Quote:
> : My main reason for not wanting to fly competition (other than there being
> : no large NAR sections in the Northwest, with whom to fly contests) is
> : the old "he who can spend the most, wins the most" phenomenon. It's
> : damnably difficult to win an alt or duration contest on Estes or Quest
> : motors when someone else is shelling out for 10.5mm Apogee A's and B's or
> : 18mm Aerotech composites. While I'm trying to get an egg past 400 feet
> : in a custom-built 24mm bird on a D12-5 (or maybe 200 feet on a D12-3 -- I
> : haven't yet flown an egg), someone else is punching it up to half again
> : that much just by putting a $8 motor in a Scrambler or Omloid.
> I disagree with that statement, at least for duration events. IT's true
> that an 18mm D3 rocket will go a lot higher than a 24mm D12 rocket.
> However, I hold the current team NAR record for A SD at 320 seconds.
> On an A3-6, 13mm BP motor. My teamate has the current team B BG, flown
> on an Estes B4-4.
> The biggest factor in SD and PD events is knowing WHEN to fly and when
> to sacrifice altitude for a bigger chute or better chance of recovery.
True enough -- just like in model airplanes, where I used to compete on a
local level on occasion. And the same problem applies; the only way to
develop the skill to pick the right air and to build a model that can tak
advantage of the right air (or be competitive if the air doesn't
cooperate) is to invest far more >time< flying than I have. And,
especially with rockets (much more so than, say, hand-launch, indoor, or
***-power model airplanes) flying time is money.
Quote:
> And in my section almost all the ***s who compete use Apogee composite
> motors where appropriate. I haven't heard many complaints at all. Yes,
> they are not cheap, but neither is one of my I211 flights! It's all
> relative....
Unfortunately, when a couple $8 motors for one event kills your month's
motor budget, it's very hard to be competitive -- especially when you
don't have either the time or the motor budget to invest in developing
the flying skills in terms of picking air.
Do you know, I flew R/C sailplanes 2-4 times a month for three years and
never >once< found an identifiable thermal? In my lifetime, I've flown
models into thermals twice; once was an old foam Super Glider than I hand
launched, and subsequently lost still going up, and the other was a Peck
Polymers One-Night 28 P-30 model that I chased for more than a half mile
-- it normally did about one minute in still air.
Quote:
> : And no, it doesn't really matter what event it is; even something like
> : Helicopter Duration, where craftsmanship is the winning quality, there's
> : always someone who finds four or five times the working time I can
> : manage, has tools I can't afford this century, and a talent for getting
> : nice smooth finishes while I'm learning new ways to get rid of wrinkles
> : in paint.
> OK. So "If I can't win I won't play". Building GREAT BG, RG, and HD
> rockets DOES NOT TAKE EXPENSIVE TOOLS. Winning rockets DO NOT REQUIRE
> EXPENSIVE MOTORS. Since the models are rearely painted, they DO NOT
> REQUIRE EXPERT FINISHING TECHNIQUES.
I guess that's one way to look at it -- though I think it's more like "If
I don't have a reasonable chance to win, why bother?" Competition is
about winning, or at least entertaining the illusion you might win --
isn't it? If not, why compete at all? I can have more fun at a sport
launch, flying my Alpha III on motors from 1/2A through D (and trying not
to lose it on the big ones) than I can have losing event after event when
I'm building the best models I have to skill to produce and spending
money I don't have on the motors.
Quote:
> Time is required. Persistance is required. Ability to learn from mistakes
> is required. All the same qualities needed to progress in any skill.
Maybe I should rephrase the above as "I don't have the committment to
give up the time and money I now spend on computer upgrades, car repairs,
and my wife's phone bills in favor of building rockets every waking
hour."
Quote:
> So much for diagreement (and the above ARE just my opinions, and opinions
> only, just as I realize your's are the same).
Correct.
Quote:
> Time also seems to be a precious commodity for us all. Many just don't
> have the time it takes to compete.
That's part of the problem, alright -- and I realize that most rocketeers
don't have my budget limitations, either; it seems that hobbies are
activities best pursued when one is at or above the median income, and
mostly debt free. With my budget, I should seemingly stick to watching
TV -- $50 a month for the cable bill is affordable, after a fashion.
Quote:
> The bottom line is...it takes a club to hold a local contest. Both for
> contestants and for organization.
Perhaps if there were a section locally, I'd be inspired to compete --
especially if I saw others winning with rockets and motors within my
skill and budget limits.
--
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| It's easier to create chaos than order -- 2nd law of thermodynamics |
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| TableTop Publications http://www.FoundCollection.com/|
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| All opinions expressed are my own, and should in no way be mistaken |
| for those of anyone but a rabid libertarian. |
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