Paper Airplanes

[EricH]

Originally Posted by seg9585

Having said that, has anyone ever seen a remote controlled (electric) plane around in the dome at that time? It would seem like a fitting group to pull off that sort of stunt.

Originally Posted by runneals

It would be cool to have someone fly a RC plane overhead of the whole arena that has a camera on it's belly & take photos and stitch together an Ortho image of the arena. Wouldn't that be cool? I see a HamR or RC enthusiast doing something like this, since we have the spectrum that wouldn't disrupt the field WiFi.

No, it would NOT be cool. R/C aircraft--of any type--can be very dangerous. I actually have an R/C aircraft that would be perfect for flying in a dome (if it's repaired), and I wouldn't even THINK about flying over the stands, or Einstein, or any field that was being packed up--for that matter, over any field at all due to the overhead cables for the lights being a great target for stray planes, or the personnel on the fields risking being injured should something go wrong.

If I'm talking about my sub-1-lb ultramicro foamy not being safe to fly under FIRST competition conditions, then anything strong enough to carry a camera is going to be even worse--larger, heavier, more powerful, more likely to hit something or someone. I'm not saying it couldn't be done, but if I was to endorse such an idea, I would A) call in a professional, or at least somebody with a ton more experience than I do, and B) clear as many people off of the floor as I could, and C) put flags on every cable so they were more visible to the pilot. Oh, and D) listen to the pro when he told me it wasn't safe to fly.

Also, I should remind you that R/C pilots fly on 2.4 GHz. The field can potentially (and sometimes does) operate on that bandwidth, though it's usually on 5 GHz, but an awful lot of other stuff operates there too. I wouldn't risk it.

[fb39ca4]

Originally Posted by runneals

It would be cool to have someone fly a RC plane overhead of the whole arena that has a camera on it's belly & take photos and stitch together an Ortho image of the arena. Wouldn't that be cool? I see a HamR or RC enthusiast doing something like this, since we have the spectrum that wouldn't disrupt the field WiFi.

de KD0SET

IDK, all those cables that the lights and curtains hang from would be dangerous for the plane.

[bduddy]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

The paper airplane thing was total embarrassment. Yeah, it was cute to see them fly onto the field and stage. Did you get to see the complete mess it made of the dome? There were paper airplanes covering the stands. It's a mess that someone else has to clean up. I feel sorry for the crew that had to come behind our students and clean the dome all for the sake of a quick laugh in between matches. I wonder what they think of FIRST after World? What does that say loudly about us?

I think that they could be a cool tradition, if FIRST emphasizes picking up the ones left in the stands and not throwing them during matches and speeches. Right now their reaction more seems to be ignoring the paper airplanes and hoping they go away, which obviously isn't working...

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by bduddy

I think that they could be a cool idea, if FIRST emphasizes picking up the ones left in the stands and not throwing them during matches and speeches. Right now their reaction more seems to be ignoring the paper airplanes and hoping they go away, which obviously isn't working...

What's the easiest way to get a bunch of high school kids to want to do something... tell them they can't!

Here is last year's thread on the same subject

[Sam390250]

Originally Posted by Ian Curtis

Here is last year's thread on the same subject

I too thought I was seeing deja vu!

[Madrose97]

Originally Posted by Ian Curtis

What's the easiest way to get a bunch of high school kids to want to do something... tell them they can't!

Here is last year's thread on the same subject

I agree with this inmost cases, but the studentsof FIRST are good obidient kids that would have listened if someone told them to stop.

[prerob96]

Originally Posted by connor.worley

I remember seeing it in 2012 but not 2011.

it happened in 2011, i remember 2137 team torc starting the throwing

[tr6scott]

Originally Posted by prerob96

it happened in 2011, i remember 2137 team torc starting the throwing

I do not know what you are talking about...

This year TORC sat in the lower level, and we cleaned up probably 50 airplanes that landed in our section. Karma.

[moogboy]

Originally Posted by fb39ca4

IDK, but I am already thinking of plans to make a rapid fire paper airplane launching robot for next time I go to St. Louis!

Someone beat you to it! A couple days ago there was a Cracked article about Lego creations, one of which was a paper airplane folder and launcher.

[Annemarie433]

Originally Posted by Headphones

As a rookie, how old is the tradition of throwing paper airplanes onto the Einstein field? I have seen several references to it dating back to 2003 or earlier.

The reason for my curiosity is that I was the person who scored a plane into the pyramid goal just before the Robowrangler's match. Pure luck, but quite awesome

I was down on the field when that happened and thought it was pretty amazing.. especially for a rookie! I have been waiting 2 years to do that!!

[pntbll1313]

There were only a few kids on my team that were folding planes and we told them to stop as soon as we saw. The vast majority knew it was disrespectful and did not throw any. One student from my team (a freshmen) leaned over to another group of students from another team and told them to stop because it was a safety issue. That made me happy This needs to stop. At the very minimum have a paper airplane contest in an open area in the pits. Kids can be creative there just like they were with the other games and the duct tape sculptures. All the while being respectful and safe.