<DIV>I don't see the correlation between Sportsman and Masters diff. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Masters is supposed to be the </DIV>
<DIV>"King of the Hill" "Top Dog", "Big Dog" </DIV>
<DIV>of Pattern in the USA with FAI being flown also. FAI is tougher than Masters and Masters is a good stepping stone to FAI(if a pilot wishes to go that way) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>So, my question is what is it some people want. If Masters were to get easier, why not just write a letter and fly Advanced. Evolution happens, is unstoppable and unpreventable. We can hide from it, or we can embrace and accept the challenge. I've said this many times in different avenues. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I for one DO NOT want to take a step backwards and admit defeat. There is nothing in this years Masters that is all that difficult!!!! Challenging YES, Fun YES. Requiring effort and practice YES. This is what my idea of Pattern is, or more comprehensively, Aerobatics.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Nadia raised the bar for Gymnastics, Marty Hogan reinvented Racquetball, Pete Sampras set the bar for Tennis, as well as the Williams sisters. Chip, JAson, CPLR, QQ all have raised the bar for aerobatics. We cannot go backwards.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>JMHO</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Ed<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>
<STYLE></STYLE>
<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 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>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>