On the 22nd October GMAC was host to some wet dampened souls who had collectively thought it would be a good idea to try to have another “Anderson” rules Helicopter Challenge.
The forecast called for heavy rain, but at 0800 hours the kangaroos weren’t the only ones who were out at the field.
A total of 9 fearless pilots fronted up to brave the cold conditions and try their luck at underwater flying.
At 0930 the first of the clear weather arrived and we kicked off, with only enough time for two pilots before the rain reappeared.
The rest of the morning was spent making good use of the GMAC “shade” roof which also served as a very nice rain shelter.
Finally by lunch time we had snuck all the pilots through their routine and could once again start crunching the numbers to scale everybody’s scores.

Once again a fantastic BBQ lunch was provided by GMAC’s Sam Camilleri.

Since this was the second event of this kind, we were able to use our rankings from last time to scale our scores using the following formula:

TS = (TOA - R) / R * 100

Where: TS = Today’s Score

TOA = Today’s Overall Average, as judged by their piers

R = the pilots previous ranking, or average from last time.

For those unfamiliar with the “Anderson” rules helicopter challenge then it is basically a way of levelling the field such that each pilot is flying against their own previous average.
The winner on the day is the person who has improved the most compared to their previous flights.

After crunching the numbers, 3rd place went to Russell with a 17% improvement. Second place went to Aaron with 32% while first place went to Michael Rowland with an impressive 42% improvement.

Prizes for the event were graciously donated by Nick from NC Helicopter Services,
98 Derby St Kew,
Victoria
Ph 03 98536017.

Supplementary prizes were donated by the event organiser, Chris Anderson and consisted of GMAC brand Aero-modeller’s NO-DOZE.
These were a box of chocolates comically made up to look like medication to keep you awake while flying.

The following table shows the results for all the pilots who flew today in order of their scaled score for today’s event (TS).
Also shown is each pilot’s new Ranking which is simply the average of their previous ranking (R) and Today’s overall average (TOA).
The new R will be used for the next helicopter challenge.

Pilot	Total Overall Average	Ranking	Todays Score	New Ranking
Michael Rowland	6.6	4.571	40.56005	5.498
Aaron Powter	5.8	5	32.14286	5.803571
Russell Edwards	7	6.265	17.18162	6.803214
Paul McNicholl	6.75	5.675	14.63286	6.0945
Chris Everest	5	5	12.42857	5.310714
Luke Annells	7.93	7.265	9.114148	7.596071
Chris Anderson		7	8.040816	7.281429
Graeme Anderson	7.37	6.857	-1.68545	6.799214
Nick Csabafy	6.66	7.381	-3.20708	7.262643

The next table below shows the current ranking for all the pilots who have participated to date.
Luke Annells still holds the current top spot, but my skills with the Blade mCPX micro heli have improved and I jumped from last place to second.

GMAC Heli Challenge Rankings as of October 2011

Pilot	New Ranking
Luke Annells	7.596
Chris Anderson	7.281
Nick Csabafy	7.262
Allan Lewis	6.875
Andrew	6.848
Russell Edwards	6.803
Graeme Anderson	6.799
Gary Butcher	6.687
Paul McNicholl	6.094
Aaron Powter	5.803
Michael Rowland	5.498
Chris Everest	5.310

A great day was had by all and we are hoping to schedule another event for the 12th of November.
By then I should have my speed controllers back for my 700E so watch out Luke!

In the afternoon there was also time for some M.A.A.A. Wings testing and congratulations go to Luke Annells for successfully earning his Gold Wings Heli.

Despite the wet conditions, a great day was had by all.

Chris Anderson.

(For more information about judging and the "Handicap System" click here. )