Future Aviation Events

[twototwenty]

My only concern with that is, if you were to take a design like the simple simon, how easily would that size cylinder be attached to the nose? Personally, I like the idea Orange714 just mentioned, because it just means the glider's nose has to flat and taller than the diameter of the cap, but not necessarily wide and cumbersome.

[wlsguy]

I'm less worried about the aerodynamics since that will be the same for everyone, than ease of measuring and safety by blunting.

What do you competitors think about something like this.
"A flat 1/4 thick by 1/2 diameter balsa disk shall be firmly attached to the forward most point of the glider." Perhaps provide an illustration to make our point clear.

I thought about rounding the edges, but balsa is soft enough that even sharp edges will round in impact. Not rounded, but the force of a max weight glider will still be spread across a good sized disk preventing puncture wounds and risk of other injnuries.

Thoughts?

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

I think this makes it too complex and difficult for the event supervisors.
Not to argue but, after running Helicopters, we would need to measure thickness, diameter, and flatness (to some level of precision). This does not even consider the disk orientation or the definition of "firmly". After all of the questions about the "balsa disk" used for helicopter, it needs to be simpler.

This year's bottle rocket rules work well. Use the language from 4E and substitute a "Chapstick Brand" lip balm cap in place of a 2l bottle cap.

P.S. Bottle rockets does not have any FAQs so it seems it's clear to everyone

[jander14indoor]

<SNIP>P.S. Bottle rockets does not have any FAQs so it seems it's clear to everyone

Gotta say, the last is a pretty compelling argument for what you propose.

One thing I might request, can folks measure chapstick lids across the country to make sure we aren't surprised about local variations?

thanks,

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[twototwenty]

Maps of common chapstick carrier stores:
http://image.mapmuse.com/images/maps/ma ... ations.png
http://image.mapmuse.com/images/maps/ma ... ations.png
http://image.mapmuse.com/images/maps/ma ... ations.png
http://web.wm.edu/americanstudies/370/2 ... %20map.gif

So yeah, chapstick is a fairly accessible brand.

[chalker7]

I think this makes it too complex and difficult for the event supervisors.
Not to argue but, after running Helicopters, we would need to measure thickness, diameter, and flatness (to some level of precision). This does not even consider the disk orientation or the definition of "firmly". After all of the questions about the "balsa disk" used for helicopter, it needs to be simpler.

This year's bottle rocket rules work well. Use the language from 4E and substitute a "Chapstick Brand" lip balm cap in place of a 2l bottle cap.

P.S. Bottle rockets does not have any FAQs so it seems it's clear to everyone

I agree that the lack of FAQ's makes it seem pretty clear, but this is also the second year we're using the language, so that could contribute. I also agree that having the stick dimensions listed will be difficult to measure, in particular the flatness one.

Maps of common chapstick carrier stores:
http://image.mapmuse.com/images/maps/ma ... ations.png
http://image.mapmuse.com/images/maps/ma ... ations.png
http://image.mapmuse.com/images/maps/ma ... ations.png
http://web.wm.edu/americanstudies/370/2 ... %20map.gif

So yeah, chapstick is a fairly accessible brand.

Right, but that's not really the issue. We discovered last year after the rules were printed that there are slight variations in 2L bottle cap dimensions both across brands and more vitally, within brands across the country (so it would not have changed anything if we specifically said what brand to use.) This is why there are now bottle cap dimensions included in the rules for Bottle Rockets. An important question for us is if there is any variation in the cap size on chapstick around the country, and if there is, is one size more prevalent than the other.

[jander14indoor]

Could we use the 'power' or connections of the national to directly ask the manufacturer for this info?

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[chalker7]

Could we use the 'power' or connections of the national to directly ask the manufacturer for this info?

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

Maybe, but it could be a little tough/time-consuming trying to find the right person at Chapstick to ask. Might as well crowdsource the research.

[thsom]

I'm wondering, how is it that you get gliders to work after being launched so they don't just do a loop and nose dive. I've built a glider and it flew well normally, however, when launching it, it failed to glide and dove to the ground.

[fozendog]

What is everyone's average time so far with their glider?

[twototwenty]

For the chapstick demensions, could you (national event supervisors) find what seems to be a good average of several caps of the same brand and type to put in the rules, and give an allowable deviance in the actual chapstick cap used of the individual event supervisors? It might also be good to include a line in the rules like "competitors are strongly encouraged to make their noses larger then the required size".