Rotorama League 2022

This document subscribes the safety and league rules that will be implemented in the Rotorama league. These rules will ensure the safety of the pilots and all the people involved in the Rotorama league. With the registration the pilot commits to follow these rules. Pilots under 18 years old will need to have signed parental consent, that can be downloaded here.

1. Technical requirements

Pilot must fill registration number of drones when registering to the race. Pilot has to meet all requirements by EASA and Czech Civil Aviation Authority. That is compeleting online pilot test and having insuarence required to fly drone in given category.

Pilot younger than 15 can compete only in superviosion of adoult person.

All drones must have their valid registration number, as law requires.

All drones that will be on the starting line need to meet all the requirements or else it will be forbitten to fly with it.

1.1. Video transmitters

Analog VTX

The vtx must be set to 25mW.

The vtx can be powered on only on the track or with the agreement with the race director. If the pilot will power up his vtx in wherever else than on the track without the agreement of the race director, the pilot will be disqualified.

Digital DJI VTX

Allowed are all transmitters using DJI trasmition protocol.

VTX must be set to racing mode locked to given frequenci, power must be 25mW and bitrate 25Mb/s

Pilot must plug his googles to our device through all duration of the flight by USB-C

digital HD Zero VTX

VTX must be set to racing mode locked to given frequenci, power must be 25mW

Pilot must plug his googles to our device through all duration of the flight by HDMI

1.2. Weight and the frame of the drone

The maximum weight of the drone can be 700g. The maximum length motor to motor is 300mm.

1.3. Battery

The allowed batteries are 3s-6s Li-Po. The maximum voltage of a single cell is 4,2V.

1.4. Props

All sizes of props are allowed. The props must be from plastic only.

1.5. RC system

The allowed bands for the RC system are 2,4Ghz and 868MHz. The RC system must have failsafe set to stop all motors immediately (drop).

1.6. LED

The need for LED depends on the specific race. If not said in the informal mail/fb event than no LEDs are required.

1.7. Antennas

The antennas used on the drone are only allowed to be omnidirectional with RHCP polarization. LHCP and linearly polarized antennas are not allowed. This does not apply to digital systems.

1.8. Video receiver (Analog)

The organizer will provide the pilot with an Clearview receiver. Two RHCP antennas are installed on the receiver. The image from the receiver is provided for pilot´s googles and displays for spotters and race director.

It is allowed to use your own receiver. In case of any problem with video transmission, only the picture from the receiver provided by the organizer is considered.

2. Rules and the running of the race

2.1. Race director

The race director is authorized to change the rules during the event. Each pilot is obliged to follow the instructions of the race director. Not following director's instructions will result in the pilots disqualification.

2.2. Technical check

At the beginning of the event, each pilot is obliged to pass the check. Each pilot submits all of his drones that he is planning to fly in the event. Drone that won’t pass the check isn’t allowed to fly at the event. Also, during the technical inspection, the video transmitter is tested.

The pilot must demonstrate failsafe mode. The pilot will turn the copter on, throttle to 30% and turn off the radio. The motors must stop. During the failure demonstration, it is important to remove the propellers from the drone.

By pilot signature, he / she confirms his / her consent to the authorized and race director's instructions.

Random inspections can be done by race director during the race. If he finds out that drone does not meet some technical requirement, he can decide to disqualify the pilot.

2.3. Briefing

At the beginning of the event the pilot is obliged to attend the briefing. During the briefing, pilots will be informed about the schedule, course of the race and the rules. Pilots together with the race director will go through the track and be introduced with the obstacles.

2.4. General rules

Pilots are divided into groups. The pilot uses a pilot seat, a receiver and a kickstand marked by its number or frequency. Each pilot uses only the frequency assigned to him for image transmission. Videos from all drones and from all flights are recorded by the race director. The race is measured by RSSI timekeeping and LiveTime system.

Pilots race together in individual groups. The pilot is obliged to fly all obstacles on the race track in the right order and in the right way. If the pilot does not fulfill the conditions of the race, he is excluded from the flight. If the pilot crashes and is able to continue to fly without any external help, he can continue the flight.

Each pilot is monitored by a spotter and a race director. Spotters of the flying pilots are pilots from the following group. If spotters from the following group doesn’t appear for his/her spotting, the race director may decide to exclude them for his/her next flight. It is possible to acquire a substitute spotter. The spotter checks whether the pilot has passed the course according to the rules. If the spotter or one of the pilots observes that the flying pilot has not crossed the course in accordance with the rules, it is his obligation to report the flying pilot to the race director. Race director will view the pilot's video and decide whether the flight / lap is valid or invalid. If the pilot disagrees with the result of his flight, he shall notify race director, who shall measure the result of the flight according to the video.

2.5. Flight

Pilots place their drones to starting pads in given order by LiveTime. If pilot refuses to use starting pad, he can place drone behind his pad. Pilot has time limit od 90 seconds to place his quad on the stand and get ready for the flight. If pilot is not ready for his flight after the time limit, he is not flying and he is going to pick up his quad after the flight is finished (unless race director decides otherwise). After finishing his/her last lap the pilot is obliged to land in the landing area that will be marked. All pilots remain seated until the flight is over and all drones are landed. Pilots go for their quads together.

2.5.I. Training

Pilots fly in groups of 6 (unless the race director decides otherwise). Pilots start gradually, according to the sound instructions timekeeping (staggered start). During the training the pilot's goal is to get familiar with the course. There is a time limit of 90 seconds during which the pilot tries to fly as many laps as possible. Once the time limit has elapsed, the pilot can finish their current lap. Trainings are not measured and their results are not counted.

2.5.II. Qualification

Pilots fly in groups of 6 (unless the race director decides otherwise). Pilots start when they hear their audio callout. During qualifying flights, the pilots’ goal is to fly as many laps as possible in the shortest possible time. The time limit is 90 seconds plus the current lap he is on. The result of a qualified flight is the number of laps and time for which this number of laps has been made. The pilot’s overall qualification result will be based on his/her best 3 qualifications runs combined together. If the pilot is excluded from the qualifying flight, the result is 0 laps and 0 seconds.

If a gate falls the pilots are obliged to fly as if the obstacle was there. If the spotter spots/has a suspicion that pilot didn’t fly the correct way it is his obligation to report it to the race director. If race director determined the pilot didn’t fly the area where the obstacle was correctly, his result from the run will be deleted.

2.5.III. Eliminations flights

The first 16 or 32 pilots (depends on the race capacity) advance to the final flights (elimination) from the qualification. The principle of double elimination is used for final flights. The pilots fly in groups of 4 or 6 (race director decides). The pilots take off together, at the sound of the timekeeper. The start signal will be random within 1-5 seconds. If the pilot leaves the stand before the start signal, he is disqualified from the flight. The first half of the pilots advance to the next elimination round. The second half pilots who have lost the race don’t end in the race, but have one more chance and they can also progress all the way up to the final. If they lose for the second time, they are out completely and the final flights end for them. Final flights have a certain number of laps. When the first pilot completes the specified number of laps, the other pilots will fly their currently flying round. If the pilots do not finish the lap and crash, their result is counted from the time they crossed the finish line in their last lap. It doesn’t matter how far in the track the pilot was when he/she crashed.

If a pilot crashes into a gate and causes it to fall the race will be stopped. There will be a rerun and the pilot that caused the fall of the gate won’t have the chance to participate in it (for this occasion race director will take a deeper look to make a better decision if the pilot really crashed into the fallen gate. If the gate/obstacle will fall because external cause (wind, snap of the holding strings etc.) the race will be stopped and all pilots are granted a rerun.

2.6. Rerun

In case the video transmission of one of the pilots is disrupted during the flight, the pilot may ask the race director to repeat the flight. If the pilot wishes to request a rerun, he / she must land immediately and report to race director as soon as possible. If the pilot continues the flight, he loses the opportunity to request a rerun. Mid-air collision is by no means a reason to repeat a flight.

2.6.I. Training flights

Training flights shall not be repeated except in exceptional cases decided by race director.

2.6.II. Qualifying flights

If the pilot or pilots are eligible for a rerun, they will fly in the end of the qualifying round after all other groups finished. Multiple pilots from different qualifying groups may fly in the same rerun.

2.6.III. Elimination flights

If the pilot is granted a rerun in the elimination rounds his/her group will be flown at the end of the current elimination round. The whole group will need to fly the rerun and their results from the previous elimination will be canceled. The result of the elimination will be taken from the rerun.

3. Scoring

From the results of the race the first 16 pilots will obtain points as show in the table.

Placement	Score
1. place	200 points
2. place	194 points
3. place	187 points
4. place	181 points
5. place	155 points
6. place	142 points
7. place	129 points
8. place	116 points
9. place	103 points
10. place	90 points
11. place	78 points
12. place	65 points
13. place	52 points
14. place	39 points
15. place	26 points
16. place	13 points

Pilot gets 50 bonus point in race by beeing top qualifier.

The overall league results are a sum of the pilot´s best four race placements.

4. Safety instructions

1. The pilot cannot turn on his/her drone outside the track without the consent of race director (if you are interested in any testing and need to try something out, come to race director to choose a suitable moment).
2. It is forbidden to enter the track without the consent or request of the race director.
3. If the pilot does not have 100% control over his/her drone, he/she is obliged to disarm immediately.
4. It is only allowed to fly high as the need to overcome obstacles.
5. It is forbidden to fly the track backwards in purpose.
6. It is forbitten to use and be under the influence of alcohol or other addictive or psychotropic substances.
7. Each pilot is fully responsible for any damage to health or property of third parties.
8. The pilot is obliged to follow the instructions of the race director. The race director may interrupt the race or flight at any time for safety reasons, all flying pilots must land immediately.
9. The pilot may be expelled from the race for breaching these safety instructions.