No. Anyone can view events, their detail pages, sponsor lists, and the news feed. You only need an account to register as a pilot, sponsor an event, or run an event as a CD (Contest Director).

No — you don't choose one. Everyone starts as a Pilot, and you can wear any of these hats at the same time from one account:

• Pilot: register for events, save your hangar, sign AMA Form 10.
• Sponsor: back events with cash or product, climb the podium.
• Event CD (Contest Director): create and run your own events — you own them, whether or not a club hosts.
• Club member / manager / owner: join a club to track dues and read members-only news, or run one.

Your account page shows whichever hats you're wearing. You never have to be a club owner to run an event.

Visit /resetand enter your email. We'll send a reset link to whatever address is on file.

No. Hit Reserve my spot and your row is on the roster. Pay any way you want at event check-in — cash, Venmo, PayPal, or check. The organizer marks you paid when they receive it.

Online card payment (Stripe Connect Express) is on the roadmap. Until it ships, every cash/Venmo/check/PayPal payment is a first-class entry — your roster matches reality either way.

Registeredis the live headcount — it ticks up the moment someone signs up, whether or not they've paid yet. Paidis the subset who've already paid early. The public Models Flyingchart counts every registered pilot's declared (non-private) helicopters too, so it fills in as sign-ups arrive — not just after payment.

They can. Organizers can set price steps — a registration type might be $110 today and step up to $115 on June 1, for example. You always pay the price in effect on the day you register, so signing up early locks in the lower rate. Your My registrations page shows the amount due for any pending registration, plus a one-click email to the organizer to coordinate pre-payment.

Per-event. The organizer sets a refund policy (default: refundable until 7 days before the event) and an optional cancellation fee. You'll see both on each event's "At-a-glance" sidebar on the event detail page.

Yes — for 24 hours. Cancelled registrations move to a Cancelled section at the bottom of your My registrations page with two buttons: Restore (undoes the cancel and puts the row back in Upcoming) and Permanently delete(removes it from your history now). Each cancelled card shows a countdown ("Auto-deletes in Xh Ym unless you restore it"); after 24 hours the row auto-deletes on your next visit. Restoring re-uses your helicopter, addons, and signature; the amount due is recomputed at today's price, so if a price step has passed in the meantime you'll see the current price.

Onto the official AMA Form 10 the contest director (CD) takes to check-in. The platform generator pulls every paid pilot's signature, name, AMA #, age class, and aircraft flags onto the AMA-approved PDF.

That's fine. Vanity / lifetime numbers (like REKIT) are supported. The field accepts letters, numbers, and dashes.

Both trigger additional Form 10 pages with extra paperwork:

• Turbine → page 10 lists turbine pilots and their waiver numbers.
• Over 55 lbs → page 11 lists large-model-aircraft pilots and their LMA permit numbers.

If neither applies, those pages stay blank. The generator handles it.

The Sponsors directory is pre-seeded with well-known RC brands. Tap Claim brand on your tile (you'll need a free account) — a platform admin reviews it, same as claiming a club. Once approved you own the profile (or join the team as a member if it already has an owner), then you can add a logo, edit details, and sponsor events as that brand. You can also leave a brand later from your Sponsor profile.

Positionally — not by threshold. The single highest contribution per event holds Gold. Second-highest holds Silver. Third-highest holds Bronze. Beat the top sponsor by a dollar and the spot is yours; the bumped sponsor gets an email and can up their bid.

Yes. Cash and product compete in the same ranking — value is value. A $5,000 product donation outranks a $1,500 cash sponsor.

For organizers who get product handed to them in person at the event (no shipping, no tracking number). Tap the sponsorship to open its editor, choose Bypass approval, add a reason (e.g. handed off at registration desk), and the sponsorship counts toward the ranking immediately.

Organizers can record sponsors they arrange in person, which creates an unclaimed profile for your business in the Sponsors directory. Find it there and tap Claim brand(you'll need a free account); a platform admin approves it and the profile — plus any contribution already credited to you on an event — becomes yours. From then on you edit the logo and details and sponsor future events as that brand.

Yes — as many as you want. The same org also handles all the accounting: roster, sponsorships, and (eventually) Stripe Connect payouts roll up under the org.

Yes. Create or get invited to as many orgs as you need (your local club, a side venture, a sister org for airplane events when those land). They all show up in the admin sidebar.

Both bring pilots onto the roster at the field.

• Walk-up: organizer types it for them. Saved as paid immediately.
• Kiosk mode: full-screen, big-target self-serve form. Pilot fills it in; desk staff collects payment after.

Same underlying form, two different doorways.

Yes. On your event's Sponsors page, tap Add a sponsor: search the directory for the business (or create a new one with just a name), set a cash amount, a product + value, or just a listing, and add an optional note. It auto-approves and hits the podium right away — the sponsor doesn't need an account. A brand you create stays claimable, so the real business can take it over later. You can also Remove an entry (it moves to a Removed list and can be Restored) or Deleteit permanently; deleting only removes that event's entry, never the sponsor's directory profile.

The AMA Form 10 (Contest & Event Sanction package). For sanctioned events you submit it to AMA HQ within 7 days. The generator on each event admin page fills in every paid pilot's row automatically — you download the PDF and email it in.

For v1, yes — helicopter-only. A sister airplane-events site is on the long-term roadmap; the playbook for spinning one up is in the project architecture docs.

They stay live forever. Photos, sponsor list, final pilot count, and the Models Flying chart all preserve. Next year's edition of an annual event links back to this year's automatically.

We're in open beta — pilot-built, pilot-tested. The full payments, transactional email, social-feed aggregation, and competitive-scoring features are in flight. If you find something broken, email help@rchelievents.com with what you were doing — fixes ship within hours, not weeks.

Yes. It's a Progressive Web App — no App Store needed. On iPhone, open the site in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. On Android, Chrome shows an Install app prompt (or use the ⋮ menu). You get a home-screen icon and a full-screen, app-like experience. A dedicated native iPhone app is also on the roadmap.

Your registrations, pilot info, and the flying-fields directory stay readable without a connection — useful at a field with no signal. An offline banner appears so you know it's your last-synced copy. Registering and edits still need a connection.

After installing the app to your home screen and signing in, open your account and tap Enable notifications. You'll get a push when your registration is confirmed or cancelled, when an event you're registered for is cancelled, and the day before an event. On iPhone you must install the app first, then enable notifications.