I like the concept. All planes and engines as equal as possible.
Everyone would learn something very valuable from that, but maybe not what you expected! Unless you also precluded trim changes, it would *greatly widen* the gap between expert and beginner, and "masters" and other experts. The only way it does the sort of thing everyone thinks - separate out the "stick men" - is if you do as suggested and have some sort of airplane pool.
The one interesting thing it might do is separate the "old masters" VS the "new masters", i.e. whether you became a "master" caliber flier during the 4-2 break era, or the tuned pipe era. If the airplane was really marginal - like they ALL were back in the day - the guys who were "master" caliber during that era would gain some advantage, even if they are, of necessity, also older. It would shift the field towards people like Ted, Billy, RJ, and the master of masters Bart K.
The one time we did anything like that was at the ARF-Off, where several of us all flew the same airplanes, all questionable trim to one degree or another. We got to the flyoff and Ted and I were in, with some talented be less-experienced competitors, and the air was challenging. Ted flew the wildly crooked Vector 40/RO-Jett 61 BSE, and I flew the power-challenged Vector 40/electric. Ted used his "old master" talent and beat me (for about the 10,000th time, although it had been a while...) and I did OK but not good enough. If Bart K. had been there, I would have at least considered *conceding*, although my ego would probably have prevented it, Ted could speak for himself but I bet the thought would have crossed his mind, too.
An alternate way of conducting the contest would be to get one of the top competitors to set up two airplanes as well as he could manage, and as close to the same as they could manage, and then let everyone else fly them. That was the way the IROC worked early on.
I had that (and still do) as a quasi-response to eliminating BOM at the NATs, were it to happen. David, Paul, Ted, RJ, Jimby, PTG, etc, would all build airplanes, of whatever design we wanted, we would get together for a week with with Paul and I doing the trimming, have a fly-off, and then ship the best two to Muncie. Then we all fly to Muncie, including anyone who wanted to enter, like Jim Hoffman and Lou Wolgast from Arizona and any other West coast types who can't otherwise attend, maybe enlist Derek and Randy Smith just to make the point, and fly them in the contest. I predict (based on the reaction to something similar to the 99 NAT OTS) that the BOM would be back in about a week.
Brett
Topic: Formula P Profile Stunt (Read 2507 times)
