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<DIV>And this issue is EXACTLY why the "progression of classes" needs to be
managed, and (caps by intent)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>WE MUST STOP ESCALATING THE OVERALL COMPLEXITY OF SEQUENCES TO KEEP UP WITH
CHANGES IN FAI !!!!! The "trickle down" of FAI difficulty drives
Masters. Then that drives Advanced, then it drives Intermediate changes,
and finally Sportsman, where we lose potential entrants because it overwhelms
them.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>There are people who monitor this list who I have been coaching. If
they chime in, they will tell you of the difficulty in "finesse" needed to be
really competent NOW in Sportsman, and even moreso when they moved to
Intermediate.</DIV>
<DIV> I am NOT one of those "disconnected" Masters pilot
guys.....I "know" what's going on in other classes, and we better address it as
a society. Soon.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As a rule-proposing body, the NSRCA has the responsibility, as a society,
to Stop the Madness.</DIV>
<DIV> Masters does NOT have to be "nearly FAI". Obvious
reason; someone wants that complexity, let 'em FLY FAI.</DIV>
<DIV> Advanced would not be such a huge jump from Intermediate
IF it wasn't the stepping stone to a less-complex Masters.</DIV>
<DIV> Intermediate would not have to be so tough of a jump
from Sportsman.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Changing our very philosophy of the game is what it will take, men.
You may disagree, but you cannot deny what pitifully-small data points we have
paint a picture of the "graying" of the game.</DIV>
<DIV> Yes - there are LOTS of reasons we don't have the 'seed
pipe' we used to (competing RC venues, time, money, etc.), but my point is, and
HAS BEEN, that we do NOT HAVE TO MAKE THE GAME *HARDER* to make it challenging
for Masters' pilots!!!!</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 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=Rcmaster199@aol.com
href="mailto:Rcmaster199@aol.com">Rcmaster199@aol.com</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> Sunday, January 09, 2005 1:23
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: adding interest and
complexity to Sportsman ... again and again and </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>
<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>
<DIV> </DIV>
<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>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>MattK </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 1/9/2005 12:29:00 AM Eastern Standard Time,
rcsteve@tcrcm.org writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
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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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