SLED 3

[DaveM]

[mr pirate]

Apr 22, 2012 19:21:52 GMT DaveM said:

good picture that one dave just printed it of im going to hang it by the fire should keep the grand kidds away ;D ;D ;D ;D

[janus]

Rules spoil the fun and kill original thinking, this is formula fun with a million laughs at stake not fomula one with millions at stake,
Whats wrong with KISS keep it simple sled single skin no cross spars max hieght say 20 inches no minimum height width as you
like the rest up to you ,THINK OUT OF THE BOX.

[jelv]

The more rules there are, the more effort people will put in to trying to get round them.

[norfolkdick]

Greetings Kitists,

My view regarding rules are that they should only be there if they are necessary and with any form of competition, some basic rules are necessary, even a competition as informal and light hearted as this one!

The rules in place for the Sled Competition are as simple as can be and rather than stifle original thought they serve to stimulate and encourage it and detract not one bit from the fun, in fact they add to it.

How simple would it be for a team of engineers and designers to build a Formula One racing car if there were no constraints on design, and no rules, it is the clever teams who maximise their design and engineering skills within the rules that build the best car.

If there was no rule regarding the minimum size of the sled, then most people would choose to make a smaller sled. Smaller sleds seem to present fewer problems with folding in a stiff or gusty wind!

It is much harder to prevent a slightly bigger sled from folding, especially one of a relatively high aspect ratio which seems to be one of the requirements in order for it to fly at a high angle. Thus it seems to me the problem to solve is, how to build a fairly high aspect ratio sled within the rules that will not fold in a stiff/gusty wind.

One method would perhaps be to build two or three sleds of the same or similar design but of different aspect ratios and choose to enter the one that does not fold in the wind on the day, keeping in mind the main object is to create a sled that flies at a high angle.

I have been discussing the design details with my friend Eric (who many of you have heard of) he is at present at Creech Airforce base in Nevada helping the USAF with problems they have been having with both the Aeronautics and the control programme for their new MQ-9 Reaper drones. He said if he had written the rules he would have suggested a budget cap of 20 pence per kite thus eliminating carbon spars, I said I felt that would be a step too far!

Enjoy the competition!
Best Regards
Dick

[dreamcatcherwolf]

Apr 23, 2012 8:18:27 GMT janus said:

Rules spoil the fun and kill original thinking, this is formula fun with a million laughs at stake not fomula one with millions at stake,
Whats wrong with KISS keep it simple sled single skin no cross spars max hieght say 20 inches no minimum height width as you
like the rest up to you ,THINK OUT OF THE BOX.

FIRST: I apologise for not responding sooner, but I have not been at home for the past few days...

SECOND: I TRY to keep it simple, exactly as Danny has said, but there must be SOME rules, as even he has said, and then there's all these people asking questions about the rules: it's THEIR fault they are as complicated as they are, I am only responding to their questions, not TRYING to make it complicated. The most important rules are 1, 9 and 10
(GO SEE FOR YOURSELF :

THIRD: I have my doubts that the competition will happen, in view of the weather forecasts that I have seen

FOURTH: Thanks Dick, for being stupid enough to agree to judge, and for explaining things so well. Good luck!

FIFTH AND FINALLY: Do you want it to happen again in August? Especially if it cannot go ahead this weekend? If so, PLEASE find some one else to organise and judge it, or you will find a NEW set of rules, and I will allow ABSOLUTELY NO CHANGES

[dreamcatcherwolf]

I've re-visited the rules, and they couldn't be much simpler... but be warned: if you want me to run another sled competition, there will be MAJOR changes.

ps: another reason that I think that I have a problem with my sled folding is that it flies at TOO high an angle, reducing the pressure that keeps it open: there must be an optimum, but I haven't found it. Yet.