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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>First of all, I'd like to congratulate the
team. Jason won the NATS. Congratulations to Jason! That
is a really big deal for several reasons. First, he was in pretty good
company, considering Quique had placed 2nd in the worlds last year, and Chip
also placed a close 3rd in Poland. Second, this is his
first AMA F3A NATS win for Jason. There isn't much room at
the top and he took the big trophy. Third, and
the reason which I think will gather most of the (press) is that he
did it flying electric. Now, one must ask oneself, does an electric
powered model have an advantage over glow power? That is a question that a
lot of pilots- whether in F3A or other categories- will ask
themselves.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Quique flew outstanding as well. I watched
few of his flights, but the one that stands out is his first preliminaries
flight on Wednesday morning (wind blowing about 12 mph over left
shoulder). He won the round flying with a certain
technique. This technique was clearly that of wind-correction
throughout every radius, loop segment, and line. My techique is to
correct on the horizontal lines, bottom corners
and minor part-loop segments, while trying to display a
more-clear geometry on verticals and major looping segments. I
learned from Quique and will strive to emulate his wind correction
technique. He was very impressive.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Chip. What can I say. Pure pilot
skill. Chip probably has more raw talent than any pilot I've ever
seen. From my opinion, Chip would have won if he had
not been rushed in his first unknown, or, would not have rushed the
end of his second unknown. Due to a engine stop during the sound check,
Chip had to restart, quickly takeoff and enter the box. However, he kept a
fast pace thoughout, landing with a time of about 7:50. In his
second unknown, (this was a long unknown, with two vertical 8 maneuvers) fuel
was (perhaps) getting a bit short and after the engine coughed, had to cut the
last maneuver (Avalance) short, making it off center to the right and resulting
in a bit of a radius crimp at the start. This could have made the
difference. Can one speculate that electric power would make a
difference? Within the current technology and power requirements,
(associated with weight limits) not an option for all at this
time.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sean- many congratulations. Sean has so much
desire, and it shows in his flying. He tied with Jason to win the last
unknown, and as a result took the remaining team slot.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As for me? I did not realize how much I
wanted to be on the team until I did not make it. Wasn't any easier
when I discovered that I was only about 1.3 points out of 4th, and only
about 5.5 points out of 3rd. After about 4 hours on the road,
heading home, I found myself asking myself why I even went to the NATS in
the first place? All the hours away from the family. The
long list of to-do items with the new house. The absence of a family
vacation Then I felt a bit of shame and conviction. I am
priveledged just to have the opportunity to fly in the NATS. I enjoyed the
fellowship, discussions and meeting those I've only conversed through e-mail
previously with. I enjoyed providing assistance with adjusting valves
on a YS, or just trading flying stories, I hope and pray that I made a
difference in some small way, of everone I came in contact
with.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The flying/scoring disparity. I was surprised
how far out the top 5 finishers were from the rest of the finalists.
The rest of the "pack" was 150 points- 225 points behind. Troy and I spoke about
this quite a bit after the NATS and my initial thinking was that flying IMAC,
yes, IMAC can be very helpful with competing in the pattern F3A finals.
Unknowns. There are tough unknowns in the IMAC unlimited class.
However, I did not learn unknowns from flying in the TOC. In fact I could
not get through an unknown without zeroing at least 2 or more maneuvers per
sequence at the TOC. That's a good way to end in 19th place!
Likewise I mis-flew several maneuvers (0's) at the 2001 team selections.
No, I did not learn to fly unknowns until the JR IMAC Challenge in 2003.
Why? Many thanks to Andy Kane. See, Andy did not pass out the (IMAC)
unknowns until the MORNING that they were to be flown. It would seem that
one would have an advantage staying up all night learning unknowns to be best
prepared. However, going through and memorizing the sequence... quickly,
before they are flown...was quite effective, I found. What was
particularly helpful at that JR Challenge was flying my stick model through the
sequence for my 6 year old daughter without having to reference the call sheet.
I did do the call sheet with my Dad the night before this pattern NATS
finals, but did not give it much real thought to the first unknown until AFTER
the first F05 sequence was flown. Likewise for the second
unknown.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>How does one learn an unknown? Take speed-reading/
memorization classes... or, memorize, and fly, a series of unknown
sequences during the practice season. Start out simple and build from
there. Guess this "thoughts post" is written for the pilots that
will be preparing for the F3A finals next year, but interesting thinking
material non-the-less.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Future thoughts/ experiences if anyone is
interested- (1) flying quality in the finals- a bit harder than it seemed. (2)
Zeros, zeros and more zeros--- served with a purpose in the finals.
(3) NATS Experience at the 150 markers- mid-airs, close calls and (yes)
even a pilot flying with his feet...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Signing out</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Don</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=dszczur@maranatha.net href="mailto:dszczur@maranatha.net">Don
Szczur</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=discussion@nsrca.org
href="mailto:discussion@nsrca.org">discussion@nsrca.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, July 26, 2004 8:07 PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Some thoughs on the NATS
Experience</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Anyone interested in some random thoughts,
experiences, etc? I have some and would be happy to share if there is
interest.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Don</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>