And there you have it folks!

drive a rotary, fly a rotorcraft

Original Owner rule

Okay folks…with me being the Event Director for this year’s scale NAT’s, I haven’t commented on the “original owner” issue because I wanted to wait and see what the real reason/issue was behind this being brought up now and why from people that were not involved in this year’s NAT’s. But it looks to me that it won’t be so I will address it at this point.

Joe is totally correct on why this was put into the rules and the “spirit” behind it. I know this from talking to Joe (who wrote 518) over the years and from my years of judging when Peter and Darrell were the CD’s. I’ve judged machines in the past that I knew the competitor was not the original owner but also knew that the current owner/competitor rebuilt, repainted, and detailed the machine. Just as I knew this year that Mike did the same thing. So in knowing what the “spirit” of the rule is, I allowed Mike to compete in 518 with his machine.

For those that want to play “internet lawyers”, think about this…Your wife buys you a Vario Scale kit for Christmas and uses her own credit card…guess what…you can’t use that machine in 518 because you are not the original owner…SHE IS! So just how ridiculous does that sound. And let’s take it even one step further…no matter who buys a machine/fuse, the argument could be made that NO ONE is the original owner because most people buy from a dealer or distributor and on paper, they would be considered the original owner because they purchased the item from the manufacture or wholesaler first…not you. So again, the “spirit” of the rule needs to be looked at and not who may have owned the machine at one time.

To me, as a ED, CD, Judge, or competitor, it all comes down to who built (or rebuilt) the machine and who flew it. And if I’m competing and placed higher then someone else, I want to know that I did it because my machine scored higher and/or I flew better than another person and not because of a rule that was taken literally. To me, it comes down to my skills as a builder/pilot against another person’s skills as a builder/pilot…not who has the original “sales receipt”.

And as for a few people that made comments about a “buddy system”…YES, I do like to feel that I am friends with everybody in this hobby. But I also know that it doesn’t affect my judgement as an ED or as a judge. And I can also speak for the people that have judged for me and with me over the years that they were also fair and honest. And in this sport, you can see your scores from all the judges along with the scores of the other competitors. So you would see if someone was not on the “up-and-up”. And as Joe stated, it’s up to the CD to maintain fairness. And I know that Peter, Darrell, and I have all done this in the past and I have no trouble sleeping at night…but that could be just because I’m getting old…lol

Mark Allen

Dilly Dilly!!!! Build Fly Enjoy Repeat

Eaton

RIP Roman Pirozek Jr.
Team Futaba USA
Team Kontronik USA
http://flysrw.com

Still Nothing from Taylor.. I think that speaks volumes..

I end it here then..

Mr. Taylor.. Truly you missed an opportunity to participate in a friendship. I can say life is JUST TO SHORT...

So be it..

We end it here and move on.. I VERY MUCH look forward to competing AGAIN next year with the SAME MACHINE.. so... its at that point maybe we will meet. Hope you can make it.

Grimracer (Mike Zaborowski)

Michael J Zaborowski

I’ll be back with my $3, sorry, $4 dollar ship because I added some crap to it as well.

RIP Roman Pirozek Jr.
Team Futaba USA
Team Kontronik USA
http://flysrw.com

Mine is going up a few hundos...

New head and Blades.. OUCH!.. out with the old MIXED PARTS head and in with a new!

I will machine a new set of side frames for the thing too..

Grim

Michael J Zaborowski

Interesting discussion.
I plan to start competing with helis next year if I get something built by then.

But if attendance is a problem, why not learn from fixed wing?

Pro-am classes allows for ARF's or bought aircraft. Everyone gets the same static score. It turns into really fun classes where it is all about flying skills. It also eliminates the issue discussed here with the builder of the model rule. If not up to 518 rules, then Pro-Am is an option. Everyone wins

Team Scale as well. Great way of combining an expert builder wing an expert pilot.

Make more choices available and it should be more interesting to attend. One of the things I like from competing with fixed wing scale is that I can enter multiple classes. More flying for me. Driving a 2000 mike round trip for 4 flights is not my idea of fun.

Just my $0.02

Prebuilts/ARF’s can be sportscale or Team Scale if there is a specifically named builder. I compete in both Sport and Team. Sport focuses on more flying and Team focuses on flying and building so pretty much I believe what you’re suggesting already is occurring in some way shape or form. Hope to see you out there soon. Nothing says you can’t enter multiple scale classes. I do it every year.

RIP Roman Pirozek Jr.
Team Futaba USA
Team Kontronik USA
http://flysrw.com

We have Team Scale and we have Sport Scale, along with 518.

Team Scale is exactly what the name implies - pilot is separate from the builder.

Sport Scale is for prepainted kits / ARF's etc where documentation proving full scale comparison is not required (only a 3 view line drawing of the full size helicopter is needed).

A few guys entered multiple classes this year.

It is not just 518 anymore. And it is not just about a handful of flights. Hanging out with your "enemies" (fellow competitors) was more fun (at least for me) than the actual competition part.

Come join the fun - I guarantee you will have a good time!

Steve

Good to know that there are several classes. I'll be there next year for sure. Excited about getting more involved in scale helis