Russian and U.S. Methods- Suggestions

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sgilkey
Posts: 2351
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2001 8:26 am

Russian and U.S. Methods- Suggestions

Post by sgilkey »

Based on what we saw in Russia, I think there are elements we could consider, and some that they might find beneficial.

WHAT RCCA SHOULD CONSIDER
-The contestant status board, with scores posted such that everyone can see the contest status clearly, is really nice.
-The board where they group all the heats for a given round with the velcroed shingles which carry all the scores is very nice
-The streamer material is excellent. It can be used in any weather. it will not shred even at their very high speeds, but it does cut readily. we saw some drapes but not many. It is very easy to see due to being wider, colorful, and the metallic finish reflects light. each pilot gets a different color which makes it easier to judge cuts (obviously they only have 4 pilots/colors, we have more pilots but could still use different color streamers). We got some samples of the streamers and the name of the material- haven't had a chance yet to see if it (or something similar) is available in the US.
-pilots are assigned a judging station, no calling for judges. The judges (they have two) stay at their given station, seated in chairs. the streamer color is assigned on the heat matrix board, and corresponds to the judging station.
-the russians use a lot of outside maneuvers. if i can get the video posted, you can see this. they use a lot of "S" shaped attacks where they pull 90 to 180 degrees positive followed immediately by 180 degrees negative, which gives them two swipes at a target, and also makes them hard to follow. their planes turn extraoridinarily tightly outside as well as inside. sometimes the second leg of the "S" maneuver is 270 degrees, which gives them a change of direction after the attack.
-The Russians do not allow sticky stuff. They allow sandpaper 20mm wide on the first meter of span. I don't know that we need to restrict it to only one meter. But mandating only sandpaper is nice- it is effective, but not messy, you can leave it on the plane, etc. Many advantages. it does not keep the streamers on the plane like sticky stuff, but not ALL streamers fall off, some do stay stuck to the plane. However, it would definitely not keep streamers in play to the same extent sticky stuff does. Personally, i think it is a much better system as i detest the sticky.

THINGS THE RUSSIANS SHOULD CONSIDER
-The Russians mostly use slashing attacks with very little pursuit flying. Mike and Brian flew much more pursuit than any of the other contestants and I think that threw their opponents for a bit of a loop. Changing their tactics from slashing attacks to pursuit flying might net them higher scores, it worked well for Mike and Brian.
-Launches, especially with the strong tailwind we had, were a real problem, many people augered in on takeoff. The typical Russian launch is to hold the plane and let go. Some used a discus-style launch. It might be tough with the flying wings, but some type of launch method that allows the mechanic to THRUST the plane forward, so they have some control authority, would really help.
-The Russian planes are very fast and turn extremely tight, but after two or three tight turns they do bleed off some speed, even with their huge power. This leads them to break off the attack, to keep from loading up the engines. They tend to use much more prop pitch than we do (the planes Brian and Mike flew had 6 inch pitch props). They might consider reducing pitch, and maybe increasing diameter too, which would sacrifice some straight line speed but may improve ability to sustain turns. This would further enable pursuit tactics, and may also improve launch performance as well.
-Consider requiring the mechanics to step forward 3 or 4 meters from the pilot's line when launching, as is done at most RCCA contests. This inproves safety, and if a plane spirals in, it has less chance of crossing the pilot's line, which eliminates the pilot from the heat.
lyoha
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 11:32 am
Location: Russia

Post by lyoha »

If you motor has not enough power the wider stripe of sandpaper decrease flying speed because you plane obtain higher air resistance. I`m personally use 10mm 40 grit sandpaper with 0,15 engines and 20mm 40 grit sandpaper with 0,28 to engines.
We don`t use pursuit technique because we don`t use more training times. Pursuit (IMO) it`s the a training, training and much more training.
jj
Posts: 729
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2002 11:45 pm
Location: USA
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Post by jj »

Lower pitch props would improve takeoff and reduce sagging in turns. It would also make engines last longer given your report of the engines overheating with too many turns. Leave that up to the Russian pits crews. I think some may decide to do this on their own.

The problem with not allowing sticky stuff is that we would probably get multiple cut claims. There have been numerous times when the only way a judge knows you made a cut is by seeing the streamer attached to your wing. Prop cuts are great, but when we fly with more than 4 pilots that will be hard to judge. Of course, the great thing for this event was 2 judges per pilot!

A lot of people use outside maneuvers in the U.S., it just depends on who you are flying with and how well their planes are set up.
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