7. In an open distance competition, unless you have a model which you can rely on to make a minimum flight of 200 yards, do not enter unless you know for certain that none of the "crack" flyers will be present.
8. Do not neglect the smallest detail likely to lead to success; be prepared with spare parts, extra rubber, one or two handy tools, wire, thread, etc. Before a lecture, that prince of experimentalists, Faraday, was always careful to see that the stoppers of all the bottles were loose, so that there should be no delay or mishap.
9. If the rating of the model be by "weight" (1 oz., 2 oz., 4 oz., etc.) and not area, use a model weighing from 10 oz. to a pound.
10. If there is a greatest height prize, a helicopter model should win it.[52] (The writer has attained an altitude of between three and four hundred feet with such.) The altitude was arrived at by observation, not guesswork.
11. It is most important that your model should be able to "land" without damage, and, as far as possible, on an even keel; do not omit some form of "skid" or "shock-absorber" with the idea of saving weight, more especially if your model be a biplane, or the number of flights may be restricted to the number "one."
12. Since the best "gliding" angle and "flying" angle are not the same, being, say, 7° in the former case and 1°-3°, say, in the latter, an adjustable angle might in some cases be advantageous.
13. Never turn up at a competition with a model only just finished and practically untested which you have flown only on the morning of the competition, using old rubber and winding to 500 turns; result, a flight of 250 yards, say. Arrived on the competition ground you put on new rubber and wind to 750 turns, and expect a flight of a quarter of a mile at least; result 70 yards, measured in a straight line from the starting-point.
14. Directional control is the most difficult problem to overcome with any degree of success under all adverse conditions, and 15 per cent., in the writer's opinion, is far too low a percentage; by directional I include flying in a straight line; personally I would mark for all-round efficiency: (A) distance and stability, 50 per cent.; (B) directional control, 30 per cent.; (C) duration of flight, 20 per cent. In A the competitor would launch his model in any direction; in B as directed by the judges. No separate flights required for C.