Rules

Minneapolis Model Aero Club (MMAC)

Contest Events, Model Specifications and Scoring

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/mplsmodelaero/home

Published rulebook links:

Academy of Model Aeronautics – Indoor/Outdoor (AMA) – Navigate to most-current Free Flight Indoor or Outdoor rulebook

National Free Flight Society (NFFS) – Navigate to most-current year rulebook

Flying Aces Club (FAC) – Navigate to most-current rules

Society of Antique Modelers (SAM) – Navigate to “Rules”

MMAC Contest Events (Scroll down for Outdoor Events)

Indoor Events:

Phantom Flash: (See FAC rulebook for full details, Rise-off-ground event no pushing)

Planform:                  Follow published plan “to the letter”! 16” wingspan, 3” chord, length 11-3/8”” nose bearing to rear of fin/rudder.  Removable nose-plug OK, Wing, stab and rudder mounts to fuselage may be adjustable or removable for ease of transportation, etc…

                                                   Minimum weight:       5.0 grams – Complete model without rubber

Rubber limitations:     None

Prop:                        Any commercially available 6” plastic prop, lighten as desired, drill out to add bushing allowed, but DO NOT heat/bend to change the factory pitch or add blade area with tape, etc…

                                                   Covering:              Tissue, no plastics/mylar, cover one-side of flying surfaces

Contest Format:        Count best 3 flights of 6 flights that exceed 20 seconds, unlimited sub-20 second flights allowed.  Record to full second, drop tenths of a second

Firefly: (Greg Thomas Designs kit/plan.  No governing rulebook, Rise-off-ground event no pushing)

Planform:                  Follow plan to the letter!  24” wingspan, 4-1/16” root chord, 15-3/4” length (nose bearing to rear of fin/rudder).  Removable nose-plug OK, Wing, stab and rudder mounts to fuselage may be adjustable or removable for ease of transportation, etc…

Minimum Weight:       15 grams - Complete model without rubber

Rubber limitations:     None

Prop:                        Any commercially available 6” plastic prop, lighten as desired, drill out to add bushing allowed, but DO NOT heat/bend to change the factory pitch or add blade area

Covering:                  Tissue, no plastics/mylar, cover both sides of all flying surfaces

Contest Format:        Count best 3 flights of 6 flights that exceed 20 seconds, unlimited sub-20 second flights allowed.  Record to full second, drop tenths of a second

Rubber Scale: (No governing rulebook, MMAC will not use scale judging points, hand-launch or rise-off ground with push is allowed)

Planform:                  Any sized replica of a once built, or of an “at least” published design, full scale aircraft capable of carrying a human aloft.  Landing gear required unless original had retracts - Rise-off-ground is not required, but is allowed.

Minimum Weight:       No restrictions

Rubber limitations:     None

Prop:                        No restrictions

Covering:                  Tissue for scale effect, or clear plastic if the original was the Gossamer Condor, Albatross or Penguin!  Open fuselage structure OK if original was uncovered.

Contest Format:        Count best 3 flights of 5 flights that exceed 20 seconds. Unlimited sub 20 seconds attempts allowed. Record to full second, drop tenths of a second. 

Bostonian: (See AMA Indoor rulebook for full specifications, MMAC will not use charisma points, and will allow multiple, different models per event, Rise-off-ground event no pushing)

Planform:                  Max 16” (projected) wingspan, 3” chord, Stab 50% area of wing area. Fuselage length 14” (nose bearing to rearmost part of model) Cross-section must contain an imaginary box of dimensions 1.5” x 2.5” x 3”. Fuselage must be built-up such that longerons support tension/torque of rubber motor.  Transparent front-facing windshield and side windows each a minimum of 1 square inch.  At least 2 ¾” diameter wheels spaced 2.5” apart

Minimum Weight:       14 grams – Complete mono-wing model without rubber (West Coast Bostonian).  20 grams non mono-wing model designs (Secondary flying surface > 50% primary wing area.)

Rubber limitations:     None

Prop:                        Maximum 6” diameter.  No restrictions on material, pitch or blade area.

Covering:                  Flying surfaces covered on both sides or a solid surface with minimum 1/16” thickness

Contest Format:        Current MMAC/Published: Count best 2 flights of 5 rounds. Each round may have up to 3 attempts to make a flight of 20 seconds or more, first flight over 20 seconds counts as the flight for that round.  Record to full second, drop tenths of a second

No-Cal: (See FAC rulebook for full details, MMAC waives requirement of proof of scale and color-scheme)

Planform:                  Maximum wingspan 16”, Profile fuselage, landing gear unless original had retractable landing gear, wing struts if on original.

Minimum Weight:       No restrictions

Rubber limitations:     None

Prop:                        No restrictions

Covering:                  Tissue paper, may single-cover surfaces, correct color scheme, control surface markings, numbers, canopies and windows may be paper covered, clear material not required

Contest Format:        Count best 3 flights over 20 seconds.  Unlimited sub-20 second flights can be made.  Record to full second, drop tenths of a second

AMA Lightweights: (See AMA Indoor rulebook for model dimensions)

Planform:                  Event open to models that meet one of the following AMA specifications:  Mini-Stick, Pennyplane, Limited pennyplane, Easy-B (EZ-B), Intermediate Stick, Autogyro, Ornithopter, A-6, Manhattan Cabin, ROG

Minimum Weight:       As per specific event

Prop:                        As per specific event

Rubber limitations:     No limitations

Covering:                  As per specific event

Contest Format:        Count best single flight out of 5 rounds recorded to full second (drop tenths of a second).  Each round may have a first “delayed flight” of less than 60 seconds which is eliminated if a second flight is made, regardless the time of the second flight.  If the first flight of the round exceeds 60 seconds it is the one and only flight for that round and is recorded.  The contestant may choose to use the “delayed flight” as the official flight for that round, but no other flight may be made

Butterfly: (No governing rulebook, MMAC will allow purchased models both balsa and carbon versions and scratch-built tissue paper covered models all using the commercial butterfly prop/bushing/bearing unit)

Planform:                  <future link to plans here>

Minimum Weight:       2.0 grams – Complete model without rubber

                                             Rubber limitations:     None

Prop:                        Commercially available Butterfly Prop unit (Club has extras in stock).

Covering:                  Tissue paper

Contest Format:        Count best single flight out of 5 flights recorded to full second (drop tenths of a second). Unlimited sub-20 seconds attempts are allowed.

HLG/Unlimited CLG combined:  (See AMA indoor rulebook for full details.  MMAC currently does fly Standard (12”) CLG separately from HLG and Unlimited CLG)

 Planform HLG/CLG:  100 square inch maximum projected wing area.  Stab area in excess of 50% of wing area adds to Wing area.  All surfaces to remain fixed throughout flight except for natural flexing of material of which the model is constructed.

Minimum Weight:       No restrictions

Covering:                  No restrictions

Launching:                Model must be released from a height no further than the contestants normal reach above the floor.  Glider must immediately attain an altitude at least three times the contestant’s height or ½ the available ceiling height whichever is less. 

Catapult stick:           6” length, indoors has no rubber restrictions other than it must stay attached to the handle or hand if no handle is used.

Contest Format:        Count best 2 scores of 9 flights recorded to tenths of a second (truncate hundredths of a second), all flights count - no attempts

Outdoors:

General rules that apply to all events:

Clearly inform your timer of the event for which you are about to make a flight.  Most airplanes can be flown in several events! 

Record flight times on the club scoreboard immediately after each flight – ideally the timer does this as the flier may be off on the chase.  HLG and CLG may record flight times after every two flights.

Whenever possible the timer should have access to binoculars.  To aid in model retrieval, the timer should watch the flight to the ground and record/mark total flight time and direction (compass heading (phone or compass) or at least a structure in the distance)                     

Flight times are recorded to the full second, dropping tenths of a second.

If any part of the airplane detaches during the flight, before the maximum flight time is attained, the flight is recorded as a zero (0).  The flight may be used as an attempt if the event timing allows.

The timer determines when the flight is over – not the flier downwind waving their arms or screaming “down”.   The timer may wander 200 feet from the position they were in at the start of the flight to help see around trees or obstacles.  Upon loss of sight of the model or the model’s collision with an obstacle, the timer is to let the stopwatch run for the count of 10 seconds, should the model reappear or wiggle free of the obstacle and resume flying with all parts attached, the timing continues.  Should the model not reappear, or resume flying, by the count of 10, the watch is stopped and 10 seconds deducted from the time showing on the watch as the flight time.

The DT-ing of a model does not end the flight time – not even for the use of remote DT, continue timing until the model comes to rest on ground or structure.  The exception being when a part becomes detached completely from the model – at which point timing should be stopped immediately.  Some would argue that pop-off wing DT should stop the flight time because it no longer meets the event requirements of 30” limit in all directions.

Only two (2) airplanes may be used to make all flights for an event.  HLG and CLG may use three (3) airplanes.  The airplanes used do not need to be of the same design.  For Embryo Endurance, use the least “bonus” points of the two models flown.

Most events will use the Contest scoring format of counting first 3 official flights out of 6 attempts.  Flights over 20 seconds are automatically official, flight less than 20 seconds must be immediately deemed official or an attempt by the flier before the next flight.  Fly-off flights are conducted without the benefit of “attempts”. There are exceptions for some events in the number of attempts and/or the attempt flight time threshold – they are marked in bold.

P-30: (See “P-30” in AMA Outdoor rulebook for full details)

Planform:                  No dimension of the assembled airplane may exceed 30” – in any direction.  D/T fuse may extend beyond 30”, but not the hooks and rubber bands.

Minimum weight:       40 grams – Complete model without rubber motor– can include motor pegs, motor hooks, assembly rubber bands, DT timers (but not expendable DT fuse!), etc…

Rubber limitations:     10 grams – weighed with your choice of lubrication

Prop:                        Any commercially available 9.05” to 9.84” (23-25 cm) plastic propeller.  Allowed prop modifications:  Removal of mold flashing, Enlargement of prop shaft hole (for add bushing or a bigger prop shaft), add weight to balance. DO NOT heat/bend to change the factory pitch or add blade area with tape, or sand heavier blade to balance.

Covering:                  No limitations

Launch:                     No restrictions

Contest Format:        120 second maximum. An Unlimited number of sub-20 second attempts are allowed.  If three “maxes” are achieved, proceed to make fly-off flights with 30 second increment in max time until a flight does not achieve the maximum.  No attempts allowed for fly-off flights.

Large Rubber:  (See “Mulvihill” in AMA Outdoor rulebook for full details)

Planform:                  Maximum of 300 square inch projected wing area.  Contest director may allow flying a bigger model for the club event, but the scores cannot be counted towards national points.  Motor may be inside or outside of the fuselage. 

Minimum weight:       No restriction on model weight.

Rubber limitations:     No restriction on motor length/weight.

Prop:                        No restriction on propeller.

Covering:                  No limitations

Launch:                     No restrictions

Contest Format:        First three flights have 2 minute, 3 minute, and 4 minute maximum flight times.  Three attempts of less than 20 seconds are allowed completing the first three flights.  If three maxes are achieved, continue with fly-off flights using a one (1) minute increase in maximum time for each flight with no attempts allowed for fly-off flights.

Moffett: (See “Moffett” in AMA Outdoor rulebook for full details)

Planform:                  Maximum of 202 square inch projected wing area + stabilizer area. 

Fuselage length from nose bearing to rearmost fin/stab/fuselage/hook/dt tube/etc… shall not exceed wingspan

Minimum cross section of fuselage:  L2/150

Three-point take off stance required – to be stable, unassisted without wind.  Retraction of takeoff stance points, in any manner, is allowed

Minimum weight:       50 grams per 100 sq inch projected wing area

Rubber limitations:     No restriction on motor length/weight.

Prop:                        No restriction on propeller.

Covering:                  No limitations

Launch:                    Rise-off ground or table

Contest Format:        First three flights have 2 minute, 3 minute, and 4 minute maximum flight times.  Three attempts of less than 20 seconds are allowed completing the first three flights.  If three maxes are achieved, continue with fly-off flights using a one (1) minute increase in maximum time for each flight with no attempts allowed for fly-off flights

Embryo Endurance (See “Embryo Endurance” in FAC rulebook for full details)

Planform:                  Maximum 50 sq inch wing area – measured from flat plan view.  Biplanes not to exceed 70 sq. inch wing area.

Stabilizer area not to exceed 50% of wing area.

Fuselage cross section must contain a 1.25” x 1.5” x 3.0” box.

Wing and stabilizer must be built up and covered on both sides with japanese tissue, or equivalent.

¾” wheels, must be able to rotate, on conventional landing gear arrangement.

Minimum weight:       No restriction on model weight.

Rubber limitations:     No restriction on motor length/weight.

Prop:                        No restriction on propeller pitch, size or material.

Covering:                  No limitations

Launch:                     Rise-off ground or table

Contest Format:        120 second flight maximum for all flights.  Six flights are allowed to make three flights greater than 20 seconds. If three maxes are achieved, continue with fly-off flights using a 120 second flight maximum - no attempts allowed on fly-off flights

Jimmie Allen (See “Jimmie Allen” in SAM rulebook for full details)

Planform:                  Entry must be a recognized Jimmie Allen Design. Must be built to original size; no scaling. 

Minimum weight:       No weight limitations

Rubber limitations:     No restriction on motor length/weight.

Prop:                        Prop diameter per FAC rules. No folding or feathering props. Can be wood or plastic.

JIMMIE ALLEN ALLOWABLE PROP SIZES Model Max. Prop Dia. B-A Parasol (aka Racer) 9.5” B-A Cabin (aka Skokie ) 10” Bluebird 12” Bluebird Racer (aka Scarlet Tanager) 8” Blue Flash 10” Silver Streak 11.5” Sky Chief 11” Skyraider 10” Spartan Bomber 10” Special 7” Thunderbolt -1935 22” ws Hickock Oil 7.33” Thunderbolt -1934 24” ws Skelly Oil 10” Yellow Jacket 10” 

Covering:                  As shown on plans – in general two-sided tissue covering

Launch:                    Rise-off ground or table

Contest Format:        120 second flight maximum for all flights.  Six flights are allowed to make three flights greater than 20 seconds.  If three maxes are achieved, continue with fly-off flights using a 120 second flight maximum - no attempts allowed on fly-off flights

Rubber scale (MMAC event)

Any scale airplane, no judging, no scale points, no propeller or motor or covering restrictions.  120 second maximum for all flights.  6 flights to make 3 flights more than 20 seconds.  Up to 3 attempts can be declared for flights less than 20 seconds

SAM OT Rubber (See “Large Rubber Fuselage”, “Large Rubber Stick”, “Small Rubber Fuselage”, “Small Rubber Stick”, “4 oz. Wakefield”, “8 oz. Wakefield”, ‘Commercial Rubber” in Society of Antique Modelers (SAM) rulebook for complete rules)

Old Timer:                 Models designed and published before 1951. No thermal detection devices are allowed.  Wire prop hubs are not allowed. Build and fly models to the spirit of the design and era. (Andy: Are there limitations on use of aluminum, birch aircraft plywood, plastic propellers, plastic coverings?)

Planform:                  Large: Projected wing area > 150 square inches

                                 Small: Projected wing area <= 150 square inches

                                 Stick: Maximum fuselage cross sections = Length2/200. No launch restrictions

                                 Fuselage: Minimum fuselage cross section = Length2/100.  Rise-off ground or table

                                 Commercial:  Kitted prior to 1951, wingspan lass than 36”, no scaling allowed.  Wood propeller unless plastic was shown on 1951 (or earlier) kit plan. Designs with folding propellers are prohibited. No launch restrictions

                                 4 and 8 oz. Wakefields – follow design, see S.A.M. rulebook

Minimum weight:       No restriction on model weight – except 4 and 8 oz Wakefields (see SAM rulebook).

Rubber limitations:     No restriction on motor length/weight – except 4 and 8 oz Wakefields (see SAM rulebook).

Prop:                        As shown on plans.  Or use 1/3 of flat wingspan rule.  Gollywocks are allowed 13.5 prop diameter.

Construction:             As shown on plans, no use of foam or materials unavailable at the time of the model’s design,

Covering:                  ???  Certainly, tissue and silk are allowed – MMAC will allow plastics?

Contest Format:        Six attempts to make 3 flights of more than 40 seconds. First three flights have a 2-minute maximum flight time.  Typically, fly-off flights are made with one-minute increments in maximum flight time until a maximum is not attained. No attempts allowed on fly-off flights

Hand-launched Glider (HLG) (See AMA rulebook for “Hand-Launched glider” for full rules)

Planform:                  Maximum of one (1) meter projected wingspan (39.37 inches). 

Minimum weight:       No restriction on model weight.

Contest Format:        Maximum flight time for all flights, including flyoff flights is 120 seconds.

                                 All flights are official and recorded – no attempts.

Should three maxes be achieved in the first 6 flights, continue to strive for two-minute fly-off flights until a flight of less than 2 minutes is made. 

                                 Contest score is the best three flight times out of the first six flights plus the combined time of all flyoff flights.

Catapult Launched Glider (CLG) (See AMA rulebook for “Catapult glider” for full rules)

Planform:                  Rigid wing – no moveable surfaces, folders, auto-surfaces are allowed

Weight:                     Maximum weight is 1.5 ounces

Launching catapult:   Handle length not to exceed 6”

                                 Rubber to not exceed 9” loop of ¼ inch (or equivalent) rubber such as Pirelli, FAI Tan II, Sport

Contest Format:        Maximum flight time for first six (6) flights is 90 seconds.

                                 All flights are official and recorded – no attempts.

Should three maxes be achieved in the first 6 flights, strive to make 120 second flights until a flight of less than 2 minutes is made. 

                                 Contest score is the best three flight times out of the first six flights plus the combined time of all flyoff flights.

Towline Glider:  (See F1A and F1H in FAI rulebook, “Classic Towline” in NFFS rulebook for  details)

Planform:                  “Classic” Wing area + stabilizer area not to exceed 750 square inches. 

                                 F1H: Wing + stabilizer projected area not more than 279 square inches

                                 F1A: Wing + stabilizer projected area not to exceed 524 square inches 

Minimum weight:       Classic: No restriction on model weight or length.

                                 F1H: 220 grams

                                 F1A: 410 grams

Towline:                    50 meters (164 feet) towline measured under 2 kg (4.41 lb) tensile load for Classic and F1H, measured under 5 kg load for F1A. A brightly colored pennant of at least 38.75 sq inches shall be attached to the towline near the tow-ring to aid in determining when the line is detached from the model

Contest Format:        Six flights allowed to make three flights. Maximum flight time for first three flights are 3 minutes for Classic and F1A, 2 minutes for F1H.

                                 FAI models will not be flown in rounds.

Gas: (Follow rules for any Gas event defined in AMA, FAI, NFFS or SAM rulebook)

Electric: (Follow rules for “Electric A”, “Electric B” in AMA rulebook, E-36 and E-20 in NFFS rulebook for details)

High start glider:

Planform:                  Wing area + stabilizer area not to exceed 750 square inches. 

Minimum weight:       No restriction on model weight or length.

High-start:                 Provided by MMAC or flier themselves.  High-Start launch will consist of 50 feet of 1/16, 3/32 or 1/8” flat Tan Super Sport rubber joined to 100 feet of towline that qualifies the 2 kg stretch test. A metal tow ring of ¾” diameter will be attached to the free string end. A brightly colored pennant of at least 38.75 sq inches shall be attached to the towline near the tow-ring to aid in determining when the line is detached from the model. Flier may attach a pull pin or washer on a line of desired length to the tow ring to assist with auto rudder deployment.  Ideally this would be easily removable for the next flier using the MMAC supplied High-start.

Contest Format:        Six flights allowed to make three flights. Maximum flight time for all flights.  When needed, fly-off flights will continue with 2 minute maximum.