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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I have to agree, the "golden carrot" is a good
thing. I see no reason why there shouldn't be district Sportsman champions. If
we want to attract and retain, there should be a reward.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ed M.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=mrandmrst@comcast.net href="mailto:mrandmrst@comcast.net">Ken
Thompson III</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, January 10, 2005 7:50
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Class Structure</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dave,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As a pattern newbie, I respectfully disagree with
one part of your statement. A lot of newbies, including myself, have
only been in this hobby a relatively short period of time. </FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>In my few contests that I was able to attend, last year, I
got beat continuously. In my quest to become a better pilot, that
championship plaque will always be in my sights. That Sportsman
championship would be a goal of most entry level pattern pilots, possibly
obtainable in a couple of short years.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>When that goal is achieved, the next goal is the
Intermediate championship, in that district, which will be my goal before I am
forced to move up on points.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>That progression is my personal goal, and I
believe the goal of many of my entry level peers.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>And before anyone asks, "Are you in this only for
the wood?", I'm in this to become a better pilot. However the wood is a
nice accompaniment, this year I would like to achieve a plaque, not because
there were only 3 Sportsman pilots, but because I actually flew better than a
few. <VBG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ken Thompson</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>NSRCA 3646</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>D4 Sportsman, again</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=DaveL322@comcast.net href="mailto:DaveL322@comcast.net">David
Lockhart</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 8:40
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Class Structure</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT color=#0000ff><STRONG><EM>I don't
think the entry level class should crown a year end District Championship -
anyone who wants to seriously campaign in pattern is already hooked, and
should move up to the next level</EM></STRONG></FONT> - keep a true pattern
newbie from having to compete with some who is already committed to
pattern. I don't see the entry level class being too easy as a problem
- someone can always choose to start in a higher class.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards,</FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<DIV><BR>Dave Lockhart</DIV>
<DIV><A href="mailto:DaveL322@comcast.net">DaveL322@comcast.net</A></DIV>
<DIV></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
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<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=verne@twmi.rr.com href="mailto:verne@twmi.rr.com">Verne
Koester</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=discussion@nsrca.org
href="mailto:discussion@nsrca.org">NSRCA</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, January 09, 2005 6:58
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Class Structure</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT face="Times New Roman">Georgie,<BR>Here's a
novel idea. Leave Intermediate alone and take the snaps out of
<BR>Advanced. A pilot coming out of Intermediate into Advanced already has
to <BR>learn Slow Rolls, 4 Point Rolls, and a longer schedule with more
crosswind <BR>exposure maneuvers which is plenty.<BR><BR>The step from
Advanced to Masters is minimal at best. The step from <BR>Intermediate to
Advanced is monumental. The end result is a bunch of pilots <BR>in
Intermediate that are getting bored with their schedule but still not
<BR>ready for Advanced so they want to add snaps to it. Only problem is
that <BR>someone coming out of Sportsman will likely be scared away if
Intermediate <BR>is made any tougher.<BR><BR>It's no surprise to me that
the number of Masters pilots at any given <BR>contest are far greater than
the classes that precede it. Most of us who are <BR>there came up through
a balanced system of steps. We're all out of whack <BR>right now.
Unfortunately, I seem to be one of only a handful of Masters and
<BR>higher pilots that still remembers how hard it was to learn slow and 4
point <BR>rolls which gets introduced at the Advanced level. Take the
snaps and spins <BR>out of Advanced and introduce them at the Masters
level, put some box exits <BR>back where they need to be, and you'll have
a logical, balanced, and <BR>transitional set of schedules that
takes a pilot from Sportsman to however <BR>high he or she wants to
go.<BR><BR>Verne Koester<BR><BR><BR>----- Original Message ----- <BR>From:
"George Kennie" <</FONT><A href=""><FONT
face="Times New Roman">geobet@gis.net</FONT></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman">><BR>To: <</FONT><A href=""><FONT
face="Times New Roman">discussion@nsrca.org</FONT></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman">><BR>Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 2:28
PM<BR>Subject: Re: adding interest and complexity to Sportsman ... again
and again <BR>and<BR><BR><BR>> <<I'm not flying masters, I'm
flying advanced, the reason is<BR>> Masters is<BR>> more difficult
than I think I can reasonably fly at this time, so<BR>> I'll work my
way up. >><BR>><BR>> I respectfully disagree with your
assessment of schedule difficulty.<BR>> I get the feeling that you
haven't taken the time to sit down and<BR>> really study the current
Master's sequence. I commend your attitude<BR>> of working your way
up!!!IMHO, I find the current Master's much less<BR>> threatening than
the Advanced sequence.<BR>><BR>> Somebody mentioned "going to
contests without practicing", and<BR>> indeed I can remember, back in
the 60's going to a contest myself<BR>> having never performed the
required routine and doing quite well at<BR>> the time.However those
were significantly different times and I<BR>> myself would not desire
to return to the mindset of that period.It<BR>> was called a "Pattern
Contest" and the attendance was probably a<BR>> couple of hundred guys,
but the mindset was more like a current day<BR>> "Fun- Fly". Nobody
really took it all that seriously. Somewhere<BR>> along the line, the
few individuals that did have a more serious<BR>> approach organized
and brought a more serious aspect to the sport<BR>> realizing that the
basis for guys going out and flying a routine<BR>> that was in fact
JUDGED meant that the concept must<BR>> be"COMPETITION". I think
that this is probably the reason you still<BR>> find the most heavily
attended events to be "Fun-Fly's". When it<BR>> gets too serious there
are a lot of guys that start to feel<BR>> threatened regarding their
status within the group structure and<BR>> when the pressure becomes,
in their estimation, greater than feels<BR>> comfortable to them, they
gravitate to a different venue that<BR>> restores the level of comfort
they deem appropriate.<BR>> The same thing seems to happen, in my
judgement, with schedule<BR>> complexity.Some of us realize that
if the schedules become more and<BR>> more complex, at some point the
difficulty factor will become<BR>> significant enough to threaten our
currently hard won achievement<BR>> status, and indeed this is true.The
decision that probably needs to<BR>> be reasoned through is,in light of
this truth, should the pursuit of<BR>> excellence be sacrificed to
satisfy the inadequacies of those of us<BR>> who are clammoring to
maintain their elevation?<BR>> I consider myself a part of this
equation and recognize my own<BR>> inadequacies, however I also
realize that this same pursuit of<BR>> excellence will not be enhanced
by any concession to tilt the<BR>> playing field in my favor. Noone
will be served by that tack. Least<BR>> of all ME! My flying prowess
ranks somewhere between Sportsman and<BR>> Intermediate(my assessment),
and though I find a couple of the FAI<BR>> maneuvers really tough to
execute in a graceful manner, I still feel<BR>> that there is no
maneuver that I could not learn to do and given<BR>> another 50 years
of practice I might even be in a position to<BR>> challenge
Jason.<BR>> It's about STRIVING guys. That's what COMPETITION is! And
it's<BR>> purpose is to determine the most skilled individual, with the
rest<BR>> of us rated in descending order beneath the rating of the
BEST! So,<BR>> as you can see, I'm not in favor of wussing out to make
things<BR>> easier for anybody who finds their position at the
pinnacle<BR>> precarious(and that includes ME).<BR>> Now, all that
being said, I do feel that we may have a void at the<BR>> bottom and
should probably go back again and reconsider a pre-novice<BR>> class
for the guy who has only been involved in the sport for 2<BR>> weeks
and has never practiced flying a straight line.This shouldn't<BR>> take
much additional time as the number of guys showing up to<BR>>
participate in this class will indeed be very few (which begs the<BR>>
question, how far do we have to concede in order to grow the<BR>>
ranks?).<BR>> The Sportsman sequence I proposed a couple of days ago
DOES appear<BR>> to be too difficult for some of the respondants(but
not all) and<BR>> maybe the old Novice schedule should be made
available for anybody<BR>> showing up to try (as a pre-novice event).I
also think that the<BR>> Intermediate should introduce it's participant
to the 45 downline<BR>> snap or at least a center snap on a horizontal
baseline as<BR>> preparation for Advanced.<BR>> Only a bunch of
opinions, guys! Don't mean I'm right!<BR>>
G.<BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>>
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