<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2726.2500" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Well said Bob, making the middle classes harder
serves no purpose except to make it harder for the guys that camp out in a class
but nothing but even more headaches for the moving up flier.</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=bob@toprudder.com href="mailto:bob@toprudder.com">Bob Richards</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> Thursday, December 30, 2004 1:36
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Snap Rolls.....are they
legitimate/ RE: displacement during snap rolls discussion</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Wow, you really want to open up a can of worms!!!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Short answer: NO.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I don't believe we should think about creating world class flyers. We
should mainly be concerned about increasing participation in the US. The
more people we get started in pattern, the more likely we are to find a
diamond in the rough.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Way back when I was a district VP, I asked a lot of people about the
Masters class. Should it be a stepping stone to FAI, or should it be a
destination class. I felt rather strongly at the time that it should be
a stepping stone to FAI. Others felt strongly that it should be a destination
class. (I've since changed my opinion.)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>IMHO, I think Masters should be very close in difficulty to FAI. Not
necessarily AS difficult, but close if not the same. There will be a lot,
probably the majority, who will never fly FAI since they have no desire to
compete on a world class level against many who are sponsored. For this reason
I think we should treat the Masters class as the top level AMA class.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Remember the Expert class. It was the only turnaround class in AMA at one
time. You could argue it was the only class that prepared anyone for FAI. What
prepared anyone for Expert? Nothing -- but practice.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>At the other end of the spectrum, Sportsman, I think absolutely no
consideration should be given to the "prepare for FAI" question. It has
absolutely nothing to do with FAI, it has to do with getting participation by
US and AMA members -- nothing more. I think the sequences should be slightly
challenging only from the perspective of someone who has never flown
pattern. The maneuvers should not be challenging to fly, only challenging to
fly well.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As one moves up through the pattern classes, equipment should not
automatically become obsolete. IOW, you can pick a plane to fly Sportsman with
that will also fly Masters very well. There is no such thing as a plane that
is perfect for Masters that is not perfect for Sportsman. However, don't
design the maneuvers for Sportsman that require anything more than a well
behaved sport plane. An Ugly Stick should be just fine.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Everything in between -- ramp up accordingly. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Masters should follow FAI somewhat, but only because it WILL be the
stepping stone for those that wish to move up.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I also don't think we should make the classes more difficult every year,
just different to keep everyone from being bored. Especially in the
lower/middle classes -- those classes are transient in nature.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Bob Richards.</DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR><B><I>Bob Pastorello <rcaerobob@cox.net></I></B>
wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2523" name=GENERATOR>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dave, as always, thoughtful
input....thanks!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> I, for one, (and perhaps the
ONLY one) would like to know pure and simple from the majority of folks
playing AMA pattern....a yes or a no to this question...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> <STRONG>"Should the
progression of classes within AMA precision aerobatics be designed to
prepare a person for the FAI class?"</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I would like to have this question put to all
pattern fliers, and let the answer shape the design of our sequences.
Period.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> (I know this is a good
example of " be careful what you ask for ", but has it ever been
asked??)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR>Bob Pastorello<BR>NSRCA 199 AMA 46373<BR><A
href="mailto:rcaerobob@cox.net">rcaerobob@cox.net</A><BR><A
href="http://www.rcaerobats.net/">www.rcaerobats.net</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>