Hospital Hop...how to stop it?

[Jeff Wohlt]

All I know to weigh about Andy's info is his past boat experience... many years, creating a nice UL1 hull for the LSH class, electronic excellence, One of the best ESCs ever made for brushed motors, Flying and building planes, designing an adapter for plane ESC to pistol adapter so we can use other ESCs.

Besides that....he seems to be almost normal!!

I still have one original UL left I may build with the New UL1 motor/ESC and prop and see how she does. I won't claim it will be as fast because of sponson design but it handles rough racing waters well....at least mine did and I also put ride pads on it. Gotta finish to get any points!! Wish I could make one out of glass...guess I could.

[Capt. Crash]

Would someone tell me what the scale of these boats are...1:32?

[Bill-SOCAL]

A typical hydro is about 30 feet long. The UL-1 is a little over 2 feet (27 inches). So pretty close to about 1/12th scale give or take a little.

30 feet = 360 inches

360/27 = 13.33

[Capt. Crash]

Wow...I a was a little off! Of course that happens when ya get old....I went the wrong way when comparing to some of my other boats....

Thanks

Got me some new hyroplane friendly buoys made up last night and am ready to rock Saturday.

[Grimracer]

Capt..

The buoys we use are made by Kershaw floatation in FL.

They are 12” foam spheres that one cuts in half. The great thing about these buoys is that they are firm but not hard. They lay flat on the water.. The boat does more glancing then hitting.. you have to hit them dead straight on to damage anything and truth is I have only ever broke a outrigger on one of these as they have a tendency to launch the boat…not grab it.. Any of this make since?

I have never seen this type of buoy at a FE race and I have always wondered why? Anybody help.. Maybe I am missing something?

Anywho…

ROCK ON

Grim

O yea.. one more thing.. the club paints the buoys.. the reason this is done as when struck it leaves a paint witness on the boat.. great info if needed for the CD.. Just make sure you clean it off before the next race..

[Bill-SOCAL]

Which brings me to the dumbest rule in all of NAMBA, that brushing a buoy is the same as cutting it.

Maybe the solution is to make them absolutely solid so if you hit one you sink!!! Touching it ends the race for you anyhow in most instances since you lose a full lap (another thing I do not understand, why not a points penalty, but ONE FULL LAP!! - WOW)

[Fluid]

The one lap penalty was originally to keep drivers more focused and paying attention to the position of their boat on the course. With only a 50-point penalty some racers would cut a buoy to win too. While I prefer the 50 point penalty I'll abide by the sponsoring body at each race.

Bill, I do not know where you found the NAMBA "rule" that brushing a buoy is the same as cutting it. Here is what the rule book says:

DRIVING RULES AND REGULATIONS: D.3.a.
"A one lap penalty will be assessed when a boat cuts inside a course marker or
when the boat jumps over or makes an obvious hit on a buoy. No penalty will
be assessed for a boat that touches a buoy on the outside causing no damage
or displacement.'

You are not alone in ignorance of this rule. I remember an out-of-town racer who was assessed a lap penalty at an FE Nationals because a local turn marshal "heard" his boat hit a buoy....he did not see it but the CD still allowed the penalty - after the end of the heat! Now THAT was BS.....



.

[Bill-SOCAL]

Every NAMBA race I have ever been to, including the 2008 FE NATS used that as the rule. A touch is the same as a cut. I think that kicker is the interpretation of "displacement". People see that as meaning if the buoy is seen to move, even bobble in place, then it violates the rule and gets the one-lap penalty.

This contradiction in this is apparent, saying that the buoy was brushed but not displaced is the same thing as saying you can touch it as long as it doesn't appear that you have touched it.

I guess I need to look closer at the book and challenge that rule the next time. I guess we will need clarification on what constitutes "displacing" the buoy. To me that means moving it out of its location, not just making it bobble in place. Your wake displaces the buoy as well. See, the devil is in the details.

Jay wrote:

You are not alone in ignorance of this rule.

Sadly nearly every racer in my District shares my ignorance. Or at least shares my inability to distinguish between a touch and something more.

FWIW I just sent off an email to AL Waters (NAMBA President) asking about this. Basically where is the line between touching/brushing and "displacement"?

[AndyKunz]

It's at the discretion of the CD.

Andy

[Bill-SOCAL]

Andy is correct. As I said, I sent an email to Al Waters, the President of NAMBA. Here is his response.

Bill,
You are reading the NAMBA rules. Here is one for you. D19 rule since 1991 is
no brushing or touching.

You typed................
************************************************** **************
Every race I have been to interprets this rule to mean that if you touch
a buoy then you have displaced it thus you get the penalty.
************************************************** *********************

Not true.......if you have displaced a buoy then you have touched it. You
have it backwards. Displaced means that it is in a different location than
its original location. It is then up to the CD to determine if it was done
by the boat or the boat wake. Buoy penalties are no different than jump
starts.........it s discretionary call by the CD.

If you don't want to get called for a jump start, don't be so close to the
start line.....................If you don't want to get called for a buoy
penalty, don't get too close to the buoys.........

Thanks, Al

Al missed that I was asking about the general NAMBA rules. Here in District 19 Jay, we have this rule:

3-91 Brushing or touching of buoys will result in a lap penalty.

So in my District we follow the most restrictive possible interpretation of it. hence my earlier statement that I have never been to a NAMBA race that does not use the you touch it you get a penalty rule.

[Doug Smock]

Tough crowd Bill!!

[Ub Hauled]

I was thinking about "the hop"...
Tony's UL did the same thing in the beginning,
looking back I believe it was a combination of factors...
first it was a little lose and started flying and then the first sponsons
would take off and land hard rebounding and throwing the hull to the other side
and so the hop started, violently like described earlier. The reason
it started bouncing side to side like that and get worst, is because the
turn fin would hit the water at an angle and push the hull
up to the other side again and then the vicious cycle would start
over and over again... if you can keep her nose down this dance
probably would not happen.

just my shot at it...

[properchopper]

We'll see how Darin's G-10 ride-pad addition affects things Sunday [early]. I agree with Jeff that torque reaction has a large contribution to the dance ; the three blade 40/57/3 should help as I evidenced last Sunday ; also the stock driveshaft has a lot of windup/rebound so I'm running a stiffer Octura
.150 which has far less of this.

[LuckyDuc]

Being a noob to FE boats I have a question... I've been flying helis for quite some time now. Has anyone incorporated a gyro and 'elevator' to assist with keeping the hull stable on the water? If so, how has it been successfully applied?

[Ub Hauled]

the response times are not fast enough... it has been thought of though.

Tony, I'll be there...