What did you do to get it started ?

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Jimbo
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What did you do to get it started ?

Post by Jimbo »

So how did you guys get this provisional class started ? I've only started keeping an eye on you guys since Paris.

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Ed Kettler
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Post by Ed Kettler »

Jimbo,

Basically we started talking about 2548 around October, and built a couple of demonstrators to get an idea if they'd fly. Once we did that, we asked Roy Appleton what process we should use, and he pointed us to the Procedures and Protocols Manual (PnP), where on page 10 it has the process definition for new provisional classes. Once we read that section, we laid out a schedule so that we'd have enough demos during 2004 to apply for provisional status in 2005.

The rest of the nine months so far has been build, fly, test, evangelize, sell, demo, fail, retry, test, build, improve, tweak, retry, succeed, tweak, test, improve, demo,, improve, demo, etc. Lots of teamwork between Lee, Cash, JP and myself, with some sponsorship and guidance from AJ, Roy and Lou.

Did that answer your question? I took a couple of different tacks to hopefully cover off the question from different angles.

Ed

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Ed Kettler
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Jimbo
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Post by Jimbo »

Thanks Ed, you sure did. Sounds like work [:0]

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Lou Melancon
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Post by Lou Melancon »

Jimbo,
The steps you take to get to "Provisional" status are listed in the RCCA Policy and Procedure document in the Members section.

Here are the highlights:
1. Develop a set of rules
2. Fly at least six contests with four or more RCCA members in each heat.
3. Refine rules, and petition RCCA Board for provisional status.

Lou Melancon
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Post by Rabbit Leader »

Jimbo, if you go back to the scale forum, and look back to August of last year, you'll see a posting called "the future of scale near and far" JP, Ed and I had been lamenting the lack of scale in North Texas, and we had several phone conversations on what might work to revive it. JP and I had been discussing a class for club combat that would use plain bearing 25s, and i shot my mouth off on that forum. Es took some of our basic ideas and added a few of his own, the Lou asked if we could do some tests. BTW, this is where Ed came up with the 2548 name, a combo of 25 engine and 48 inch span. Anyhow, we figured after putting our necks out we'd better do <i>something</i>, so I started building a prototype, Ed started working the rules and JP started crunching numbers. We flew the first prototype in October, using a 25FX and a 9-4 prop. We had come to the conclusion that a lot of pilots had "B" engines that were not being flown, so we used the FX. Along the way, ED came up with the points system for the scale judging, and JP convinced me to try an APC 10-3 on my Mustang. We had several people along the way that though that we were nuttier than a Corsicana fruitcake, but we soldiered on, flew the Hades out of the Mustang, and realised that we weren't so crazy after all. Itwas a team effort from the get-go, with each member using his skills and talents to best achieve the objective. We wouldn't have gotten where we are now, however without Ed's organisational skills and abilities, and JP's input and general knowledge..

"Furballs are for cats!"
BigCountry
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Post by BigCountry »

Cash,

Thankfully in our case a lot of the basic ideas are already on the table in the form of 2548 and SSC. At this point we're just going to fly it over the summer and fall here locally and see what kind of response it gets with the guys around here and quite frankly whether or not it's enjoyable to do. Jimbo and I will have to decide whether or not we'll push to try to make this idea into a provisional class. We both feel that the RCCA is class "fat" right now and we're not sure we want to add to it. The true test is can the planes on the market right now for Open B fly well and competitively with a stock configuration swinging a standardized prop at a specific RPM limit? Who knows, we're getting ready to find out. We'll follow the continued progress of 2548 and from that and what we see this summer decide whether or not to pursue provisional status from there...

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Jimbo
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Post by Jimbo »

If a heavy scale plane with a 48" wing can do it an open plane can do it easier. We may even have to slow the RPM limit down from 15.5K. We'll see.And I think a 3lbs weight minimum is in order.

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Post by Rabbit Leader »

Jimbo, believe it or not, JP and I had kinda the same idea your having now..a slower, gentler Open B. In fact, we flew my old Vendettas on stock FX's and 48 inch wings several times, and they flew okay at 2.75 to 3.25 pounds, and we were using MA 9-4's then. I would think ANY decent B ship would fly quite nicely with a good, stock 25 and a 10-3. Sorry if it took a while for me to agree with you, but my main goal right now is to get 2548 up to speed..of course, other events have taken place in the last couple of weeks that have kinda changed my priorities also...anyway, good luck with SSB, I think it will work just fine. It would be kinda cool to be able to fly a scale class and an open class with the same engines, and be able to get more than one or two heats out of an airframe..

Cash

BTW..my basically stock 25 Norvel plain bearing turns an APC 10-3 at 14400 or so on 15 percent.

"Furballs are for cats!"
Jimbo
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Post by Jimbo »

Thanks but this is not my idea. Some of the top pilots in the RCCA came up with it two years ago. It actually was also NOT my idea to push this class in the RCCA but after talking about it at the RCU site as an NSCC class I got some unexpected emails.

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THend
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Post by THend »

Great stuff guys.

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