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Coordinated by Scott Black

THREE EVENTS IN ONE!

As the date of our club’s first “Triathlon of Model Aviation” drew near, I was worried.  Given that we were flying rubber power free flight, control line and R/C fun fly, a windy day would have been a bad thing.  An extremely hot day would have meant much less fun.  And, a rainy day would have just spoiled the whole thing!
        Fortunately, we couldn’t have had a finer day in Central Indiana… 73 degrees, low humidity and winds from the southwest at 5-10 mph.  Perfect!  Actually though, the forecasters were off a bit on the wind speed.  We did have some winds that gusted up to 15 mph at times that day and it almost threw a monkey wrench in on the rubber power free flight event.  But, we were able to get it done with some decent flights and times. 

REASON FOR EVENT       

The whole purpose of this event is to get flyers back to their roots in model aviation.  Many of us built our first rubber band powered tissue and dope covered planes in our youth and eventually worked into control line and finally into radio control as time, money and reliability of equipment improved.
.        For others, they have gotten into the hobby only recently, never having a chance to really try their hands at a delicate free flight model, or a control line ship that is not only incredibly aerobatic, but that pulls like a mule lap after lap.  These parts of our hobby are entirely foreign to them.  Truly, the best new R/C pilot can learn a great deal from trimming a free flight model, learning about thermals, and working with the winds to promote flight instead of cursing them when they arrive.  Control line pilots have the unique opportunity to be able to learn how to build airframes, start and maintain engines and develop their skills while relying on a simple, yet effective means of control that is virtually fool proof once understood.

The Triathlon of Model Aviation forces pilots to try their skills in three areas of model aviation.  

EVENTS, DESCRIPTION 

We offered three separate events in our Triathlon.  The first was rubber power free flight. We were concerned that large wingspans might carry uncontrollable free flight models into the prison area.  That would NOT be a good thing.  So, we limited the first year’s wingspan to 24”.  As it turned out, it was not a problem with the durations we experienced and we will increase that wingspan limit to 30” for the 2006 event.  The rubber power free flight was judged purely on duration.  Given the unpredictable nature of these aircraft, we felt that averaging three flights would give a good indicator, and it did.  Our best flights with the models, wind and chosen designs were about 25 seconds.
          The Control Line event was judged by counting the number of stunts done in a sixty second period marked by the pilot.  When ready, they called “start” and we hit our stopwatches and started counting.  Yes, consecutive loops on a Voodoo type stunt plane won the event.  Next year, that probably means that those who want to win will build that type of airplane.  For me, my trusty Goldberg Buster was able to accomplish 11 stunts in a 60 second period.  I was happy with that and plan on using the same plane again next year.  After all, the purpose of this event is fun.  Winning is nice, but fun is what mattered most.        The R/C Fun Fly took place in the afternoon after lunch.  We had time for two rounds of that event.  We used a limbo event (double points for inverted!), spot landing, timed touch-and-go landings in a two minute period and finally a Kamikaze Balloon Bust.  Unfortunately, the wind was high enough to prevent us from using helium filled balloons.  I had intended to to weight them just enough that they would rise slowly.  So, we did a “Ground Hog” style and stapled the balloon to a flat sheet of plywood on the runway.  Intentional taxing was not allowed.  It had to be intended low passes or touch and go.  Great events, a lot of fun and a lot of skill came into play for each flyer.  Three attempts were allowed.  About 50% of our pilots were successful on their strafing run!  PILOTS?        This being our first year for this event, I really had no idea how many people would come.  At it turned out, we had seven pilots who went at it.  We did not advertise the event outside of our club, so that we could work out the bugs this year.  Next year, if we decide to, we can promote it at least regionally and also through Model Aviation magazine.  With seven flyers, we still took from 9 am until 2:30 pm to complete the events, taking a half and hour or so for lunch.  So, we many not want more than 15 or so next year for a full day.  Advance registration might help with that so we could plan ahead.
        Our pilots were Bob Groves, Mika Woodward, Matt Brown, Steve Ragsdale, Al Myers, Jim Lutes and yours truly.

FOOD, VOLUNTEERS       

A huge “thank you” goes to Mark Crittendon and Dennis Anderson for working the food concession.  We had plenty of great food to eat and service with a smile. Several others helped out that day as well with timing, judging and other chores.  Each received a raffle ticket for their participation. 

AWARDS       

We had some fun awards to give away for the Triathlon.  There was a “Champion–Rubber Power” award won by Matt Brown, a “Champion–Control Line” award won by Matt Brown, a “Champion–R/C Fun Fly” award won by Al Myers, the “Coolest Plane of the Day” award and of course, the “Grand Champion” of the Day award won by Mika Woodward.  The “Grand Champion” was the guy who placed highest in all events for a combined total.  Jim Lutes won the “Coolest Plane of the Day” award for his balsa and tissue “Javelin” rubber power model.  It was really a beauty to look at.

PRIZES/SPONSORS       

We had really great response from sponsors for the event.  Our sponsors were very generous and we ended up having six airplane kits to give away, several gift certificates and yes, TWO complete radio control systems!  Tower Hobbies sent a 4 Channel Futaba Skysport system, and Horizon Hobby sent a 6 Channel JR Computer Radio system to us the week before the event!  We had lots of smaller items too.  Since this is our first year, I hope that we will have the same prizes and more for next year’s event.

NEXT YEAR’S DATE       

Next year’s Triathlon of Model Aviation will be June 17th, 2006 if agreed to by the club.  That’s Father’s Day weekend again.  The weather seemed to be just right and you’ve got a year now to get ready!

The following photos were taken by Bob Groves and Doug Fish.

Thanks for all your work on this event Scott.