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<DIV><SPAN class=987381515-13112003>Hello Earl,</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=987381515-13112003></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=987381515-13112003>You said a mouthful! The good part of the
present, contestant-judged, world we live in is that you can be almost
certain that the person judging is as rabidly devoted to the event as you are.
If for some reason we find ourselves regarding the guys in the chairs as
philistines ... we would have only ourselves to blame. As a whole, our efforts
as judges are as honest and flawed as our flying. All is right with the
World.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=987381515-13112003></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=987381515-13112003>You touched on some of the history, and I
think that there is a story in here that has waited too long for the telling.
The USPJA was an organization with both its strong and weak points. By merging
the pools of Scale and Precision Aerobatics afficionados, we got enough judges
together to be able to judges both events (one at a time!) at the NATs. A few
contestant judges would chip in. That's how I got to know a bunch of the old
USPJA folks. Yes, their abilities varied (no surprise there) but I can
also remember more than one excited discussion with an old USPJA
member when, for example, they "discovered" the
aileron-only-snap-exit-cheat, or something similar. Obviously there was a
passion to do that job right! Please remember that this was in the late '80s:
snaps were new (well almost) and we were just beginning to get a real
judging grip on Turnaround, because we had just moved to all classes flying
Turnaround. From '84 to '88 only FAI flew in that style, and many judges still
only worked the one-maneuver-per-pass style. All these less adventurous judges
were being "upgraded", and that's never a painless process.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=987381515-13112003></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=987381515-13112003>In the midst of all this, there was a "let's
kill off the USPJA and make our own judging destinies" movement. Maybe it
was part and parcel of the effort for NSRCA to run the Pattern Nats, but I
always felt it was a shame that there was a concerted effort to drive
friends and contributors away. Granted, USPJA had some real structural problems
(the biggie was a seniority based advancement system instead of a
merit-based advancement system) but those were philosophical issue that might
have been talked out. Instead we insulted them and lost their help.
Bummer.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=987381515-13112003></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=987381515-13112003>The good old days are often the bad old
days, at the same time. I never flew at a Navy NATS, but there was some magic in
having judges "beam in from Mars". Being Naval personnel, you were bound to do
better if your plane was painted in the Blue Angels scheme than if you
showed up with a red MIG! On the other hand, the un-jaded judges could do
something we have completely lost ... Back then, in both Pattern and in CL
Stunt, a "nobody" won the NATs upon attending for their first time. I am
speaking of the late Jim Kirkland in Pattern and the very much
with us Bart Klapinski in Stunt. They were both " just that good". No
matter how brilliant the flyer, can you even imagine this as a possibility,
today? </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=987381515-13112003></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=987381515-13112003>Do I remember this right, Earl? Is that
how the dissolution of USPJA happened?</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=987381515-13112003></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=987381515-13112003>Regards,</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=987381515-13112003> Dean P.</SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT
face=Tahoma>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> EHaury@aol.com
[mailto:EHaury@aol.com]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, November 13, 2003 8:26
AM<BR><B>To:</B> discussion@nsrca.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: Judging Landing
& takoffs. (was Re: Spoilers for Pattern Planes?????)<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>Ladies and Gentlemen</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Our game requires competitors and judges. The competitors apply the
requirements of the game (maneuvers - rules) and the judges score the quality
of performance. Without both, there is no game. Some are better than
others, both as competitors and judges. We generally don't demean the less
skilled flyer but try to help him / her improve. A judge should receive the
same.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I recall (us old guys get to do this) a time when judges and the
interpretation of the rules were unique to each contest. A CD would fill
chairs anyway possible with both skilled and unskilled judges. This was true
even at the Nats, soliciting the spectators at the last minute for anyone
willing to take a stab at judging. Often scores were higher for familiar
pilots, as they had "paid their dues."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>A few dedicated and skilled folks set about to fix that. The USPJA
was formed and provided a pool of folks from which to draw for major meets.
The pilots enjoyed meets where the judges were experienced and "usually" there
were plenty of judges. While there were judges meetings to review the rules at
major meets, the interpretation sometimes varied and the pilots could be
unaware of expectations. Of course both used the same rulebook, but we all
know how interpretation can vary. We criticized the folks that were willing to
of take their time to judge our game until they were / are no more. We would
have been better served to help them.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The NSRCA Judge Certification program came into being. It was, and still
is, the best thing ever done to improve pattern competition. (With the
possible exception of the equal exposure to judges rule.) Of course a pilot
would be foolish to compete without knowing the rules and is therefore an
excellent candidate for judging. For a while we enjoyed a good mix of both
flying and non-flying judges. Then the latter began to diminish, could it be
that they simply got tired of working for the pattern competitor and getting
griped at in return? </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>So we're now using pilot / judges for the most part. Guess what, we're
still griping about scores and working harder! I've judged numerous meets over
the years and within the various systems. I've not known one judge who I
regarded as dishonest. Some are more skilled than others, some are more
informed of the rules, and some didn't have clue. It really doesn't matter if
they fly or not. Fortunately the cert program has minimized the
clueless.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>No individual, no matter their experience, falls into the hallowed few
category. Just what is the correct score for a given maneuver? I may observe
downgrades that someone else doesn't and vice versa. It's interesting to line
up a group of judges and score a maneuver (not a whole flight) and then
discuss the individual scores and why. This exercise demonstrates why there
needs to be as many judges on a line as possible. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We have a tendency to assign our view of a persons judging capability to
the class they fly. Why is this? Is the FAI or Masters pilot smarter or better
educated or more familiar with the rules than the Intermediate or Advanced
pilot? I don't think so! Neither is the non-flying judge less qualified
because they don't fly. The class a person flies only demonstrates their skill
level as a pilot. I suspect there are folks who would excel at judging and
might like to give it a shot if ask.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>This is getting too long, but I will state that I have worked with a good
number of different pilot / judges at the Nats and elsewhere and find them,
while not always enthused about having to judge, dedicated and competent in
performing the job. (The only exception I may find in this is when I review my
own flight scores :>)). Judging will always be a work in progress
and let me assure you that it's significantly better than it once was. We
all must work within the rules to ensure consistent interpretation and accept
that we will not always agree.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Earl</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>