Proposal to NEAC Members and to those who participate at the AMA ENATS.

Up until the rresent time E-NATS type endurance events have been classified by motor run duration (30, 45 , 60 & 90 seconds), by numbers of battery cells (up to 7 cells or more than 7 cells or up to 600 MAH capacity in the case of electric Texaco) and by type of model (sailplane or old timer). What we have not specified is the type of electric motor. It was apparent at the 1997 E-NATS that most of the big winners in the electric sailplane categories were flying brushless motor systems. These systems cost almost twice that of the best conventional brush motor systems. If we don't alter the rules In the near future the E-NATS endurance events could be dominated by those who can best afford the equipment.
My feeling is that we should work towards establishing motor classes so as to separate expensive brushless motors from the less expensive brush motors. A second alternative might be to add additional motor run time to brush motor users as an offset to the efficient and expensive brushless motors. Something like 35 & 50 seconds leaving brushless motor users at 30 and 45 seconds (for the A & B events as an example). A third idea would simple be to leave the safiplanes events as open to all motors, but restrict the old timer events to brush motors only.
So there you have it, three variants of the same theme. Do we have any comments? Best place for a discussion might be on the E·Digest. In the near future NEAC hopes to be on it's own website.
Bob Aberle NEAC V.P.
What do you all think? km

9x6   10,900   43
10x4  11,100   55
10x5  10,000   50
10x6    8,900   44
The AF035 geared 2.93:1 (MA 3:1 unit) on ten cells, used in the TigerShark, spins a Zinger 10x6 at 8,950+ rpm, measured using a NorCal AccuTach. Is the AF035, geared as above, an O.S. .25FP? YES! It is that simple! 
The O.S. 25FP w/muffer weighs 9.1 oz., 4 oz. of fuel weighs about 4.4 oz., the tank and lines about 1 oz. for a total of 14.5 oz. The AF035 w/MA 3:1 weighs 6.8 oz. and 10 1700SCRC cells weigh 21 oz. for a total of 27.8 oz. The difference is 13.3 ounces, which sounds like a lot, but... These systems are generally used in an approximately 450 sq.in. sport/trainer plane. The wing loading for the electric increases by about 4.256 oz./sq.ft., which generally, isn't too bad on a sport model of this size. This doesn't take into account the building differences on these size planes between glow and electric. It is easy to reduce the airframe weight by 8 ounces or more on this size sport plane with good building techniques! Then the difference is only 5.3 ounces, or  1.696 oz. per sq.ft., which is hardly noticeable at all in the flight characteristics of this size aircraft!

The following is a copy of a letter that Bob Aberle sent to me, after he'd sent it to George Myers, to be published in Silents Please. With the E-Nats just around the corner, it is time to take a serious look at the competition side of e-flight. For your consideration: