U.S. Scale Masters
USSMA General Discussions => USSMA Infomation => Topic started by: Flyfast1 on Mon, 03/04/13, 06:56 PM
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Hello,
I have been putting together a sequence of maneuvers that I would like to start practicing and have a question about flight judging. Please excuse what I presume is a very basic question, but I didn't find an answer to it in either the competition guide or any videos on the Internet.
During the flying portion of U.S. Scale Masters events, are maneuvers expected to be flown contiguous, without setup legs or breaks in-between? For example, suppose that the first three planned maneuvers are a takeoff, a flypast and a loop. After a takeoff into the wind, is the flypast expected to be done on the first downwind leg, or is it acceptable to just fly the downwind leg and then execute the flypast maneuver on the next up wind leg (with proper announcements)? Similarly, after the flypast is completed, is it expected that the pilot would immediately perform the loop, or is it acceptable to just fly a downwind leg after the flypast to setup the loop flying into the wind?
Thanks,
-Ed B.
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Downwind legs between manuevers are included to allow for set up of the following maneuver. Trying to do maeuvers consecutively with no separation is to be avoided for a variety of practical reasons for both the contestant and judges.
Regards, Kent
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Ed, the maneuver description for the Fly-Past stipulates that it is to be flown in the same direction as the takeoff, generally up wind (Page 23).
Unlike continuous sequence modern turnaround pattern, most scale maneuvers are flown as center maneuvers in either direction. Some maneuver descriptions include positioning information also.
Jim
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As everyone pointed out, when and what direction you do the maneuvers is generally left up to the pilot, but do bear in mind the overall time limit on the flight. Trim passes are quite accpetable, even if the trim is to the set of your drawers! :D
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All good inputs! Despite my earlier remarks, there can always be exceptions to the general practice of including downwind legs between maneuvers (or simply a turnaround). On specific options (albeit rare), two maneuvers can be done consecutively with no break in between. One example is the optional Traffic Pattern maneuver that immediately terminates with the start of the mandatory Landing. There is also the defined Touch and Go maneuver (counts as two maneuvers) where the "Touch" is followed immediately by the "Go". Some of these things are just a matter of common sense in building a flight selection plan for realism. Nevertheless the general practice in Scale competition is that maneuvers are separated from one another in overall flight logistics for both the pilot and judges.
Regards, Kent
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Thanks to all for the replies. That clears it up for me.
-Ed B.