The Plan

I’ve had a few enquiries about where the new (2011/12) Known sequences are for Graduate, Sportsman and Intermediate grades. I’ve talked this through with many people, so sort of assumed everyone knew of our plans. Obviously not, as I’ve been reminded, so this is as good a time as any to describe the new annual workcycle and other changes we are making to the Club, and why.

The annual programme is the first item to tackle. A Cohesive Competition Season is the aim, so the new competition season will run as follows:

Feb/Mar – Victorian Championships

April – NSW Championships

June – QLD Championships

Sep – SA Championships

Oct/Nov - Australian Championships

Why? Because people tend to think and plan in calendar years. Think New Year’s Resolutions etc. With a competition season that starts in Jan/Feb with the Vic Champs and finishes in Oct/Nov with the Nationals, our season is well defined annually and something members can commit to for each year.

Skills can be refined through the competition year with the objective of peaking for the Nationals. This applies to both pilots and ground staff. This altered season also ties in nicely with the international schedule. After our Nationals an Australian Team will have 8 months to train, organise a coach, sponsorship, find or ship aircraft etc. prior to the relevant World Championships.

Rules: The CIVA rules are amended at the end of the year. We (the AAC) also usually amend our rules at this time. So now we will have a series of State Championships to learn, apply, and bed-down any new changes before the Nationals. This will remove a lot of the pressure of getting judges up to speed with recent changes and having the Nationals bearing down on us. (Note: we are currently doing a major revision of the AAC Regulations for release in 2012, until then 2010 Regs will be used with Supplementary Rules as appropriate).

Sequences: CIVA issues the new ‘Q’ sequences at the same time as the amended rules, for Advanced and Unlimited. We can now do the same – Known sequences will come out with the amended AAC Rules, and we’ll fly the same sequences all through the calendar year. Also, to eliminate committee time spent on Known sequence discussions, and to negate accusations of bracket-creep (either up or down), we will rotate Knowns from a pool of past-flown sequences. (Note: We will continue to fly 2010 Knowns for the rest of this year).

Other Embellishments

Presentation Dinner: This will be held after the Nationals, as usual, and can now be a celebration of the whole competition year. The Australian Team can be announced, the location of the next Nationals, and of course the hardware handed out. A true occasion.

Yearbook/Magazine: To complement the year’s activities an annual yearbook-style magazine can be produced. Complete results for all the domestic competitions as well as Team results from overseas, along with articles and pictures, to serve as a historical document of the Club’s activities complementing the website. Publish it for release and sale at the Showcase - see below.

Public Showcase: Competition aerobatics lacks public exposure – fact. Many beers have been drunk while discussing this topic. I don’t think it can be changed, and don’t think it needs to. Maybe I’ll write my views on this later. For now though, let’s envisage a day where we showcase the Australian Aerobatic Team to the public, media and potential sponsors (when - Australia Day?). An Australian Team going to a World Championship hopefully has some pull and we can use it to fundraise and gain a little exposure that we can leverage into a little sponsorship.

Annual General Meeting: Traditionally has been held at Easter prior to the Nationals, and should be held within 3 months of the end of our financial year (Dec 31). I suggest it now be held along with the Showcase. Get the new Committee on deck early in the year so they have time to plan following events, particularly the Nationals.

Something to chew on.

MX Aircraft

Well, it has been an interesting week or so at the MX Aircraft factory, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina USA. The company builds two aircraft, the two-seat MX-2 and the single-seat MXS. The race aircraft, called an MXS-R, is essentially a cosmetic development of the MXS.

The MX2 came first, derived from the Giles G-202, in the early noughties. Then the MXS came along by eliminating the front seat and shortening the fuselage. The power plant used in both models is the parallel-valve IO-540 Lycoming. MXS-R differences that can be seen are a revised cowling with circular inlets. Some also have shortened ailerons by 15-20 inches inboard to decrease roll sensitivity, drag, and improve the lift capability of the wing. Many individual smaller mods can be incorporated at the request of the customer, and as only 10 MXS's have been built thus far, they all tend to be a little different in detail. Once the aircraft is accepted by the customer they typically undergo further non-structural modification and tuning for racing. The aircraft are registered in the Experimental-Exhibition/Air Racing category, and all have been kept on the US N-registry thus far.

The structure is predominantly carbon/epoxy pre-preg vacuum bagged and oven cured. Wet-layup has been almost eliminated, as has e-glass panels, particularly on the race planes. Moulded sections are bonded together with structural adhesive and hard points incorporated for the bolted connections. The design's ultimate load is 24g, and apparently 15g has been experienced in flight! MXS-R VNE=250KTS, VA=180KTS. Continued refinement during construction has resulted in significant weight savings, resulting in MXS-R weights below the RBAR minimum, so teams now have to add ballast.

Obviously the performance of the aircraft is outstanding, but teams are mute when discussing the ultimate figures! S&L speeds in excess of 220KIAS are now common, as are extremely short take-offs. Stall speed is mid-fifties, and 25"MAP/2500rpm yielded ~200KIAS @ 3000ft in Alex McLean's old MXS-R without wheel pants and definitely not in race trim. Controls were powerful while not being unduly sensitive. Roll rate was adequate. The wing was outstanding being very forgiving with no sign of tip-stall despite provocation during rolling circles. Positive snaps were fast and the break rapid at normal speeds. More time would be needed to fully investigate, and exploit, the capabilities of this aircraft.