Alumwell October '99

The second Alumwell meet of the year took place on October 10th, and featured competition classes for Peanut, Pistachio and "Ultimate Scale", which was a combined class flown to BMFA rules for Rubber, Electric and CO₂ models. Normally rubber is flown as a separate class.

The rules are the same as used for the BMFA Indoor Scale Nationals, with static marks making up half the total. With Peanut and Pistachio, the models are ranked on scale scores (winner gets 1 point, second place 2 etc.), then ranked on best flight times (again, longest flight gets 1 point, second longest 2 etc.) The winner is the model with the lowest combined score. Seems a fair system - the best static models tended to get poorer flight scores, and vice versa, so building a winning model is a delicate compromise - how much detail dare I add without compromising flight performance?

The flights in the "Ultimate Scale" event were judged on realism, not duration, and a 15 second flight was enough for qualification. To get maximum marks, a take-off from the floor was essential.

I entered my new Boeing F4B-2, completed the night before the event, but perhaps not surprisingly (having not tried so much as a test glide beforehand) I failed to make the 15 second qualifying mark. The model did well in static judging though, so I will be spending the winter months trying to get it flying properly.

As well as the serious competitions, there was time for fun flying, plus a scale mass launch event, held in rounds, with the first two models down eliminated each time.

Below are some pictures taken at the event:

Lippisch Stork IXb by Chris Strachan

Chris had several of his tailless models at the event - this Lippisch was flying particularly well.

Granger Archaeopteryx by Chris Strachan

This was having its first trimming flights at the meeting, and looked very promising - a very nicely finished model.

Pilatus Turbo Porter by Ray Johnson

Although a similar size to the Airsail kit, this is Ray's own rubber powered design, and flew extremely well to take 2nd place in the "Ultimate Scale" event.

BE2 by Peter Smart

No indoor meeting would be complete without Peter Smarts's marvellous foam creations. As well as winning the main event with his well known Tupolev Bear, and Peanut scale with his Arado 196, two new CO₂ models were being trimmed. Particularly impressive on this BE2 is the very realistic (painted) depiction of ribs on the wings and tail surfaces.

FE2b by Peter Smart

This was Peter's second new CO₂ model - an ambitious subject which made some promising looking flights. Engine and cockpit detail had yet to be added.

D.H.Puss Moth by Lindsey Smith

Lindsey chose to finish his Puss Moth in an unusual and attractive US military scheme. This rubber powered model features a gearbox in the nose allowing a smaller diameter prop to be used than would otherwise be the case. I think it was based on the West Wings kit, and is a nice smooth flier.

Delgado Flash by Chris Strachan

Chris brought this along to compete in the air race event, but unfortunately this was cancelled due to lack of entries. The plan for this aircraft was by Pres Bruning, and is one of those available for download from Dave Livesay's web site). . A fine flier it is too.

Moeller Stomo 3 by Gordon Hannah

Fascinating looking machine, that I confess I had never heard of before. Gordon's model was very nicely finished.

Results

Ultimate Scale

Position	Name	Model Type	Static score	Flight score	Total
1	Peter Smart	Tupolev Bear	952	1258	2210
2	Ray Johnson	Pilatus Turbo Porter	856	1148	2004
3	Divs Masters	Sopwith Triplane	1090	901	1991
4	David Prior	Sopwith Baby	940	972	1912

Peanut Scale

Pistachio Scale

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