Involving the pattern community as a whole.

[Dick Smith]

Del,
Interesting.  Wonder what rating you held while in the USPJA.  A USPJA
judge's proficiency level ranged from a '5' (one's rating when joining USPJA) to
a '1' rating , the highest (very experienced and met the rigorous criteria
established for a '1' rating).  One could not qualify, achieve and be upgraded
to the next higher judge level unless certain criteria had been met and the
upgrade request was approved by USPJA's
qualification board.  It took a lot of personal effort
to achieve a '5' rating, signifying that person was well experienced and
qualified.

The USPJA was originally organized to establish a uniform standard of judging
pattern. Unfortunately however, and in my opinion, attempts to integrate USPJA
judges
into judging scale flying proved itself less than satisfactory as few USPJA
judges (as do many flyers) had full scale experience, were  unfamiliar with the
various full scale
a/c, how they were flown, flight envelopes, capabilities, etc.
Consequently the judges took some hits. However, I wouldn't see this a reason to
quit the USPJA, nor should it have been. Reasons for the passing of the USPJA
was much more involved than this.

I thought I would inject my thoughts on the subject as for a number of years was
a full time USPJA #1 judge, was an (former) Army pilot, and has been involved in
modeling and aviation since a boy. I used to tell others ""That when you were
too old to fly (competitively) you judged" <G>

Guess I better get off my soap box...

Regards,      - Dick


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