Quote from: katana on September 06, 2026, 04:42:44 AMBut wouldn't you agree that the CD / ED / Judge should be truely impartial ie. not having skin in the game / being a current participating competitor in that particular event ? Otherwise its like having a racing driver (who was also a race steward) that finished 2nd judging who actually won ! Its human nature not to be impartial if inside the competition!

The CD was not flying the same event as the competitor. Flying carrier yes. Same event, no. I don't see an issue on that level. To take your example it would be the same as a  driver racing stock cars being a steward of open wheel class. He had no real skin in the game.

Regardless this particular question is within the general rules section. As a CD whom does not fly carrier, I would make the same call. It may have slipped past me if I would have been able to see what is being hidden under the shrink wrap. As an engineer and aircraft mechanic though, I would not like the solder connection to the cable. Soldering cable puts a stress riser where the solder ends which translates to fatigue failure. Not being able to inspect the work brings about suspicion. I would stand by the safety call to disallow all day long for any CD making that call. Tim is is 100% right. The CD making the call was 100% right. I'm not wrong. It may have a tinge of impropriety but the competitor should have brought a properly constructed set of lines and handle with him. Bottom line is that it is a sketchy "fix" and should not have turned into the chit show it is now. The easiest solution is to just fix it. I'm surprised that someone didn't step up and help him with another handle and lines. I sure woulda.

It appears that by now we are mostly in accord regarding the 6" handle part of the discussion, so let's look at the extension vs. connector question. A "connector" to me seems like it should also be a "disconnector". Paul's "extensions" are a permanent part of the handle. Consider them like links of a chain. If a person showed up with a handle that used a multi-link chain instead of a piece of cable, what would you say? Little if anything is written about how the handle should be constructed, other than that it must pass the pull test. The heat shrink issue seems a bit disingenuous, because I routinely see (and use) heat shrink over wrapped or swaged connections. In Paul's case, I think that using heat shrink to keep the extensions properly straight and aligned is better than not having any heat shrink. Perhaps clear heat shrink would be the optimal choice to allow for visual inspection. Actually, I think the optimal choice would be to make a new set of lines of the proper length, or at least put a longer continuous cable on the handle. Either of these options are easy and would avoid controversy (unless you seek controversy).

Quote from: katana on September 06, 2026, 04:42:44 AMBut wouldn't you agree that the CD / ED / Judge should be truely impartial ie. not having skin in the game / being a current participating competitor in that particular event ? Otherwise its like having a racing driver (who was also a race steward) that finished 2nd judging who actually won ! Its human nature not to be impartial if inside the competition!

In a world of ever smaller, less frequent meets, I do not agree that contest officials should be disbarred from competing.  That is just a recipe for not being able to find contest officials at all.

If you are a contest director, and you cannot find somebody mature enough to be an event director in the same event that they are running, then you should run that event yourself, and possibly consider widening your circle of friends.

These are, for crying out loud, toy airplane contests. And if they're done the same way where you live that they're done where I live, you don't get any money for winning, and at a lot of contests all you get is a piece of paper in a frame and not even a trophy. Find somebody who is grown up enough to be impartial at the same time that they are competing, and expect the competitors to be that mature as well.

Quote from: bill bischoff on September 06, 2026, 09:12:55 PMIt appears that by now we are mostly in accord regarding the 6" handle part of the discussion, so let's look at the extension vs. connector question. A "connector" to me seems like it should also be a "disconnector". Paul's "extensions" are a permanent part of the handle. Consider them like links of a chain. If a person showed up with a handle that used a multi-link chain instead of a piece of cable, what would you say? Little if anything is written about how the handle should be constructed, other than that it must pass the pull test. The heat shrink issue seems a bit disingenuous, because I routinely see (and use) heat shrink over wrapped or swaged connections. In Paul's case, I think that using heat shrink to keep the extensions properly straight and aligned is better than not having any heat shrink. Perhaps clear heat shrink would be the optimal choice to allow for visual inspection. Actually, I think the optimal choice would be to make a new set of lines of the proper length, or at least put a longer continuous cable on the handle. Either of these options are easy and would avoid controversy (unless you seek controversy).

The only controversy is in Pete's mind.  He thought he saw extra CLIPS, but could not admit that he was wrong.
After two days of digging like a rat, he could not find any person or document to back up his imaginary position.

More food for thought: The rule book prohibits spliced together flying lines. What constitutes a splice? How about a joint between two discontinuous pieces that is intended to be permanent? If you concede to this definition, then wouldn't the handle in question be "spliced"? Going forward, do we wish to allow spliced handles? The current rules don't address this, so we need to write a new rule to define what is OK and what isn't. The "spliced vs continuous" angle may be a way to approach a new rule. Does a maximum length from the handle grip to the line connector also need to be defined? Again, these are questions about what happens in the future, not about what has already happened.

According to the "rule book" a handle can't be more than 6" long.  If the judge says the leadouts are part of the handle, then about 75% of all handles are illegal.

With th shortage of CL participation, we do not need event directors who are also contestants in their own event dreaming up schemes to disallow perfectly safe and legal equipment.

In fact, there are, quite rightly, very few handle-related rules, other than the implied need to pass the pull test. 
Logically, every element in the handle should be at least equal to the control line size, but even that is not in writing.

Advertise Here