Dear all -

Due to popular demand, and the guilt of some money that came in from Google Adwords, we will have another one of those fun sweepstakes. The rules will be similar to last year.

We will have two winners this time also.  The price is going to be two  Indian Rupees 20,000 shopping sprees, at any hobby store of the winner's choice. The money will be sent directly to the chosen shop. Due to logistics issues, no split shopping please !  

The prize money is coming out of the payments from Google Adsense ads on top of the RC India, so it is self paid.

The general conditions are :

1.  The build and maiden should between 12th June 2015 and 7th September 2015 (10am deadline).

2.  This has to be a new build clearly documented by newspapers placed near the starting off material for the build. Please post multiple pictures allowing us to clearly authenticate the date claims (at least couple of pics with the items and newspaper, with the newspaper placed at multiple locations amongst the parts, and one with the date information on the news paper clearly shown).  We will consider partial builds at very early stages, on a case by case basis (so that this sweepstakes act as a catalyst for people to finish those builds).

3.  Each submission should be presented as a NEW build thread in the appropriate board, with the tag that this is a candidate entry into the sweepstakes. Topic names shall start with some thing like "RCI 6th Sweepstakes : ".

4.  Periodic / intermediate stage pics should be posted, again with newspaper verification, at least 3 times during the course of the entire build.

5.  The final product should do its intended purpose, with reasonable stability. That means aircrafts should fly, cars should run, etc. This must be supported by video evidence, with a single continuous shot of the model in closeup first, and then moving into action / flight.

Judging etc :

6.  ARF builds of airplanes, boats and quads will get 1x chance to win. I am not aware of ARF build for cars, so that is out (correct me if I am wrong).

7.  Kit builds of helis and cars will get 3x chances to win.

8.  Scratch/kit builds of airplanes and boats will get 5x chances to win.

9.  If you are building something exquisite that does not fit into any of the above, they will be considered as they are raised, and we will update this post to list those.

10. We may adjust the chance multipliers based on the merits of each build, if we strongly feel the need for that.

11. Although people suggested using a voting system to find the winners, I see multiple problems with it. For now, let us keep this simple. It will also allow every member except me to participate.

12. The models have to be radio controlled, but they can unpowered (like slope soaring gliders).  No static models, and if you are submitting multiple entires, the models have to be dissimilar.  

Let the 6th annual RCIndia games begin !  (tribute to Hunger Games!)

[Update 14/Jun/2015 : Contest for non-powered flight

[Update 13/Aug/2015 : Contest extended till 7th September

In the 6th Sweepstakes we are including a small 'contest for non-powered flight' suggested and paid for by a member. The rules are simple:

1. The objective is to achieve a 1 minute duration flight.
2. Model must be unpowered, ie no engine, no motor, no edf, no rocket/jetex. However, rubber power is allowed.
3. Must be scratch built, ie no RTF, no ARF, no Kit. Start by capturing pictures of the material you are starting with, alongside a newspaper for verification.
4. No restriction on size or weight or materials used.
5. Flight may be performed outdoors or indoor.
6. Take off/launch and landing must be at about same level, ie, flight from a rooftop to ground not acceptable.
7. Our usual sweepstakes rules apply. Especially proof of build and continuous video from launch to landing.

This is aimed mainly at those new to the hobby and hence not yet having a radio set. However, a radio controlled model is eligible.

Remember it is not a competition against each other, rather an attempt to achieve a set goal.

There is a token prize of Rs 1000 worth of goods from LHS of your choice, for each of the first five successful entries received. That is Rs1000 each going to 5 different people (which also implies the same person cannot win twice!).

Please follow the rules diligently.  We had quite a bit of dilemma last time !

The fun begins. Happy building.

@anwar,
Thanks for starting the 2016 Sweepstakes.

Request a category for non RC Models please.
No prize, but eligible for Honourable Mention / Consolation!

Some RCI members do fly non RC  models too (i hope)

Please see my pm too.

Regards.

Let the games begin
Thank you anwar sir for having another sweet sweepstakes.
Hope to see great builds this time too

Bring it on!!!
This time I'm in full swing.
Hopefully 2-3 good ones will come from my side...

P.S. Are last year's winners eligible?

That's nice
Waiting for some exciting posts and builds
Best of luck for those of you making

All the very best to the participants.

15th june to 15th August is ample time and Good opportunity for me to start and complete many of my dream projects.

Let the games begin 

What does this mean? "and if you are submitting multiple entires, the models have to be dissimilar. "

Topalle, you want to propose a rule that previous winners cannot participate?

Quote from: topalle on June 10, 2015, 09:33:32 PM
P.S. Are last year's winners eligible?

Absolutely eligible, why not ?

Do they feel invincible ?

Quote from: sanjayrai55 on June 11, 2015, 11:24:47 AM
What does this mean? "and if you are submitting multiple entires, the models have to be dissimilar. "

Don't cut the same plan 3 times and build 3 planes that look the same.  Don't take apart an ARF or car, and put it together again. And so on

😂😂😂 Only one foam fighter jets per entry Anwar 😉😉😉😆😆

Quote from: anwar on June 11, 2015, 11:56:38 AM
Do they feel invincible ?

Yes, They are Invincible... Especially Sanjay Sir... We can't catch up with their speed.
If possible, divide the prizes into two categories: Veterans and Beginners.

It is just a mind-set

Plus this is why this was never made a competition. It is just a trigger to get more active in RC, the winning part is strictly in the hands of http://random.org !

Hello Anwar,
A few like me get very very less time to this hobby actually I still have models which I started in last year Sweepstakes and the progress in close to negligible.

Can I continue with the same this year as well.


regds
Saurabh

this sounds good... i am in ...

@rastsaurabh,
If you don't mind, may mention an analogy?
"I have no money for a new lottery ticket, so can i use last year's ticket?"
Answer: sure i can. Only it wont win me anything!

If Anwar sir is serious about random.org (Which i doubt) then you don't even have to build anything, just register for the sweepstakes, that's all.

I guess participation is optional, time and money permitting, not mandatory.
As Anwar sir has said before, the objective is to promote a spurt of activity (which is exactly what happened last year)

If our over 10000 members build more than 492 models in two months, the objective would be achieved.
(Why 492?. It is without counting sanjayrai sir, who can produce the remaining 8 in eight weeks )

Anwar sir while putting up build logs do we have to post as the build progresses or can we complete the whole build and document with newspapers for verification, fly it and post video  at once???

Also is every entry add up the chance of winning? So if one person has 3 diffrent scratchbuilds theb do they have 15x chance of winning?

Quote from: K K Iyer on June 11, 2015, 10:05:10 PM
If Anwar sir is serious about random.org (Which i doubt) then you don't even have to build anything, just register for the sweepstakes, that's all.

I am absolutely serious about random.org.   What I do is make a list of all eligible entries in Excel (I sought help on this part last time from other admins), duplicate the ones which qualified for multipliers (so a 3x multiplier would have 3 entries/lines in Excel), assign serial numbers to all of them.  So 50 people participating may end up as 120 lines in Excel (because of chance multipliers). Then I open up random.org and call my son, ask him to pick a number between 5 and 10.  On random.org, I generate numbers between 1 and 120 as many times as my son responded and take the last one... that is the winning entry.

Quote from: RCNeil21 on June 11, 2015, 10:07:11 PM
Anwar sir while putting up build logs do we have to post as the build progresses or can we complete the whole build and document with newspapers for verification, fly it and post video  at once???

Also is every entry add up the chance of winning? So if one person has 3 diffrent scratchbuilds theb do they have 15x chance of winning?

Please read the instructions. Everything you sought clarification on so far is mentioned there.  If you still feel there is ambiguity, please ask.

The only question that needs answered is "can you continue a previous build".  The answer is NO. While the pain is understandable, we need to ensure a level playing field with everyone starting DOCUMENTED builds after the contest is announced.

To help everyone understand the rules clearly, I have made some parts of the original post bold.

As Anwar sir said somewhere earlier, this is not a competition
Its a sweepstakes.
Everyone has a chance.
But someone who submits 5 scratchbuilds has 25 times more chance than someone who submits one ARF.
(Provide they fly as intended )

So let's start building.
At least 492.
If we can cross 65000 builds, we can crash Anwar sir's Excel sheet!
Even though the selection was random, were last year's winners not deserving?

I guess there is too much interest in the prizes. Janta - focus on the reason behind the sweepstakes - to get people building. Become a more complete aeromodeller and a better flier or RCer this way. Forget about the prizes - what is due to you will come to you inevitably

Wouldn't a competition be better than a lottery ?   

I think you should trust the judges. They do take into consideration the complexity and quality of build too - it's not entirely a lottery. Although it would be great if there was judging purely on that basis, it would take away from the objective - maximum number of people build; everyone gets a chance.