General control line discussion > Open Forum
Balloon bust
bob whitney:
what are the rules for Balloon bust ??i cant seem to get into rules on AMA site
Steve Dwyer:
Bob,
I'm not aware of any designated guidelines anywhere, but we had "one" last year as part of a CL demonstration at an RC show. Someone suggested you are supposed to drop in before the last balloon to pick it off followed with doing the same each time you come around until all are gone. Someone also said there was supposed to be some magical distance between each balloon we had no idea of.
Of course our assigned "balloon buster" decided to take them all down in one pass. The crowd was amused but we were disappointed he displayed such minimal skill. Perhaps next year we'll do better but I'm not volunteering to blow them up again.
Steve
Brett Buck:
--- Quote from: bob whitney on March 26, 2023, 04:42:34 PM ---what are the rules for Balloon bust ??i cant seem to get into rules on AMA site
--- End quote ---
CL Special Events/Dive Bombing and Strafing:
https://www.modelaircraft.org/sites/default/files/CL%20Special%20Events%202022-2023.pdf
Having witnessed this on several occasions, don't bother inflating more than 6 ballons, because they are in no significant danger. But bring a lot of Hot Stuff and packing tape!
I liked WAM ballon bust a lot better, at least something happens.
Brett
Dave_Trible:
It hasn't been flown much in the midwest for quite a while. The last contest I remember was at Topeka about five years ago. They used the four balloons on sticks spaced about 20 feet or so apart. Fastest time for four balloons in reverse order-flying over all but the last ballon then diving on that last balloon. Many times two or three would be all anyone would get. In yesteryear contests in KC we used a 'balloon tree' which was a rotating wood cross-like a four blade prop laying horizontally and being spun by an operator. Each arm of about 3-4 feet in length would hold a stick and balloon. Again fastest time for four balloons. There was no barrier to dive over. These were usually won by fast Flite Streak slow combat jobs. Don't really know why it isn't done much any more. It was popular and most everyone entered, even with an old beater.
Dave
Dan McEntee:
--- Quote from: Brett Buck on March 26, 2023, 06:00:32 PM --- CL Special Events/Dive Bombing and Strafing:
https://www.modelaircraft.org/sites/default/files/CL%20Special%20Events%202022-2023.pdf
Having witnessed this on several occasions, don't bother inflating more than 6 ballons, because they are in no significant danger. But bring a lot of Hot Stuff and packing tape!
I liked WAM ballon bust a lot better, at least something happens.
Brett
--- End quote ---
Balloon bust varies from club to club. I have flown it a lot at several venues and was always different. I never flew one per the AMA rules book. Our club, the Lafayette Esquadrile, used to have 6 or 8 balloons on sticks of varying height spread out over about 1/4 lap. Balloons started out at about 36" high to about 12 " high for the last one. Points went up as the balloon got lower. The flight had a 5 minute time limit, and started with engine dead, and a 3-2-1-GO start. The first 6 or 7 laps are timed for speed, using typical speed charts and 60 ft. lines. After that, it's pop as many balloons as fast as you could, and if you got them all before the 5 minutes was up, there was a bonus of some kind. A knocked down balloon was out of play. If you crashed and could restart and get airborne, that was allowed. Kind of involved but fun when I was younger!!
The Lafayette Esquadrile has the equipment from the old WAM contests now. Jason Pearson's dad donated it to the club and that is what we have been using for quite a while when ever we fly balloon bust. It is a pretty well thought out, engineered and executed set up. Only one balloon is presented for bursting at a time. There is a turntable arrangement where once a balloon is broken, the mechanism is pivoted and a new balloon is presented. The pilot is required to climb to 45 degrees for two laps for safety while te balloon change takes place, then resume the attack. I think there is a 6 minute time limit and is a dead engine start also, I believe. There may have been more to it when WAM did it because Jason had some really different looking models built just for the event that had short stubby wings and was ST.60 powered!! The neatest part of the equipment is the built in manual air pump for blowing up the balloons. It has a handle that looks like a typical tire pump, but would pump air on both the up and down stroke. You can blow up a balloon in a blink of an eye and not break a sweat! And a place to store sticks. It all breaks down for easier storage.
Jim Lee has a variation also, but I'm foggy on the rules. it may have been similar to ours, with balloons going down in height, but you have to bust them in reverse order, and no speed score involved. Jim used to use an old autogyro for the event!! . I'm sure there are many others out there also. It's a fun event, just too physical for me now!!
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee
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