Official Flight

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10.1 Official Flight Requirements
A flight is official if any part of the entry leaves the launcher under a motor’s thrust phase; except in the case of a catastrophic failure according to the provisions of Rule 11.5 – Catastrophic Failure. All entries that do not leave the launcher subsequent to motor ignition must not be considered as having made an official flight unless they are disqualified by the RSO for safety reasons. If the power pod or motor of a Boost Glider entry disengages and proceeds into the air under power without the glider portion, the attempt must be considered a disqualified official flight. An entry that does not ignite enough motors to be in the proper total impulse class as per Rule 4.6 – Published Values, must not be considered as having made an official flight unless its flight is disqualified for other reasons.
10.2 Number of Fights
Unless otherwise specified in the rules for a specific event, time and weather permitting each competitor shall be given an opportunity to make two official flights in each event per sanctioned NRC launch. A limitation shall not apply at Record Trials. Unless otherwise specified in the rules for a duration event, a competitor’s official score is the sum of the durations achieved on all official flights.
10.3 Special Conditions
When deciding on the number of flights that competitors are allowed in an event, the Contest Director shall carefully consider whether time and/or weather may require limitations on the event(s). The Contest Director must make every effort to announce how many flights will be allowed in the event(s) before the start of official flights.

However, if circumstances arise where it is necessary to enact a limitation after official flights have been made, all competitors must adhere to the new limits regardless of how many official flights they may have made.

If limitations have been placed on one or more events, the Contest Director must select only those qualified flights a competitor made under the new limitation. The Contest Director must then choose the competitor’s best single qualified flight as his/her official flight in that event.

For example, if a Parachute Duration event must unexpectedly be limited to one flight per competitor, and a competitor has already made two flights, in order for the Contest Director to score the event, he/she must first select only the flights that the competitor(s) returned (since in a single-flight Parachute Duration event, the one flight must be returned.) If one or more competitor has returned two flights, the Contest Director must select the better of the two competitor’s flights as his/her official flight for scoring purposes.

10.4 Return of Inaccessible Models
When a competitor cannot make a required return of his/her entry from an inaccessible place where recovery would pose a personal hazard to the competitors, but can point it out to an official, the official may score the entry as having been returned. The Contest Director must state prior to the start of competition what distance limits officials may travel. This rule may be superseded by the rules of a specific event.
10.5 Recording of Returns
When the rules for a specific event require a return of the entry, it is the responsibility of the competitor to ensure that the officials have noted on their flight card that the entry has been returned.