Contest Scoring

Own Work – All Contests

  • Ready to Fly / Almost Ready to Fly: 0
  • Standard kit: 1
  • Modified kit / Built from plans: 2–3
  • Scratch-built: 3–4
  • Special: 5

Confectionery

Base score: Time (seconds) from first movement to landing, structural failure or lost from sight.

Bonuses:

Weighted duration:

  • 1/2A or less: +8s
  • A: +6s
  • B: +4s
  • C: +2s
  • D: 0
  • E: -2s
  • F: -4s
  • etc.

Recovery:

  • Streamer: Weighted duration x 1
  • Parachute: Weighted duration / 3

Boost Glider

Base score: Time (seconds) from first movement to landing, structural failure or lost from sight.

Bonuses:

  • Boost glider (booster or expended motor separates): x 1
  • Rocket glider (no separation): x 2

Discretionary bonuses from 0 to 5 for ingenuity of design and quality of glide.

Helicopter

Base score: Time (seconds) from first movement to landing, structural failure or lost from sight.

Bonuses:

  • No separation: x 2

Discretionary bonuses from 0 to 5 for ingenuity of design and quality of flight.

Lander

Final orientation must be specified in advance. The vehicle is permitted to change its orientation, intentionally or otherwise.

Scoring:

  • Correct orientation: 10
  • Angled up to 45 degrees: 5
  • Angled more than 45 degrees: 0
  • Payload: 0–5 depending on fragility – see Payload contest

Discretionary bonuses from 0 to 5 for ingenuity of design and quality of flight.

Payload

Base score: Time (seconds) from first movement to landing, structural failure or lost from sight.

Bonuses:

Payload fragility:

  • x 1: Indestructible (could be dropped from height onto concrete or hit with a sledgehammer)
  • x 2: Tough but breakable (would break if dropped)
  • x 5: Fragile e.g. egg (would break if crushed)
  • x 10: Very fragile (would break if touched wrongly)
  • x 0: If the payload is broken during or after flight

Capsule:

If the payload recovers separately, e.g. a detaching capsule, time is multiplied by ½.

Discretionary bonus from 0 to 5 for ingenuity of design.

Scale

Each of the following categories will be judged on a scale of 1–5. The most important is Reference. Other categories marked with a * are based on the Reference and their scores cannot exceed the Reference score. If you have no Reference, you can still enter but you will score 0 for these categories.

  • Reference – can be as simple as a photo in a book, or a fully dimensioned set of plans.
  • Construction – basic things such as balsa sanded and sealed, neatness of glued joints, etc.
  • Painting – basic painting skills, borders between colours are tidy, lines which are supposed to be straight are, etc. Although this is not capped by Reference, the colour scheme should look reasonable for the subject – you won’t get extra marks for a Saturn V painted like a rainbow.
  • Accuracy* – the model looks like the picture in the reference. Dimensions on the reference help here.
  • Detail* – additional details such as rivets, panels, etc.
  • Flight – performance is not an issue here. Fast, high-flying models will not score more than slow, low flying models. Mimicking some aspect of the original vehicle’s flight will. (Mimicking the trajectory of a ballistic missile will not!)
  • Ingenuity – no guidance here, use your own brain for this.