The BS that went on at NALL on Friday Night

[Jetpainter]

The culture of the 3D world is fly low, hard and to the extreme. Most people I know, no matter their skill level, fly as hard as they can if they are trying to impress an audience. And if the audience is yelling lower, they will probably do more than they normally would. I guess it's human nature. I for one, love to watch the low wing dragging rollers and knife edge passes. If I could do it I would do it, but I will never be that good, but I can really appreciate the guys that are.

All that being said there really needs to be some common sense safety as well. Flying an airplane near a crowd when you know it's hurt is just not a good idea. If that thing would have lost a wing and ended up in the crowd, the consequences could be mind boggling. Forget about your AMA insurance, if they got wind that your were knowingly trying to break an already wounded airplane they are going to say what insurance? Accidents happen, they are a fact of life, but a good lawyer would say that was intentional. Do you think 3D flying at Nall could survive that? The folks running the show there everyone says are great people, but that is asking a lot from them.

I did see a video from this year where a pilot caught the ground in a roller and lost a chunk of aileron to the cheers of the crowd.. I'll give him credit, he at least pulled way from the crowd and did a few test rolls and things to make sure everything was still working. He then went right back to his flight. Everything came out fine and it was a truly awesome flight, but he probably should have landed to be on the safe side. A pilot really needs to think is continuing my flight really worth the risk? I'll get off my ex-safety officer soap box now.

 

[shotgun]

The culture of the 3D world is fly low, hard and to the extreme. Most people I know, no matter their skill level, fly as hard as they can if they are trying to impress an audience. And if the audience is yelling lower, they will probably do more than they normally would. I guess it's human nature. I for one, love to watch the low wing dragging rollers and knife edge passes. If I could do it I would do it, but I will never be that good, but I can really appreciate the guys that are.

All that being said there really needs to be some common sense safety as well. Flying an airplane near a crowd when you know it's hurt is just not a good idea. If that thing would have lost a wing and ended up in the crowd, the consequences could be mind boggling. Forget about your AMA insurance, if they got wind that your were knowingly trying to break an already wounded airplane they are going to say what insurance? Accidents happen, they are a fact of life, but a good lawyer would say that was intentional. Do you think 3D flying at Nall could survive that? The folks running the show there everyone says are great people, but that is asking a lot from them.

I did see a video from this year where a pilot caught the ground in a roller and lost a chunk of aileron to the cheers of the crowd.. I'll give him credit, he at least pulled way from the crowd and did a few test rolls and things to make sure everything was still working. He then went right back to his flight. Everything came out fine and it was a truly awesome flight, but he probably should have landed to be on the safe side. A pilot really needs to think is continuing my flight really worth the risk? I'll get off my ex-safety officer soap box now.

Totally agree. I saw several pilots tear off chunks of their plane, and keep on flying. Thursday night, two different pilots hit the ground, one of them taking the entire rudder counterbalance off, and kept on going. Of course, the crowds cheered them on. They should have landed to make sure the plane was safe to fly.

Now, wouldn't you love to see a "real 3D" line come back to Nall? I remember when the 3D line started, and there was none of the high speed stuff. Never had to worry about "high energy" straight at the pits either. Sure the planes and engines have evolved, and people want to push the planes, but there is really something graceful about hanging a 42% airplane in the air, and hardly ever breaking half throttle. About the only guys I saw do that this past week was Buttface, Justin, and Kyle. They put down some nice "real 3D" flights.

Kind of like this!!!!

 

[bigblueswope]

@shotgun,
Yes the XA stuff gets on the nerves, but it wasn't all that long ago that FOGs said, heck some still do say, the same thing about 3D.

The sport moves on...

Some of XA guys just need to learn to share the airspace better.


BJ Swope

 

[shotgun]

And that is why the 3d line was created. The classic line didn't want to contend with guys putting around the runway "low and slow". We were the minority, which grew very quickly. Now, we are the minority again, giving way to the high energy pilots, that are not really flying "3D".

Most of these guys play well with others, however, some of them do not.

 

[Terryscustom]

Even if the airframe sucks you still have servos, receiver, engine, ignition , batteries and the list goes on. The airframe is cheap compared to everything else it takes to get it in the air.

That's what I always told my wife when she would see new planes coming in the door. The airplane is disposable, I buy all the stuff and find something to put it in. If I crash something, frankly it's just a balsa shell I would be concerned about two things. 1 - Nobody got hurt, 2 - soften the blow to safe the innards.

 

[SleepyC]

And that is why the 3d line was created. The classic line didn't want to contend with guys putting around the runway "low and slow". We were the minority, which grew very quickly. Now, we are the minority again, giving way to the high energy pilots, that are not really flying "3D".

Most of these guys play well with others, however, some of them do not.

What needs to happen is ACTUAL rules need to be defined. During the pilots meeting at the 3D line the line boss would say "Here is what we are doing!" and then 2 guys would say, well let's do this, and two others would say "let;s do this".

What needs to happen is before next year we should all talk about what makes sense as "rules for the 3D line" get them refined, very specific and present them to Triple Tree. That way the line boss's job is only to enforce the very clear and defined rules.

We can take all of this and make a positive. The whole place constantly grows, and 3D changes, instead of becoming FOGS, let's help form the future and make it safe for everyone!

 

[Yak Attack]

What needs to happen is ACTUAL rules need to be defined. During the pilots meeting at the 3D line the line boss would say "Here is what we are doing!" and then 2 guys would say, well let's do this, and two others would say "let;s do this".

What needs to happen is before next year we should all talk about what makes sense as "rules for the 3D line" get them refined, very specific and present them to Triple Tree. That way the line boss's job is only to enforce the very clear and defined rules.

We can take all of this and make a positive. The whole place constantly grows, and 3D changes, instead of becoming FOGS, let's help form the future and make it safe for everyone!

We don't need new rules. We have rules. We need rule ENFORCEMENT.

What are our rules?

1. Don't hover an airplane more than halfway over the runway in. Don't bring it in any closer to the pits than halfway over the runway. Period.

2. Don't fly over the other flight zones, including control line and electric.

3. Don't fly over the pits or over the pond towards the campground.

4. FLY A PATTERN. EVERYONE MUST FLY THE SAME PATTERN FOR TAKEOFF AND LANDING.

5. Don't fly the airplane at open throttle towards the pits. You know what? Let's do one better. DON'T FLY TOWARDS THE PITS AT ALL.

Did I miss anything?

 

[Terryscustom]

I did see a video from this year where a pilot caught the ground in a roller and lost a chunk of aileron to the cheers of the crowd.. I'll give him credit, he at least pulled way from the crowd and did a few test rolls and things to make sure everything was still working. He then went right back to his flight. Everything came out fine and it was a truly awesome flight, but he probably should have landed to be on the safe side. A pilot really needs to think is continuing my flight really worth the risk? I'll get off my ex-safety officer soap box now.

I will add to this since my wife took the next to the pilot box video and I was standing right next to her. As soon as this happened I thought "oh here we go, going to hear about this". But, from front row center it was clear that it was a clean break away and when he came back around slow you could see that the second aileron former was not even damaged. Out at that tip you are talking about a 1/2" x 3/4" pc. of balsa, a couple of thin stringers and some covering. Very minor.

Someone else taking off an entire stab or control surface and flying.....that's just dumb anytime but especially at an event. I did not personally witness any of those particular incidences.

 

[sweetpea]

More Legislation is what is needed! That solves all the problems of not following the legislation already in place.
Oh, and if you are sponsored or an important RC figure you are exempt from legislation if you say "I didn't Know or it was a mis-step"

This isnt' difficult...........No purposeful destruction of a plane in flight. Your plane hits the ground (regardless if pieces fly off)....you land. Inspect the integrity of the plane.

 

[shotgun]

I think that when you arrive at TT, your pilot package should include the rules for each flight line. Then, there is NO excuse for not knowing what they are.

Heard several people argue the fact that there is a pattern for take offs, landings, and passes down the runway. When confronted, they admitted that they didn't attend the pilot's meeting.