EVENT RULES

Sanctioned by the Academy of Model Aeronautics, #

EVENT DATES

The IMAC World Championships will be held on Tuesday September 4, 2018 – Saturday, September 8, 2018 at the AMA Headquarters in Muncie, Indiana U.S.A.

The contest will be conducted using 2017-2018 AMA RC Scale Aerobatics rules, with clarifications as noted below.  The 2017-2018 Scale Aerobatics rules will be available on the IMAC website on January 1, 2017, under the “Rules” Tab or can also be found on the AMA Website.

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

The English language shall be used as the working language both orally and in writing for all purposes for the duration of the World Championship event in 2018.

CONTEST CLASSES

Four classes will be flown: Unlimited, Advanced, Intermediate and Sportsman PLUS Freestyle as a separate event. There will be individual World Championship awards, World Championship Team awards for participating countries and World Championship Freestyle awards.

ENTRY FEES:

    Competitors ....................................................320 US$ ($340???)

    Team Managers ..............................................100 US$
    (if a Team Manager is a competitor, he/she will pay the competitor’s fee).

    Helpers and Mechanics ....................................25 US$

In addition each participating competitor in the event (regardless of country) MUST be a paid up member of IMAC. The entry fee for the World Championships includes one year’s membership with IMAC. If a participant is presently a paid up member, an additional year will be added to his/her membership upon expiration.

REGISTRATION:

The registration process will be completed by the Team Manager. Registration will be open on-line (on the IMAC World Championships website) on December 15, 2017 to Team Managers.  A specific sign in password will be issued to each Team Manager for registration purposes.

Payment of the Entry Fees may be completed on-line and MUST be received by MAY 30, 2018. Payment after May 30, 2018 will have a penalty of $100.00 per competitor added to the entry fee.

FAA REGISTRATION

Registration with the Federal Aviation Administration is MANDATORY, for competitors to fly in the 2018 IMAC World Championships. The registration process for foreign nationals and also US Citizens MUST be done directly on the FAA WEBSITE and the relevant registration information MUST be displayed on the aircraft as required.
FAA LINK FOR REGISTRATION

TEAM MANAGERS

Each team will provide one competitor/manager to act as TEAM MANAGER. Team Managers will be responsible to register his/her team members for the event, handle all questions and concerns from the competitors to the Event Director. This includes all scoring, judging and/or possible protests. The Team Manager will also acquire the proper sized National Flag of his/her participating country which will be supplied to the Event Director.

NATIONALITY of CONTESTANTS

All contestants must either be a citizen of the country/nation they are representing, OR presently residing there. Passports or other ID (i.e. Residency status) may be required as proof by the Event Director, or IMAC. Participants who have dual citizenship or residency status can represent either country, (but not both) PROVIDING the participant has been approved by the model aviation governing body or the IMAC association in the country he/she is representing. A valid passport or other ID shall be required as proof in this instance of dual citizenship or residency.

NUMBER OF CONTESTANTS

Each country will be allowed a maximum of 9 pilots in each class (maximum of 36 pilots). Individual country selections will be guided by their own qualification process and will not be governed by the USA’s selection process.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

A set Schedule of Events for the World Championship will be published in a “Bulletin” which will be situated on both the 2018 World Championships website and also the IMAC Website. The projected date for the publication of the schedule of events is February 1, 2018. The volume of entries will affect the timing and the number of sequences which can realistically be flown each day.

In addition, information regarding the pilots meeting, Team Managers meeting and the banquet information will be published in “Bulletins” on both the IMAC World Championships website and the IMAC website.

SEQUENCES

Pilots will fly Known and Unknown sequences prepared for the 2018 World Championship event by members of the IMAC Sequence Committee. Known Sequences will be the 2018 IMAC sequences and will be available on the IMAC Website HERE. Figures for Known and Unknown sequences will be drawn from the 2017 Edition of the Aresti System (Condensed) and conform to the Aresti System sequence construction rules. The catalog is available on the ARESTI website.

JUDGING

There will be a minimum of three judges on each flight line. All judging will conform to the current (2017-2018) Scale Aerobatics rules, EXCEPT in the case of zero as a score. If the majority of judges score a figure as zero, the score of any minority judge will be changed to zero. If a majority of judges score the figure as not being zero, the zero score of any minority judge will be changed to the lowest non-zero score. This will be done by either the Chief Judge or the Assistant Chief Judge prior to the scores being entered by the scorekeeper.

Judges will be selected from experience, will be from any country that presently flies the IMAC standard, and must have attended Judging School(s). Each participating country should strive to provide at least one competent and knowledgeable judge. All Judges will be approved by the Organizers of the event. There will be one Chief Judge and an assistant Chief Judge appointed for the event.

Please do not question the judges or the scorekeepers. If you have a question, concerns, or protest, please contact the Event Director (Curtis Cozier).

Only pilots preparing to fly (and their callers) are allowed on the judge’s side of the flight line fence. This applies at all times, including during the Four-Minute Freestyle.

SCORE NORMALIZATION PROCESS

Normalized scoring will be used for all rounds, including the Known and Unknowns. Normalization will be performed before scores are dropped.

Scores will adhere to the prescribed drop process presently in use in the IMAC Contest Guide.

FOUR-MINUTE FREESTYLE

Freestyle will be calculated as a separate event and scores will not be combined with Known and Unknowns. The 2017-2018 AMA RC Scale Aerobatics judging criteria for the Four-Minute Freestyle program is available on the IMAC website and also on the AMA website  Rule  # 17 (General Rules).

There is one exception and that is for SAFETY. No portion of the aircraft shall touch the ground, except (the wheels) during landing. An aircraft will be deemed to have touched the ground if the majority of scoring judges believe it to have touched. If an aircraft touches the ground the pilot will be disqualified for that round and zero the Freestyle sequence.

The aircraft shall not fly behind the dead-line except during takeoff and landing. A pilot and his/her caller must stand in front of the judges at the 100ft designated deadline. If an aircraft flies behind the deadline the pilot will be disqualified and will zero the Freestyle round. A violation of this rule and final determination shall be made by the deadline judges. There should be NO HIGH ENERGY passes aimed directly towards the pits; this includes 45° angled towards the pits. Freestyle music must be received by the Event Director by July 1, 2018. !!
Please send music to [email protected].

PROTESTS

(a) Only Team Managers may submit a protest. Judges scoring of Aresti maneuvers, sound score and airspace control score are not subject to complaints and shall not be overruled.
(b) All protests must be made in writing, and handed to the Event Director (ED) with a protest fee, which shall be the same amount as the contestant's entry fee ($320.00US). The Event Director shall hold this protest fee for the duration of the protest.
(c) Within one hour after receiving a protest the ED will relay the protest to the appointed ‘Arbitration Tribunal’, which will consist of 3 persons:

(1) A representative of the event organizer/host association. 
(2) A member of the IMAC Board (or an IMAC representative selected by the IMAC
Board if all the attending IMAC Board members could have an ‘interest’ in the protest result).
(3) A representative of the contestants, who will be elected by a vote of all pilots at the briefing at the start of the competition except in a case where the elected representative is involved in the protest in which case the ED will appoint a Special Contestant Representative.


(d) The ED shall ensure that the Tribunal reaches a decision within 12 hours of any protest being made, and before any final results are released, or prize giving commences.
(e) No other person(s) shall be present at the arbitration discussions, except for the protester, the contestant being protested against, and any language translators required.
(f) The Tribunal will first hear from the Protester, and afterwards may request a response from the Contestant being protested against, if necessary.
(g) If the arbitration panel upholds the protest (in favor of the protester) then the protest fee will be returned to the protester in full. If the arbitration panel does not find in favor of the protester, then the protest fee will be retained by IMAC.
(h) The Arbitration Tribunal’s decision is final, and cannot be appealed.
(i) Protests must be submitted within one hour following the last contestant’s official flight and prior to the awards ceremony.
(j) In the event of any disputes or protests regarding translations of these rules into other languages, the 'English' version shall be the definitive version.

RADIO EQUIPMENT

Only 2.4 GHz radio equipment is acceptable and all R/C equipment must comply with statutory regulations of the U.S.A.  Gyros and airborne devices are NOT allowed.  Any mechanical or electrical automatic pilot/stabilization  devices are strictly prohibited and a pilot(s) found using such devices will be disqualified from the World Championships.

FUEL & BATTERY RE-CHARGING

Pilots can use either the fuel available/provided at the event site or they can supply their own. Battery re-charging areas will be designated & clearly marked.

STARTING PROCEDURES

Pilots must be "ready" at least four deep at all times. Your wheels must leave the runway before the pilot ahead of you finishes their sequence. Intentional or repeated violation will result in a score of zero for the round. Flight Line-Bosses will be available to ensure compliance.

PILOT ORDER of FLIGHT

TWO Flying sites will be used. There will be TWO flight lines at each flying site. The pilot order for Wednesday will be drawn at the Pilots meeting on Tuesday afternoon. The same list will apply to both Known, and Unknown. The first THREE pilots to fly their Known on Wednesday will be moved down to the bottom of the flight order to fly that Unknown on the same day. Subsequently on each following round, on each day the pilot order will be moved down by three pilots. A new pilot order will be drawn for each day’s competition.

On Saturday, on the final day (after the new draw), pilots will be again be moved in three spot increments.

All pilots will be required to have their planes and themselves in their designated pit no later than 7:30 a.m., setup and ready to fly. The contest will start at 8:00 AM each morning barring weather.

FIELD CLOSED

The field will be closed to all non contests flying on contest days. Exceptions may include demo flights arranged by contest management. If for some reason you feel a trim flight is necessary, contact the ED for approval.

AIRCRAFT

All aircraft shall comply with all AMA Safety Codes and also comply with the Scale Aerobatics Aircraft Specifications listed in Rule 4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 & 4.4 (General Rules)

Pilots may use different aircraft for the sequences and Free-Style as long as they conform to the Scale Aerobatics rules regarding aircraft. There is no limit to the number of planes a pilot may use. If a mechanical failure is encountered the pilot may use one of his/her back-up aircraft or another available aircraft.

PILOT and INSTRUMENT PANEL

A realistic pilot figure and instrument panel are required as per Scale Aerobatics rule. Aircraft lacking these items will be penalized the stated 1% Rule # 6.6 (General Rules). This also applies to any pilot flying in Freestyle.

SOUND RULES

Sound scores will be assigned on each sequence. We expect good throttle management throughout all sequence flights. The relevant Sound Score “K” values that will be used in the contest are (excluding the Freestyle):

Sportsman – 6K, Intermediate – 9K, Advanced – 12K, Unlimited – 15K

AIRSPACE CONTROL SCORE

We will be assigning an Airspace Control Score to ALL flights excluding the Freestyle. Rules pertaining to the Airspace control can be found in the Scale Aerobatics Rules. ASC “K” values that will be used in the contest are:

Sportsman – 6K, Intermediate – 9K, Advanced – 12K, Unlimited – 15K

SAFETY

Any willful violation of a safety related rule will result in disqualification from the entire event.

INDIVIDUAL WORLD CHAMPION TROPHY

The 2017-2018 AMA Scale Aerobatics rules will be used to determine the IMAC World Champion in each class: Sportsman, Intermediate, Advanced and Unlimited.  Individual World Champion trophies will be from first to third place. Fourth to sixth place will receive an IMAC World Championship commemorative plaque. Listed below are the particular rules which will be used to determine the winners:

15. Determining Placement:

15.1: Sequence scoring.

a: Scoring –The Official IMAC Scale Aerobatics Contest Guide shall be used to determine the number of sequences to be scored (drop schedule) and the weight of the unknown(s) based on contest category (2 day, multi-day, regional, etc).  Refer to Appendix A of the Official IMAC Scale Aerobatics Contest Guide for the drop schedule for known and unknown sequence flights.

b: Unknowns – Each unknown sequence shall be flown once.  The Official IMAC Contest Guide shall be used to determine how the known scores and unknown scores are combined based on contest category.

c:  Combined Scores – The highest combined scores will determine the winner.

d:  Normalization – All sequences will be normalized to 1000 as outlined in Rule 15.4.

15.2: In the case of ties, the best non-scored sequence of the contestant shall be used to determine the winner.

15.3: The same set of judges shall judge each round. Judges may be rotated between rounds.

15.4: Each sequence shall be normalized to a standard 1000 points.  The pilot with the highest raw score receives 1000 points for the sequence.  Each pilot thereafter shall have their raw score divided by the high raw score giving a percentage of that high raw score, which is then multiplied by 1000 to get the normalized score.  Scores shall be rounded to two (2) places of decimal accuracy.  For example:  Contestant A wins the sequence with a raw score of 4850 points.  Contest B is second with 4766.5 points.  Contestant A receives 1000 points for the sequence.  Contestant B’s score is 982.78 points (4766.5 divided by 4850 = 0.982783 * 1000 for 982.783, which rounded to two (2) places of decimal accuracy for a final score of 982.78).

WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY

There will be World Team Trophies for the top three countries. The IMAC World Team Trophies will be calculated using the best THREE pilots (from each country), regardless in which class they are flying. The scoring program will calculate the top three pilots with the highest percentage (%) of raw scores as compared to a possible 100% in each class. ALL flown sequences (Known and Unknown) will be tabulated. There will be no dropped sequence when calculating the top three pilots for the Team Championship Trophy.

WORLD FREESTYLE CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY

There will be Individual IMAC World Freestyle Champion trophies from first to third place. Fourth to sixth place will receive an IMAC World Championship commemorative plaque.

IMAC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP JUDGES DRESS CODE

Judges will wear appropriate IMAC World Championship apparel with tan pant/shorts when they are at the Judging stations.

MEDICAL EMERGENCY SERVICES

There will be medical emergency services on site for any incidents that may arise.