My observation on setup of the airplane mission is that is the line is too tight, then the airplane may not release.

The tautness is specified in the Field Setup instructions:
"Finally, use the thumb-gear at the arrival end to put tension on the string until the cantilever (tire/arm weight) sits mostly level."

If the airplane does not release during a tournament match, then the scoring follows Rule 34, Model Damage, Bullet 6: "Any model damage obviously due to poor setup or lack of maintenance is scored with benefit of the doubt."

Steve Scherr

VA/DC FLL Referee Advisor

On Sun, Oct 13, 2013 at 5:10 PM, Greg Trafton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Hi, all. We have a quick question about the airplane mission.

On our mission model, when the lever is pushed down, the airplane sometimes does not launch. Sometimes this is clearly due to the mission model itself (probably torque/friction causing the airplane to 'stick') and sometimes it is likely due to the robot not pushing the lever down hard enough / precise enough.

If the model does not work correctly during the tournament, how would it be scored, since there is some ambiguity about whether it was the robot's or the mission's problem?

(It's certainly possible that our mission model was built incorrectly and no one else is having this problem, but I thought I would ask).

The picture here shows the lever pushed all the way down (by a coach) and the airplane stuck up above. It does not launch after this. And the robot does not push and hold the lever down for long enough for a judge to tell if if it is a robot or a model problem.

thanks!
greg