2011-2012 Rules

[wlsguy]

I would favor leaving the rules unchanged.
Unlike Wright Stuff, this event doesn't have the long history or the experinced mentors. By leaving everything the same, the students can work to refining rather than redeveloping.

And what about all the students that didn't compete this year in the event but will compete in it next year? They wouldn't have the advantage of 'refining rather than redeveloping'.

As was noted in the original posting, we have a general policy of trying to make at least one significant change to each returning event. The reason is we want to try to level the playing field somewhat for both new and returning competitors. We also want to help prevent the 'passing down' from one year to the next of devices and designs, particularly since for many of the events those are open to semi-public viewing at the tournaments. It wouldn't be very fair if the teams that go to Nationals were the only ones to see the very best devices and designs, and then go back to their states the next year with that information (which most of the other teams wouldn't be privy to).

I'm sorry, I thought the general policy was to have 25% new events, 25% with major changes, 25% with minor changes, and 25% unchanged.
(for example; Helicopters was new, mission possible had major changes, Mousetrap had minor changes, and many other events WIDI, technical, Ornithology, etc are unchanged)
I would also contend the best devices often never make it past the State competition (such is often the case in Ohio). Going to Natls doesn't mean you see the best building devices in the country.

In any case, I still favor only the minimal amount of changes because, at this point, very few teams have a good understanding of helicopters. This is evidenced by the extremely wide variation among the scores at the the various competitions. Once the gap is closer, maybe changes would be needed.
At our own WLS Invitational we had 28 teams participate of the 34 that attended. (6 did not have helicopters)
7 had times less than 10 seconds
4 had times between 10 and 30 seconds
4 had times of between 30 and 60 seconds
9 had times of between 60 and 90 seconds
Only 1 had a time greater than 1:30

[chalker7]

Here is a conversation that went on in another thread:

thewinner:
"I doubt it. However, I read the rules from some other state (NC, I think) and they allowed you to tether your helicopter a set distance from the ground. But, I still don't think that would be a good idea, since the tether would just be more dead weight for your helicopter to lift."

illusionist:
"I agree, but then I think it should also be allowed to count the tether as part of the total mass of the helicopter. If you used something like sewing thread, it wouldn't add an excessive amount of weight. It would be nice to be able to do that."

Could that be considered? I know it makes the event much, much easier since you don't have to worry about matching rubber to rotors, and controlling many factors such as the amount of lift or thrust.

This is an interesting idea I had not given much consideration to previously. I'm not certain the official rules prohibit the practice of tethering. They could or couldn't, I just haven't really thought about this idea before. Has anyone submitted an official clarification on this? Has anyone actually successfully tethered their helicopters? What did you do to prevent tangling and/or winding the tether?

One more quick thing, you absolutely would still have to match rubber motors to the rotors to maximize flight time. The primary benefit that I can see is that it would help prevent hanging up and damage to the helicopter.

[smartkid222]

The North Carolina clarification:

Tethers: Competitors may elect to tether their helicopter. The tether may not be held by the competitors, it must be free standing. Tethers and tether weights may be made from any material, and may be attached to the helicopter with any of the materials listed in 2.b.. The weight of the attaching piece will be included in the helicopter mass, but the tether itself will not. (1/27/11)

[chalker]

I'm sorry, I thought the general policy was to have 25% new events, 25% with major changes, 25% with minor changes, and 25% unchanged.
(for example; Helicopters was new, mission possible had major changes, Mousetrap had minor changes, and many other events WIDI, technical, Ornithology, etc are unchanged)

True, I was simplifying a bit. Certain events such as WIDI and TPS have such a inherent ability for the supervisor to choose from a wide variety of things to include in the competition that they don't require explicit rules changes. However there is a general 'unwritten' policy that event supervisors won't reuse the same materials / stations / etc in those events from year to year. Thus the effect is that all events in essence have something different from year to year.

[illusionist]

This is an interesting idea I had not given much consideration to previously. I'm not certain the official rules prohibit the practice of tethering. They could or couldn't, I just haven't really thought about this idea before

Okay, I checked the rules, and they do not mention anything about tethering, which they did in the Wright Stuff rules (I think). So if it isn't mentioned, it might be allowed, but then again, it might be violation of the spirit of the competition. I'll submit an official rule clarification.

[lllazar]

Violation of spirit? Working for hours on a copter, getting the rotors just right, and then flying it into the rafters never to hold it in your hands again is violation of your spirit...i think tethering is totally legitimate, as long as all states allow it (better yet, just put it in the official rules next year).

[thewinner]

Violation of spirit? Working for hours on a copter, getting the rotors just right, and then flying it into the rafters never to hold it in your hands again is violation of your spirit...i think tethering is totally legitimate, as long as all states allow it (better yet, just put it in the official rules next year).

I would totally support tethering.
However, if the tether does not count towards your helicopter's weight, I think the top times would be without a tether because if your helicopter needs to be 4 grams without the tether, the untethered helicopters would be significantly lighter.

[smartkid222]

can someone explain how tethering works?

[illusionist]

Basically a string with a heavy weight attached to one end is attached to the bottom of your helicopter. Let's say the ceiling is 40 feet tall. You would use a 35 foot long string attached to the bottom of your helicopter. Then you let the helicopter go, and it flies up, but the string (tether) prevents it from rising any further.

[chalker7]

Right, but how do you prevent the tether from tangling in the rotors and/or winding up (which could waste energy from the rubber motor).
Is there some sort of clasp/hook that allows rotation of the tether? Has anyone actually built one of these and used it or are we all just talking theoretically here? If someone has built one, would you mind posting pictures because I'm struggling to visualize a tether that would actually be beneficial instead of hurting the flight.