Time to design a contest!

[Bartman]

I've got a little parcel of love lined up for one of you to win but we need to design a contest with which to pick a winner. I appreciate all of the effort that a lot of you put into aerial photography and video but this site is about multi-rotor helicopters and to me that means that we need to keep an emphasis on the joy of flying and making ourselves better MRC pilots.
Having said that, I'm looking for suggestions for a contest. We need to come up with an event that challenges our flying skills, is EASY to set up and participate in (everyone should have a chance of taking the prize), and can be easily recorded on video (not necessarily aerial video, could be any video camera just so it gets confirmation of the entry) so people can submit entries.
I had an idea that a ribbon be strung horizontally across two poles with a heli flying vertical loops around the ribbon, alternating direction every five loops or so. The most loops in a minute (3 minutes? who knows!?!), wins. Loops could just be circuits without the copter actually looping.

So, you get the idea.

What say you??

Lastly, the contest event should be something that can be done with ANY multi-rotor craft so big 'uns wouldn't have any advantage.

I anxiously await your replies.

Bart

 

[Bartman]

Anyone??

 

[matwelli]

what could be fun is the most touch and goes on a object in a minute

land on object, take off, circle object, repeat (circle around is important, saves it being a bouncing contest) you dont need to be an awesome pilot to compete, and it will help build control skills

 

[Kilby]

One thing is certain, if it were a "palest legs" contest I would win for sure. I've spent most of my summer working on the copter in the basement and I now look like an albino!

 

[DennyR]

How about a balancing act with an egg

 

[Efliernz]

I like both the egg and the bounce / circle ideas. The latter would be a good skill builder.

Pete

 

[Bartman]

what could be fun is the most touch and goes on a object in a minute

land on object, take off, circle object, repeat (circle around is important, saves it being a bouncing contest) you dont need to be an awesome pilot to compete, and it will help build control skills

great idea Mat. let's see what else we come up with. maybe a required lap under the table?

what about eligibility? should the contest be open to everyone? some of our moderators are pretty talented with the sticks so careful what you say!

 

[FlyEYE]

How about having to move objects around. Something like have a rope hanging from the copter with a hook and hook something then carry it away a certain distance, repeat X times.

 

[matwelli]

@flyeye - i like that, call it "gone copta fishin"

@bart - the table idea sort-of excludes the big multi's

 

[Efliernz]

@matwelli Nah... a big table

Copter fishin sounds cool - with hooks not magnets. Since we all need to video our performance, I think a 60-90 second limit. I spend too much time looking at videos online already -aviation ones... get your mind out of the gutter!

Timed race? How about a small bottle (333ml) hanging 3' below the multi - slalom thru 9 (more or less) bottles at 1' separation and back again.

Hit a stationary bottle, do a restart! The weight of the hanging bottle can vary as some machines are happier carrying weight than others.

I know this might be an "advanced" one as many are still learning to control the multis will to go anywhere. On the other side, it would be a great skill lesson.

Options: Begineers fly fly tail-in out and back. Advanced tail-in out, nose-in return

Pete

 

[Droider]

Touch and goes on say four different landing marks spaced apart traveling clockwise the anti clockwise

dave

 

[DennyR]

How about lifting one large coke bottle filled with water for as long as you can, but with just one 500mAh battery.

 

[Bartman]

hi all
thanks for the replies. regarding the lifting ideas, that would favor bigger craft and the better flight controls as not all FC's can handle a slung load equally well.
the idea to use a table is a good one and i've got a small enhancement to the idea. how about we have the pilot start on a table of some sort (picnic table, kitchen table, whatever) and then fly to a point on the ground maybe 12 to 15 feet away where they would have to land. this would be repeated to see how many laps could be flown between the table top and the ground in a set amount of time. maybe every three or four laps the next lap would have to be flown nose in.

so a flight would be like this, start on table and fly to point on the ground, land, fly back to table-top, land, repeat over and over until time runs out. maybe we can adda requirement where the pilot has to spin around five times each lap so dizziness would factor in although this would give an unfair advantage to anyone that might be a former world champion control-line pilot so forget it!

keep in mind, i'm going to have to do a video demonstration so that we all understand what exactly has to be done. if it's too hard then i won't be able to demonstrate it!

keep in mind (2), all crashes should be shared for the entertainment of all present! no hiding your screw ups.

any other ideas??

 

[Bartman]

What prize can possibly be worth this much effort??? Who would be insane enough to donate such an obviously valuable and worthwhile prize to a community (worldwide I should say!) of obsessive helicopter pilots???
Stay tuned, all will be revealed in short order.

 

[Efliernz]

I think a compilation of failures at the end of your video is essential

A basic flying skill test is good as it is fair for us tri-flyer and quads (or bigger). Can we use a non-sliding surface on the table? Do the props need to stop on the table (to prevent a slide and go) or a slide 'n goes ok? Just things to think about as some of us are bound to find ways to make it easier

Pete

 

[Bartman]

it seems we're heading in the direction of the table-top touch and go idea. I'd say slide and goes are legal as long as there is a reversal of direction involved meaning the ground point has to be the same every lap.
if there is a tie in the number of laps flown then the winner will be chosen randomly from those with the max number of laps.

anyone want to add anything to this? sound doable?

 

[Crash]

anyone want to add anything to this? sound doable?

Ok since you asked.

I suck at flying. Can automated methods be used? What is the prize? I may have to bribe someone to do some coding.
The table top thing makes it easier for small sport copters.

Either way, I think the winner should be chosen randomly from the 'serious' attempts. Maybe the forum can pick the top 5 or 10 and then it's a random drawing?

 

[matwelli]

sounds good on the touch and goes, with a landing spot 15 feet away i can practice outside under my favorite power lines

now to remove the LG !

 

[Bartman]

that's a great idea Crash......random drawing from the top 10 serious attempts....."serious" to be determined by the membership

I'll announce the prize as soon as the contest is defined....it's a good one but I can't announce it until the whole shebang is in place....it's a courtesy to the vendor supplying the prize

Here's a clue, the first part of the vendor's name rhymes with the name of the Lone Ranger's close friend

Let's get the contest wrapped up and we'll get it into high gear.

 

[matwelli]

BTW - yes i realise I am exclude from actually being in the contest, as a buisness, but will be fun to do anyway