My Sunday morning rambling:
I think we need a bit of background and present thought here, and an invitation to participate in this idea for all who are interested.
MOM Fun:
I'll say it right now, in model gliding there is no discipline that gives the same excitement, anticipation, adrenaline rush and satisfaction as MOM racing. FUN, FUN, FUN!!! Sometimes in these days of forums - happily this is a great one - and sometimes, due to stupidity, people forget that the object of the exercise here is to have FUN.
What we are trying to do:
It used to be that MOM was almost an"Ego" event. I can fly faster than you, I can design and make a plane faster than yours, etc. But I think this is long gone, and most of the time, the skills and time needed to do it on your own design have gone too. Back then, making your own plane for the most part was no choice.
What we (Red, Wayne, Ollie and I - the gang of four?) are trying to do is to find ways to get MOM racing going again in the USA. Actually, I remember when I was actively Pylon racing in the UK (A loooong time ago), and we heard about F3f, which I believe started in Scandinavia and was not an FAI category at that time. : Never going to catch on," we grinned. Oh, was I wrong. But it's true to say that participation in F3f, which is NOT MOM racing, is declining in Europe - its stronghold. The reason - overall its just too boring.
Our idea initially was to try to hold a "kinda" MOM at Banos to see what happened, which was actually moderately successful and maybe would have been a lot of fun and a good start had it not been for the heat, which was excessive. So that went west.
ISR attempt:
Then the idea was simply to try to cooperate to hold a real ISR at Davenport, its home in the USA. Well, that went west, too, as Wayne has explained.
So far, no-go. Then presently our thinking, rightly or wrongly, in trying to analyse the reasons why MOM does not seem to be the sport that everyone jumps to get into has been:
Expense? - Maybe these shiny mouldies are too pricey to use? - especially in the unstable economic climate that exists in the USA today. Maybe people are nervous chucking their expensive planes into the fray where they might get damaged or written off. This is and always has been true with MOM. 4-up racing of really fast (they are faster now) models will result in carnage from time to time, but it's surprisingly rare.
Solution: Go small, cheap, and simple to begin with: Maybe try to make available printed or short kit 60" (1.5M) models for a 60" class. There are sporadic, sometimes ODR races all over the place already, but they seem to have died out in California.
Lack of experience? - Maybe people are afraid of being embarrassed by their lack of very serious 'formation' flying?
Solution: Just make the easy-to-build, easy-to-fly models available at affordable fun prices and let it infect the community to want to go for the bigger, faster model races later, after people have more experience? Hold at least one race (ISR) and more if possible, to let the newcomers who might be interested take a look and hopefully "get the bug". It doesn't have to be big in the beginning, just simple and fun.
Rules?: Make the rules safety-oriented, and nothing else but really simple plane specs. Make participation easy.
Onward:
Ollie Red and Wayne are talking about making available 60 models, the prototypes for which are already flying or on the way. I may be able to help with at least one "traditional" (non-printed) prototype by making glass fuselages.
Most important: We are experienced pylon racers. We know what it costs and what it brings in terms of enjoyment.
So, what are the reasons preventing YOU from participating in this excitement? If you are just not interested/not a competitive person, then fine, but what would it take to get YOU interested? Your opinions here are the most important information we can have to make these events and the great fun they can bring happen and be as attractive to as many people as possible.
If you can put down your thoughts here, that would be a great indicator, and we'd have a better idea of which way to go.
Cheers,
Doc.
, thank you for the offer. i let you know if i need some help, at moment i just need more PETG HF White hahaha (order Placed already)
