Balloon Bust Event

[taildragger-j3]

I am CDing a Fly-in for our R/C club on November 18. Since several of us are control-liners too, I plan to have a circle going for C/L flyers in addition to the R/C. There's not going to be any formal competition but I've been thinking about having a Balloon Bust event for the C/L guys. I've got an idea of what to do, but since I've never participated or seen one, I'd like some advice about set up and rules, etc. Could someone direct me to a place for more info???

BTW, if you're free the week-end before Thanksgiving, come on down and enjoy the day. We're giving away miscellaneous door prizes, etc. Check out our club website www.flybvrc.com for info about our field location. We're just east of Bryan, Texas.

Thanks

[taildragger-j3]

Does no one know anything about setting up a Balloon Bust Event?

[Jim Thomerson]

The way the Dallas club does it is something like this.  There are five balloons on sticks getting progressively lower  from 3 ft to 6 in.  Tallest first.  One  through five points.  Five minutes time. At least one lap between breaks.  Breaking all in sequence doubles points.  In case of a tie the fastest time to get all five wins.  That's not exactly it, but  you get the idea.

[John Miller]

Another variation of the Balloon Bust rules goes like this.

5 balloons set up 10 feet apart, on 3 foot balsa sticks, on an arc that coorespondes to the arc of the circle being flown.

Each balloon is worth 10 points, so if you line up and take them all out on one pass, you'd be awarded 50 points, but, if you fly over 4 balloons, and take out the last balloon, you woulod be awarded 10 points for each balloon you flew over, and 10 points for the one you took out, for a total of 50 points.

If you flew overr 2 ballons and took out the third one, you'd get 30 points. I think you get the idea. It's only possible to earn maximum points, 150, by over flying all but the last balloon in the series, and then again, and again,,,, etc.

If a balloons stick is broken, but not the balloon, the balloon with whatever amount of stick left, is placed back in line. I've seen balloons right on the grouind. makes it interesting.

[catdaddy]

Tulsa does it as follows:
(4) Balloons spaced out equally over roughly half the circle radius. We have one ED that staggers them in and out so that you have to line up differently for each balloon. All balloons are attached to 36" dowels roughly 1/8" diameter. Smaller diameter tends to bend too much in a strong breeze. Balloons are busted in order with one lap minimum between each "kill" You must bust them in order if you fly over balloon one and bust balloon two it does not count and you must attack number one before three and four can be busted for score. Winning is based on number first, amount of time from launch second, with a 5 minute time limit. Currently John Ashford has the fastest time I've ever seen recorded. He busted 4 balloons in order with a a single lap between each "kill" in 26 seconds at one of our past Triathalons with a Flight Streak. The best part of it was his little jig he did in the middle of the circle after popping number 4.

Topeka does pretty much the same thing but they bust theirs in reverse order, again winning is based on number and time.

Come up to the Tulsa Gluedobbers contest on the last weekend of September and witness or enter one of our most popular "fun" events. We've had as many as 16 pilots for this event. We have food, drinks, canopy shade and A/C club house.

[James Lee]

The contests I've flown balloon bust at here in the midwest tend to use the four balloon approach with variations.  At Topeka, we do four balloons spaced out in approximately 1/4 lap.  Using 36" dowels and with the breeze, their height varies!!   We use a reverse order.  that is, you have to fly over the balloons to get the last one.  Cutting one loose loses that balloon.  Placing is by most balloons in the shortest time.
My old 'Otto the Gyro' has done all four in four laps several times, but it is so darn slow that I don't think I can beat John's time!!
Another variation is to use a turn a round, 1x4 board with a swivel in the middle and balloons at each end. one balloon presented at a time.  A lot of time this is used with a barrier of some kind to make the planes change altitude, so that  a racing plane or combat plane can't groove and make it  just a speed contest.
And then there is the Des moines version I saw many years ago.  It used the turn a round with one balloon at a time.  However, there were two planes and pilots trying for the same balloon!!             I would get lined up on a balloon with the old gyro at about 40 mph and a combat plane whacked the balloon!!!        It was a Blast!!  Actually ended up second if I remember correctly....   
The bottom line is Balloon Bust is a fun event to fly and is a bit hard on airplanes!!!
Later
Jim

[taildragger-j3]

Y'all have been great! I thought this would be a fun thing to do at our Fly-in in November that even some of our non-PAMPA types could enjoy.

Thanks a bunch!!

Come on down to Aggieland (Bryan/College Station) Texas on November 18 for the event.

[Glen Wearden]

Count me in, David.  Sounds like a hoot.  Glen

[taildragger-j3]

I certainly won't question your experience since it exceeds mine by a bunch. However, I've rarely seen anything a Flite Streak is better at than an Ringmaster. LOL I'm one of the "Brotherhood of the Ring" with Big Bear and G-Man etc. so I may have a biased opinion.

I like the idea of the limbo pole. That adds a certain challenge to the event!!

This is GREAT stuff!

[Elwyn Aud]

I thought the way we did it in Tulsa was if you popped the second balloon before the first, only the 3rd and 4th balloons were still left to add to your score. Balloon 1 is counted as a miss since it wasn't popped in order.

[catdaddy]

I thought the way we did it in Tulsa was if you popped the second balloon before the first, only the 3rd and 4th balloons were still left to add to your score. Balloon 1 is counted as a miss since it wasn't popped in order.

You know I think you're right and that's why I'm not a Balloon Bust E.D.

[De Hill]

One aspect that has been ignored is how the balloon sticks are secured to the ground. The Gluedobbers use four 6 inch pieces of metal electrical conduit with one end hammered shut. This makes them easy to hammer into the ground flush. We draw a small circle on the grass using red marking paint around every piece of conduit.
This makes them easy to find when you need to pull them up with a pair of pliers.

The 1/8" diameter 36" long dowels are just dropped into the conduit. It's easy to pull a broken stick out and just drop a new stick in it.

If you use bigger sticks than 1/8", they will damage the airplanes when they hit the sticks.

De Hill

[Keith Spriggs]

Things are a little tougher in Kansas. We use hedge post with concrete blocks sitting on them. And that is for the 1/2 A event.

[catdaddy]

One aspect that has been ignored is how the balloon sticks are secured to the ground. The Gluedobbers use four 6 inch pieces of metal electrical conduit with one end hammered shut. This makes them easy to hammer into the ground flush. We draw a small circle on the grass using red marking paint around every piece of conduit.
This makes them easy to find when you need to pull them up with a pair of pliers.

The 1/8" diameter 36" long dowels are just dropped into the conduit. It's easy to pull a broken stick out and just drop a new stick in it.

If you use bigger sticks than 1/8", they will damage the airplanes when they hit the sticks.

De Hill

Like I've said before De it ain't the sticks that does the most damage. I've practiced with 3/16" dowels and the ground still did more damage than hitting the sticks. Besides if you're worried about damage from hitting the sticks you're using the wrong plane   

[De Hill]

About 15 years ago, we had a contest out at the old Gluedobber Field. We held balloon bust on the paved donut there, and used four empty 2 liter pepsi jugs full of water to hold the balloon sticks.

One contestant (who will remain nameless) was flying a Forrunner in the balloon bust event. He was going to use it later in beginner stunt. He managed to nail the first pepsi jug dead center. Water went everywhere, and the fuselage stopped, but the wings kept going!

After that we went to burying conduit in the ground to eliminate that kind of airplane damage.

De

[catdaddy]

About 15 years ago, we had a contest out at the old Gluedobber Field. We held balloon bust on the paved donut there, and used four empty 2 liter pepsi jugs full of water to hold the balloon sticks.

One contestant (who will remain nameless) was flying a Forrunner in the balloon bust event. He was going to use it later in beginner stunt. He managed to nail the first pepsi jug dead center. Water went everywhere, and the fuselage stopped, but the wings kept going!

After that we went to burying conduit in the ground to eliminate that kind of airplane damage.

De

That sounds too cool! Sometime out at the field you're going to have to tell me who it was. Seems to me the original AMA "Dive Bomb and Strafe" balloon bust event had the potential to be a heavy carnage event. I would have liked to have seen them

[James Lee]

Hey CatDaddy
I was there, and it was Spectacular          
tweren't me...   But I have forgotten who did that!!  Boy, it did make a splash         And yes,I was flying the 'Otto the Gyro' , same one I still have.  But the motor has been changed a time or two, and it does finally have new tires....   
Later
Jim

[catdaddy]

Hey CatDaddy
I was there, and it was Spectacular          
tweren't me...   But I have forgotten who did that!!  Boy, it did make a splash         And yes,I was flying the 'Otto the Gyro' , same one I still have.  But the motor has been changed a time or two, and it does finally have new tires....   
Later
Jim

Hey Jim
Looking forward to seeing that beast this year. I still remember the first contest my oldest and I entered we flew balloon bust against you and that monster Otto. You took first and Dakota and I took 2nd and 3rd with an old Sterling Hellcat that probably weighed 10 lbs. It just had to fly close and the balloons popped from vibration