Contest Flying

Hi All, I recently posted about some old motors and I was curious if "pink book" style contest flying was still a thing. Ie, boost gliders, streamer duration, altitude etc. I am not looking to get back into that aspect of the hobby but I am curious on it.

I suspect TARC, which is awesome in my opinion, largely replaced contest flying for kids and FAI contest flying replaced "pink book" style. 

Cheers, Alex

I have been with CMASS since 2003 and we have never held contest flights. A few years ago someone asked about contest flying. He was told that he is welcome to organize it but he never did. In 2019, my wife and I organized a Land the Eagle contest as suggested by the NAR to commemorate the Apollo 11 Moon landing. At NAR events they have contest flying.

Thanks for the reply. The Land the Eagle must have been neat.

The Land the Eagle contest was as much fun to plan as it was to conduct it. My wife Linda and I used eight dowels and yellow caution tape to mark off an octagon that was 30 yards in diameter. Inside the octagon represented Tranquility Base. In the center was an American flag that was the target. We had a youth and senior division with donated rocket kits as prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. We had lesser prizes for everyone else that landed inside Tranquility Base. CMASS was the first section to have its results posted on the NAR Land the Eagle website. We modified the official NAR rules a bit to suit our club's needs.
For more detailed information see:
www.nar.org/land-the-eagle-rocket-contest/
The results are still on the NAR website.
www.nar.org/50th-anniversary-of-apollo-1...gle-contest-winners/

Has the CMASS club ever held an annual TARC type contest of any sort? I was a year too late joining for the Land the Eagle contest. Just a thought that it could be fun to hold at least one launch a year with a goal (whether it be time from launch to landing or closest to target altitude, etc) other than just load, launch, repeat (which is also extremely fun).

When I proposed that CMASS conduct the Land the Eagle contest, the club leadership appointed me head of that committee. One of my objectives was to not disrupt the normal activities of the launch. If someone landed in the octagon, Linda and I went over to the rocket and measured the distance from the nose cone of the rocket to the flag. The results were recorded.
My suggestion would be to propose the type of contest event you are interested in at a CMASS Zoom meeting. Be prepared to plan, organize and run it. You can ask if any club members are interested in assisting you. You can start a topic for the contest in the Forum.