what flight times I should be aiming for for regionals? I'm from John T. Hoggard in NC in the Wilmington region. I've been in Scioly for a while, but this is my first year doing a build event. I have what I think to be a fairly well-built Freedom Flights plane, but I haven't gotten the chance to fly it yet, due to lack of gym space.

Also, is there anyway to see flight/wright stuff times for past regionals/state tournaments?

Frost,

Yes, you’ll find that most teams are reluctant to share flight time and testing details. However, I can share that, based upon my teams competing in six different Invitationals so far, Division C times this year are very similar to Wright Stuff times from last year. Division B times are about 15 seconds better than C as the longer airplane is more efficient.

Brian T

[bjt4888]

My team's very first flight on our plane was 3:32 in a 37 foot ceiling arena (the arena where regionals and state are held, in Missouri) with the air on. We were so pumped, but we haven't gotten those results since, and in regionals we barely broke a minute due to some unlucky crashes with a wall, a wire hanging from the ceiling, a basketball hoop, the ceiling, and another wall, all in the same flight. One or two insane flight times aren't worth nearly as much as repeatable, consistent flights. Our goal is a four minute flight at state, and I'm sure it's possible, especially if we can get them to turn the air off, which they didn't at regionals. There is a big drift across the arena, even when the air is off (it was off for SO last year), but especially when it is on, and the big looping wire that used to go the the hanging scoreboard is right in the middle of the court. It is pure luck if you hit it or not. One team flew between the two wires (maybe 18 inches apart) in the loop twice in one flight, and their next circle missed the wires by 5 feet.

Even my own school either can't or won't turn off the air handlers this year, after getting a new system. It's so hard to figure out what our planes are doing when they're blown around that much. There is bound to be a big ol' circuit breaker somewhere that I can pop, but sometimes it feels like what's the point of practicing in calm air anyway, if the air is going to be blowing at the competition. It's disheartening, and I fear the rise of computerized thermostat systems are going to be the demise of this event.

Brian Z,

Sorry to hear about your team’s struggles to get support from the school.

All of the schools that I coach have the modern computerized HVAC systems and three out of the four have expertise enough to program the blowers off for our practices and competitions (the other one the maint staff climb on the roof and trip the breaker for us for every practice). Arranging to have this done took quite a bit of communication effort over multiple years (and some teachers/board members and superintendents that were supportive of science competition and their students).

I’ve gotten to know the coaches, board members, maintenance people, etc. pretty well over the years. End of the year school board presentations (lead by the students with me adding praise for accomplishments) are de regueur to keep our profile high and maintain the relationships.

I know that this is not possible in all situations, but, as we all know, the calm air practices are really critical to do the best science.

I was ES for a Div B tournament on Saturday and, as it was held at one of the schools I coach, the blowers were off and the students had a great experience (and there were some pretty good flights).

Brian T