It amazes me that the winter build season is nearly over and yet again I am struggling to get a new bird completed. Us folks in the west don’t really have a winter build season, in fact for us in Arizona, this is our flying season! I hope all of you had a more productive winter and have an entire fleet of racers ready to go. With less than two months before Rantoul time is running out!
As many of you know by now, the current board of directors has completed their review of the rules package and have made their changes. We started the process last July but really did not get hot and heavy until December. From December until the end of March thousands of hours of communicating through email and the phone led us to many exciting changes. Now I understand that some of you will not agree on all the changes; I can accept that. We are all competitive racers and want to be assured that the rules are as fair as possible for ALL. I can assure you that every board member was involved in every change and I am proud to say that I believe the changes are for the best of the USRA. Do I agree with them all, by no means. But now that they are “the law” we all need to respect what has been decided and work within the rules. And who knows, in two years the next board can change it all back, but I believe that will not happen. Now on to the positive side of the changes. The major change I am most proud of is the new formatting of the rules that allows easier reading and will allow for better communication of the rules in the future. In addition, Kenny spent many, many hours reviewing the AMA guidelines and our rules and was able to bring them into a unified package so they do not contradict each other any more. There were also many duplications that were eliminated to reduce the confusion. All in all I am very happy with the final product and I believe the long, hard hours were more than worth it.
This last week at Toledo, Horizon Hobbies announced the release of the giant scale Sundowner ARF. This is a very exciting airplane to me. Being that it is giant scale legal (IMAA), has the ability to be flown at a normal sized RC field and as it may provide an avenue for the USRA to provide an entry level class. Word on the street is that Horizon may be able to bring a few to the Rantoul event and fly a demo for us. If you follow the Flying Giants forum there is already excitement as to the potential of this airplane.
This is a very exciting time for our hobby. The success of the spread spektrum radios was unknown to me until I spent a few days at our booth at the AMA Convention. I can not tell you how many people told us they already had purchased a spread spektum radio. Two weeks ago Futaba announced their full line of 2.4 radios and just a few days ago JR announced their 2.4 radios. There will be a time in the near future when frequency boards will be the thing of the past or at least the guys who don’t change will probably not have to worrying as much. Please be aware that with the introduction of the spread spectrum radios our technical inspections will have to be adjusted to accommodate these new radios, so please be patient as well develop our new procedures.
Lastly, please get your entries for Rantoul in ASAP, Denny and Barb are making the final arrangements and they need to know who will be making the event.
Hope to see everyone in Rantoul!
Fly fast, turn left……………………………………
President