Miss A ...what happened ?

[Fence Sence]

Re: Miss A ...what happened ?

The qualifying debacle was for sure a thing. I was confused myself listening to the radio. There were several instances throughout qualifying in several classes that made me throw my hands up. Several situations during races that I though were questionable at best. Nothing more so though than high flying by Miss A. I never saw that.

[Air Boss]

Re: Miss A ...what happened ?

The qualifying debacle was for sure a thing. I was confused myself listening to the radio. There were several instances throughout qualifying in several classes that made me throw my hands up. Several situations during races that I though were questionable at best. Nothing more so though than high flying by Miss A. I never saw that.

Comm issues did cause some confusion. As for the DQ on Miss A, they got dinged for high flying (likely around Outer 8) and for a west sbowline cut. Either of which are automatic.

[Leo]

Re: Miss A ...what happened ?

Right after his run on tuesday, they called "negative on timing". Miss A was still up and I expected him to drop in and re run it. He landed. No idea why. Made him fly a lot more than he should have during the week. That said, great race at the end!

[Reever]

Re: Miss A ...what happened ?

Sure looked like Miss A was outside Dreadnought for the whole race. We were out here near the transformer station off Lemmon.

[Leo]

Re: Miss A ...what happened ?

Outside and high. I figured setting up to pass but never quite could.

[boomtown]

Re: Miss A ...what happened ?

Miss A flew a non-competitive, inconsistent, high and wide line all week and the results speak for themselves. She had the speed to beat Dread on Sunday it appeared unless they were holding a little back. Too many mistakes along the way cost him. That's my observation. Flame away.

[Airrace7]

Re: Miss A ...what happened ?

Doc flew a good course line on Friday. It was to bad we had no races on Saturday. Would of been curious how he would of done. Did the prop wash from Dreadnaught cause him to fly wide and high?

[GRNDP51]

Re: Miss A ...what happened ?

Doc flew a good course line on Friday. It was to bad we had no races on Saturday. Would of been curious how he would of done. Did the prop wash from Dreadnaught cause him to fly wide and high?

That’s a fair assumption, but as anyone will point out Doc flies a high line anyway, even on an empty course during qualifying. I will say on Sunday this was more necessary than qualifying with how quickly they started to lap traffic and basically being three wide with how close Doc was to Dreadnought the whole race. I don’t think Doc was flying any higher or wider than Jay was in 2017.

My new issue is where did Doc cut a pylon when he was high and wide the whole race? Hate to say it but something isn’t adding up. Would love to be given tangible evidence disputing this.

[PowerByPackard]

Re: Miss A ...what happened ?

Miss A flew a non-competitive, inconsistent, high and wide line all week and the results speak for themselves. She had the speed to beat Dread on Sunday it appeared unless they were holding a little back. Too many mistakes along the way cost him. That's my observation. Flame away.

No need to ?flame away? at all. Unlike our politicians and most of our country, I?m hoping that we here at AAFO can have some intelligent debate and discussion without yelling and name calling.

I disagree and think Doc flew pretty darn well. What is rule #1 when trying to chase down Dreader? Stay out of the wake turbulence. Especially if you?re a clipped wing mustang. How do you do that? Stay high. The only time I saw Doc come off his line was in the passes. Since he was so close to Joel he was having to leave room for the plane being passed, Dreader and find a lane for himself. That?s a lot to do moving at 400+ MPH. All that said, I don?t think Doc?s flying was perfect and I do think he came pretty wide around 7, 8, and 9 on the last lap, but again they were both passing another plane. Overall, I thought he flew really well and made it a great Gold race for the first time in a while.

[Air Boss]

Re: Miss A ...what happened ?

Miss A has been DQed twice for high flying, the other was during qualifying. In general, in all classes, they seem to really be enforcing the high flying rule, more than I've ever seen in the past. I felt like they used to give a bit of leniency there, especially when guys were passing one another ... but it doesn't seem that they are giving any grace this year.

This issue is all these DQ's for high flying, especially when sometimes safety dictates a bit of altitude, is only frustrating for these pilots and race teams who sacrifice a lot to be out here flying. It really destroys the spirit of competition when so many race outcomes are decided by the Competition Committee and their decisions on DQ's ...

Perhaps, but the rules have been in place for years. Those calls are not made lightly.

Chris,
My apologies for hitting the unintential edit of your post. Was not my intention. I was using my phone to post and inadvertantly hit that button instead of the reply button right next to it. Fat fingered...my bust.

[chrs3590]

Re: Miss A ...what happened ?

Chris,
My apologies for hitting the unintential edit of your post. Was not my intention. I was using my phone to post and inadvertantly hit that button instead of the reply button right next to it. Fat fingered...my bust.

No worries at all, I always appreciate your thoughts and replys on here. And devices do seem to be getting smaller while our hands are not ...

Thinking about what I had posted and your response, I know there were several rule changes in 2012 that had a limiting effect on the space that pilots could fly their planes on the course, and that was almost 10 years ago. It would seem these rules have been toughest for the Jet and Unlimited classes to abide by giving their size and speed.

Thinking of past reno racers, guys like John Crocker who used to fly a really high line that would certainly be a DQ today. Even going back and watching some of the great videos Jason S. has posted from races in 2003, Tom Dwele would have been DQ-ed in Critical Mass a few times for high flying. I do wish deadline cuts weren't immediate DQ's and possible treated more like pylon cuts, but I'm guessing the FAA may have had something to say about the severity of those rules?

I also wish there was a way to expand the course and give the pilots more room to maneuver, but there are some obvious unchangeable realities that don't allow that to be possible.

[1:1 Scale]

Re: Miss A ...what happened ?

I don?t think Doc was flying any higher or wider than Jay was in 2017.

Came here to say this. I didn't make the races this year, but MA's line didn't look any looser than Strega in 2017 from what I could see on the videos.

[wadeh]

Re: Miss A ...what happened ?

Regarding airspace violations, would it be possible to use technology to make this less subjective?

It seems like it would be pretty simple to have each plane carry a transponder that collects and relays position information for altitude and location. That way it would be very clear if an aircraft were to break the ceiling, the show line, or any other boundary.

Don't other sports do something similar already?

[Bigger Al]

Re: Miss A ...what happened ?

The tech exists, I'm sure, but the burning question is who is going to pay to install and implement the system? RARA is operating on a shoestring as it is, from what I can glean, and the racers are probably not going to be very enthusiastic about spending more on a system that is useful for one week out of the year.

[RAD2LTR]

Re: Miss A ...what happened ?

Regarding airspace violations, would it be possible to use technology to make this less subjective?

It seems like it would be pretty simple to have each plane carry a transponder that collects and relays position information for altitude and location. That way it would be very clear if an aircraft were to break the ceiling, the show line, or any other boundary.

Don't other sports do something similar already?

Don't they all have ADS-B? Is that accurate enough?

A transponder that relays speed, height, and location seems like a good thing that way all this subjective "Did he or didn't he" would be eliminated.

Yes, he flew a high line. Still, looking at what I have on the camera, and what Ive seen from Tiger and others, I don't know that he actually was too high coming into 8,9, and home pylon. Yep he was up there for the back side of the course, but where it counted, I have to wonder as he doesn't look any higher than others looking to pass on the final lap.

I think this is something that the Unlimited class representative needs to bring to the FAA. There needs to be a compromise. The intention was to make that turn safer for the crowd, but instead its made it less safe as the pilots are now pulling more Gs, and forced into a smaller box reducing the margin of safety for them, and potentially leading to a midair collision if they aren't careful/someone makes a mistake. Then you have two planes going into the crowd rather than just one.

The more I look at my pics from that last lap that I shot from P2, the more I get the feeling Doc got hosed.

Will