Flight Rules

       Updated 11-30-11
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2006 Aircraft Specifications

Aircraft

1. Airplanes must be operated by battery-powered electric motors.

2. 42 inch wingspan is the maximum

3. A 20 ounce maximum weigh limit (ready to fly)

4. Must use a rubber spinner to cover prop shaft. (This is Mandatory)

5. Flat wing, stab and elevators of foam construction.

6. Fuselage may be built up, but of foam construction.

7. Any additional control surfaces are allowed.

8. No Scale outline required.

9. In the event an airplane is damaged by contacting the floor or ceiling,
the pilot will be asked to land

10. No reverse pitch propellers allowed in the competition.

Music

1. The music will be provided by the competitor.

2. The music determines the tone of the flight, and the flight characteristics.

3. The music can be formatted on either CD or cassette.

4. Make sure you bring an extra CD if it is burned. (Some CD players won’t play all)

5. The music can be started by either a pilot assistant, or one of the EAC staff.

Special Effects

1. All special effects (limbo, steamers) must be pre-approved by the EAC Committee.
This is for safety reasons as well as Insurance liability purposes.

2006 Flight Rules

Flight Preparation

1. On the Air Boss’s signal, the competitor will have 30 seconds to get into the air.

2. This includes time on the ground for his crew to set up the flight line or do any preparation that might be necessary for the flight. The crews will not be allowed in the flight area at any time during the flight.

3. The pilot will be allowed to have two additional people for ground crew, to set up accessories (limbo poles, streamers, etc.) but they will not be allowed to assist in the flight of the aircraft.

4. The pilot must stand in the pilot box. This is to hide his or her identity from the judges. The pilot box will be located as such as to where the pilots identity will be shielded from the judges and not obstruct the pilots or the judges view of the plane.

The Flight will be timed at 2 minutes

1.The starting point of the timed flight must be pre-determined by the pilot, and judging will commence from that point.

2. It may be a point from which the wheels leave the ground or it may also be an “air-start”. This must be made clear to the air boss prior to flight.

3. The judging will cease at the Air boss’s indication that the 2 minutes has expired.

4. The aircraft can come into contact with the ground or ceiling during the flight. This will not effect the time.

5. If a pilot crashes prior to completing the 2 minutes, their flight will get scored as long as they have completed at least 1 minute of the flight. The judges will score the flight just like it was a regular flight but the score will be reduced by whatever % of time they failed to complete. Example: If a pilot only completes 1 minute of their freestyle, their score would be divided by 50%.

Retrieval

1. The Pilot will have 30 seconds to get back on the ground and clear the flight area, to allow for the set-up of the next flight.

Judging Criteria

1. The judging criteria that will be used is described on the enclosed judging criteria sheets.

2. Pilots identity will be hidden from the Judges.

Disqualification

1. If the aircraft passes the pre-established dead line (no-fly zone) the flight will be disqualified.

2. If the crew / assistants touch the transmitter at any time during the flight.

3. If the airplane does not meet the pre-established guidelines of the event.

4. If the pilot steps out of the pilot box.

Freestyle

1. The freestyle will be composed entirely by the competitor, meaning the whole flight will be to his discretion.

2. All pilots will fly one round.

3. The Top Ten pilot will advance to the finals.

4. There will be one round in the finals with no scores carried over.

5. Once Air boss puts you in the on deck box you will have 30 seconds to get airborne.

6. All pilots’ identities will be hidden from the judges to prevent bios judging.

Flight Order

1. The flight order will be determined at the pilots meeting on the day of the competition.

2006 Judging Criteria

A minimum of eight (8) judges will be used to judge the contest. There will be four (4) categories of criteria to be evaluated. A description of each category and its corresponding K factor is below.

1. Execution The quality and precision of the maneuvers that the pilot elects to perform. 20K

2. Versatility The ability of the pilot to display a wide variety of maneuvers. Exploring the edges of the flight envelope. Exploring maneuvers from different families of flight. 20K

3. Originality Creating new figures. Novel combinations of old (known) figures, novel utilization of the aircraft, element of surprise. 20K

4. Harmony and Rhythm Choreography of the flight vs. the music. The Fluidity of the flight. 40K

This contest will also have a very unique twist. All the pilots' identity will be hidden from the judges. This will be done to prevent any judging bios. This will insure that whoever flies the best will take home top honors.

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