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<DIV>Sportsman needs to be maintained as the entry class to Pattern events and
overcomplicating it will not be a step in the right direction. I feel same as
Steve that it's about right in complexity. I would add that it should
remain unchanged for a consiiderable amount of time (pick a period--10 years is
a nice round number)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>Rationale for long time period before changes (if ever):</STRONG>
Pilots seldom stay in the class more than two years so the ones that move on,
see a fresh schedule regardless. The ones that drop, well, it makes little
difference to them. It would serve virtually no purpose to change this
schedule</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>Rationale for keeping the sequence "simple":</STRONG> A friend of
mine has tried to get into pattern competition for a couple years now. He is a
very good sport flier, can 3D his 1/3 scale aerobats just fine and knows some
construction technique, engine maintenance and radio
diagnostics already.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>But the demands of pattern planes are different and he has had to
overcome several issues. After a couple of years of frustration and
perseverence, he has started to practice in earnest. He has commented to me
how difficult the "simple" Sportsman schedule is. I admire his perseverence;
most would have quit.</DIV>
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<DIV>Point is, many Sportsmen face alot issues with fundamentals that
the other classes have learned to overcome. Their learning curve is
vertical already. Lets leave the complicated stuff for the higher classes. The
Sportsmen who move on, will see that soon enough.</DIV>
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<DIV>MattK </DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 1/9/2005 12:29:00 AM Eastern Standard Time,
rcsteve@tcrcm.org writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV><SPAN class=258284804-09012005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I
have to agree with John here. I'm concerned that we keep making the
entry-level class too hard for the real newbie that we are trying to
hook.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=258284804-09012005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=258284804-09012005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I
flew my first contest 7 months after solo. This was back in about 1997 or
so. The individual manuevers were no easier, but you got to go out of
the box pretty frequently and get lined back up. For someone that isn't that
skilled (people we need to bring into the entry ranks to fill the pipe), after
a couple maneuvers, they get behind the airplane and are going into the next
maneuver in trouble. Leaving the box gave us the opportunity to calm down and
get straightened out.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=258284804-09012005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=258284804-09012005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>If
your skills were better than that, start in Intermediate. Same message today
to those that think Sportsman is too easy. It should be really
easy!</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=258284804-09012005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=258284804-09012005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Sportsman should be constructed so that regular club sport
flyers can come taste pattern with little or no practice when the local
club holds a meet with their 4 star 40's and Tiger 60's.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=258284804-09012005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=258284804-09012005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>This
year, I tried to bring a couple of our yearling's into our local
contest. They just couldn't handle the continuity of it all, and both
gave up. Oh we could be elitist and say they should have practiced more and
got better airplanes, but is that really going to seed the
pipe?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=258284804-09012005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=258284804-09012005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Maybe what we need is another (non-rated?) entry class?
Fun-pattern class or something?</FONT></SPAN></DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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