informal survey about appearance points Last day to vote! (Poll)

[Dick Fowler]

Geez Bill, your suggestion makes way too  much sense!

[Bill Little]

Geez Bill, your suggestion makes way too  much sense!

Hi Dick,

Remeber, if I say anything that makes sense, it's probably under the *Blind Hog* principle!

Bill

[billbyles]

<snip>
 May I add this. Our sport emulates the real world of acrobatic competition. They do not require the pilot to build there own plane. Matter of fact most of the planes are flown by pilots who are hired to fly them.

Chuck Feldman

Chuck, your statement above is a non sequitur. 

Full-scale aerobatic competition is another world compared to C/L Precision Aerobatics.  For one thing, aerobatic pilots are not hired to fly somebody else's airplane.  We often loan our airplanes to friends who don't have one, but there is nothing to be gained by hiring a pilot to fly someone else's airplane in FAI acro competition.  If you are talking about the "Red Bull Air Racing Series", that is not aerobatic competition...it is a whole different event focusing on the racing around a series of pylons.  Professional airshow pilots are often hired to fly somebody else's airplane (I did that for awhile) but again, that is not aerobatic competition.  Airshow flying, while aerobatic, is not at all the same as FAI acro competition. 

True, the pilot flying full-scale aerobatic competition is not required to build the airplane he is flying, however even the most simple of the airplanes being flown in acro competition are quite complex to build requiring skills (building fabrication fixtures, welding to aircraft quality, woodwork on a large scale, sheet metal fabrication skills, knowledge of composite structures on a large scale compared to models, etc.) way beyond those possessed (or required) by the majority of pilots.  A few of the competition pilots do build their airplanes and are able to compete up through advanced class, but they are a very few.  In the unlimited class competition the high-dollar monoplanes are required to be competitive, and the majority of those airplanes cost in the neighborhood of $200,000 and up and are primarily fabricated using high-tech composite construction. 

Then, assuming that rare individual is able to get it built he needs to paint it.  Painting a full-size airplane is not at all the same as painting a model airplane.  A full-scale airplane requires gallons of paint, not a pint or quart.  There are areas where you can paint it at home, but in most urban areas you can't due to EPA and Air Quality regulations, not to mention overspray of your neighbor's car or swimming pool. 

[john e. holliday]

I got to watch one episode of the "Red Bull Racing" with the aerobatic planes and still can't beleive what those pilots put them threw.  It looks like a lot of forces are put on the pilot as well as the airplane.  You have more nerve than I do to fly one of those races.  DOC Holliday

[RC Storick]

I will un-lock this for 2 more days.

[Dick Fowler]

Strangely enough, Dick, although I doubt you intended to, you prove my point.

Ted

Not so strangely enough I don't agree. We seem to have divorced appearance points from the BOM.... I'm not sure that can be done. I have a hard time justifying lavishing appearance points on a model that was "assembled" from a whole bunch of prefab parts and possibly finished by someone other than the "assembler". Under the new and not so improved rule this is acceptable but I'm not convinced that it meets the spirit or the tradition of the "premier event"!

Seems that there has been a significant widening of what is acceptable under the BOM since I left in the early 70's. The ruling made at the NATS a few years ago is proof positive that taking the easy way out isn't always the best solution. It would have been far better to meet the challenge head on a clear the air once and for all... instead we got the new Coke. To continue to defend to the death the new BOM rule and the associated appearance points that are the granted is akin to defending the honor of Heidi Fleiss... a bit too late!