OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, MEETINGS, ELECTIONS & MEMBERSHIP

A. There shall be five officers sharing the duties of President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary/Scorekeeper and Contest Coordinator. Officers shall be elected for a one year term.

B. Unlimited membership participation with one vote for each member hosting or co-hosting a contest.

C. The annual meeting and election shall be held at the FSS contest designated by the President.

D. A brief quarterly Treasurer's report shall be published in "The Silent Flyer".

E. Officers to meet as required to resolve problems. By-law changes can only be made by membership majority vote.

OBJECTIVES

A. The coordination of contests.

B. The publication of the newsletter "The Silent Flyer".

C. The awarding of year-end trophies to encourage participation.

AIRCRAFT

A. Two-meter and Unlimited categories shall be recognized for FSS sponsored/ sanctioned/ recognized contests. All aircraft shall conform to the current AMA regulations.

ENTRY FEES AND DUES

A. Each club will pay $10.00 for annual membership.

B. The entry fee for FSS Regional Meets (thermal duration) shall be at the discretion of the C/D, of which $2.00 shall go to FSS, with the remainder to the host club. Entry fees are to be announced in the annual contest schedule in the newsletter.

CONTESTS

A. The contest coordinator will determine the number of contests for the upcoming season and see to the publishing of the dates and locations in the FSS newsletter.

B. Two points of the landing aircraft must be touching the ground at the termination of the flight, before any landing points are awarded.

C. Host Clubs at FSS sanctioned contests shall provide back up launch and retrieval equipment, available and ready to use.

D. All FSS contests may be one or two day events. The C/D has the discretion as to which category aircraft will be flown.

AMA AFFILIATION

A. All voting clubs shall be chartered by the AMA each year.

B. All FSS sanctioned / sponsored / recognized contest shall be AMA sanctioned.

C. All contestants shall be AMA members.

D. FSS shall obtain sanction as a club, for the purpose of team participation at the "NATS".

NEWSLETTER "THE SILENT FLYER"

A. THE SILENT FLYER shall be the official newsletter of the FSS.

B. The first issue of each season will contain the officers and by-laws for the up-coming year.

C. Issues of THE SILENT FLYER will only be mailed to FSS pilots who have participated in at least one contest within a two year period.

D. New comers may receive the newsletter by signing THE SILENT FLYER sign up sheet. It is the responsibility of FSS officers to supply the sign up sheets at the contest location.

PILOT CLASSIFICATION

A. There shall be two pilot classifications in FSS. They are: Experts and Sportsmen.

B. All pilot classification will be based on an averaged normalized score of contests from the previous year. An averaged normalized score will be calculated for each pilot. A list will be made of every pilot who flew in the previous year and it will be put in chronological order based on his or her average normalized score with the highest at the top and the lowest at the bottom. The lower fifty percent of this list will be considered Sportsmen. The remaining names will then be considered Expert.

C. Any Sportsmen pilot who wants to fly in Expert class can do so providing he enters as an expert in his first contest of the year. Once a pilot has declared himself an Expert he must remain in that class for the remainder of the year.

D. Any pilot may request reclassified an Expert to a Sportsmen by petitioning FSS. At least three of the five officers shall make the decision within one week.

E. Whatever classification a pilot has he must fly in that classification in both unlimited and two-meter.

F. If it is obvious that a pilot is flying in a class that is well below his ability a meeting of at least three FSS officers can decide if he or she should be moved up in class.

AWARDS

A. All FSS sponsored thermal duration contests will provide awards to at least third place in both Two-meter and Unlimited, for Sportsmen, and Expert. In Expert class, first, second, and third place will receive a one time plaque with small brass adhesive tags for future wins. All other contest awards will be the responsibility of the hosting club. In cross country contests no pilot classification is recognized and trophies to third place will be awarded.

B. End of season awards will be presented to the top five pilots in Sportsmen Class for both Two-meter and Unlimited. End of season awards will be presented to the top three pilots in Expert Class for both Two-meter and Unlimited.

C. The end of season awards will be given to pilots based on the following: A total of normalized scores based on number of contest stated below.

If 4 or 5 contests are put on within one year, then the 3 highest scores for each pilot will be totaled.

If 6 or 7 contests are put on within one year, then the 4 highest scores for each pilot will be totaled.

If 8 or 9 contests are put on within one year, then the 5 highest scores for each pilot will be totaled.

If 10 or 11 contests are put on within one year, then the 6 highest scores for each pilot will be totaled.

D. End of year awards will be presented at the first FSS meeting of the following year.