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<DIV>In a message dated 8/18/2005 10:44:17 AM Central Daylight Time,
ehaury@houston.rr.com writes:</DIV>
<DIV>Earl </DIV>
<DIV>I agree and because of the present quality of judging I do mine with a snap
switch, all the inputs are there, some are good some are bad but all are snaps
and until the judging quality changes I will continue on this course, I still
get a few zeros but have only learned how to get around poor judging not how to
do a perfect snap every time. I keep practicing them in practice but in a
contest I take the high road my scores for snap's were respectable the
Nats now if I can only find a way to do the same with spins the second most
misjudged maneuver.</DIV>
<DIV>But honestly the current situation is doing nothing to inspire me
otherwise. If we want to do something constructive put the touch and go back in
the pattern but boy would that cause a rumble.</DIV>
<DIV>Buddy </DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>OK guys - let me give you my insight with
regard to the videos, discussion of same, and issues surrounding flying /
judging snaps.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Firstly, the videos are a good exercise and offer
the option to "inspect" various interpretations of snaps. As is usually the
case with video of pattern maneuvers - most views don't acquire the same
clarity / scale as when viewed from the judges line. My opinion, viewing in
real time, is that some are probably snaps and some are not - but a similar
view in actual judging would mean that the airplane was at 300 or so meters
and it would be equally difficult to evaluate the maneuver. Confirming
one's evaluation with slo-mo isn't available to a judge - but a better view
is.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>With regard to eliminating snaps because they
can't be judged - isn't likely to happen and we've had the same discussion
regarding spins (seems snaps have taken the pressure off spins). A very small
number of folks have a mindset that these maneuvers can't be done
properly - so all should be zeroed unless they meet some magical criteria.
This is wrong, pilots need to learn how to do the maneuvers correctly (and
apply this knowledge to their judging). My observation basis judging 2 days of
Masters and half of the F3A finals at the Nats is that the Masters guys have
gotten much better with snaps than in previous years (having to fly snaps will
do that). Some of the F3A guys make them a thing of beauty (yes - they're
snaps, not some sort of "cheat") - others need to work on them more.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Video is an excellent tool for studying one's own
snaps - but the camera must be zoomed on the airplane to give the same view as
the pilot - steady tracking is difficult. A lot has been written by Don, Dave,
Dean, me, and others on how to do the snap as defined in the rules - review
this info and apply it to what you see in your videos. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I will venture to say that most (if not all)
large departures from track and/or late or no stalls, are as much a
result of slow elevator input as improper travel. Slow / weak servos, lots of
expo, anything that slows the initial pitch movement, will screw-up snap
entry. The guys that appear to "cheat" have figured out how to get a quick,
minimal (yet sufficient) pitch to stall and just enough pitch and yaw
control to maintain a cone so as to return to unstalled attitude when desired.
The rest of us need to work toward that quality and appreciate it when
judging. A good snap doesn't look like a wounded duck! (Yes, some may try
to forego elevator input and fool us with a quick roll with a yaw waggle - but
the lack of pitch break makes judging these easy.) </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Earl</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=mailto:gfowler@raytheon.com href="mailto:gfowler@raytheon.com">Gray
E Fowler</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=mailto:discussion@nsrca.org
href="mailto:discussion@nsrca.org">discussion@nsrca.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, August 17, 2005 8:31
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Put equity back into snap
judging</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><BR><FONT face=sans-serif size=2>Eric said....</FONT>
<BR><BR><BR><FONT size=3><BR>1. If you can't guarantee to judge it correctly
take it out of AMA <BR>schedules. It is grossly unfair to penalize pilots
this way.</FONT> <BR><BR><BR><FONT face=sans-serif size=2>Good point, but if
we take it out, then me as an Advanced flyer will never have the chance to
learn how to "Cheat" a snap as good as the FAI guys do. You know....that
little no elevator flip that they do to keep the heading correct and never
get a zero cuz they be "insert big name here". </FONT><BR><BR><FONT
face=sans-serif size=2>If the top FAI guys faced some of the critical snap
judging that most of us ocassionally do, and know one knew their name, they
too would remove it or change the criteria ....according to me.</FONT>
<BR><BR><FONT face=sans-serif size=2>In defense of the individual FAI
flyers....the ones I know are pretty cool guys...just gotta play the game.
As the name recognition goes up, it seems the weenier the snap gets......in
other words, the so called "regular" FAI guy faces a huge disadvantage when
faced with the judging criteria/disparity Eric mentioned plus facing name
recognition. AND as usual....I could be wrong.</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT
face=sans-serif size=2><B>Tonight, I am going to paint my prop all pretty
colors. Can anyone tell me what colors and designs score the
best?</B></FONT> <BR><BR><FONT face=sans-serif size=2><BR><BR><BR>Gray
Fowler<BR>Principal Chemical Engineer<BR>Composites
Engineering</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
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