bureaucratic organization/ beginners!

[Terry Terrenoire]

to all in the group.

The vast majority of us participating in this forum have been at it for a
while now. We have chosen to either overcome, or overlook, the many
reasons for NOT flying pattern. My guess is that for most of us it is a
combination of enjoyment and challenge. 

I am one of those who just do not have enough time to do any real
practicing. As a result, I have been flying Advance schedules since 1990.
I won our district championship in Sportsman, now Intermediate, in 1989.
I think that was the year I beat Jason Shulman at a contest in NJ! But
that is another story! This year I attended just 4 contests and flew more
contest flights on the pattern ships than I did practice flights. I did
manage to win one round at the last contest, so I know I am capable of
being "competitive", I just need more practice time.

Since the mid-90s I have written a regular pattern column for 2 national
publications. Going on my 4th year writing for R/C Excellence. The
attempt I have made in all of these column is to convince the non-pattern
flier, to give pattern a try. 

In the past 2 years I have built, flown, and reviewed, about 10 ARF
designs. Any of which would make acceptabel entry level mounts. All but 2
have been 40 size. The other 2 were designed for the 90 size 4 strokes. 

My feeling is that if we can get them to give it a try with a minimal
investment of money and time, maybe we can get them to stick around. In
that vein, I would sure like to hear from some of the newcomers.
especially the D-8 Sportsman and Intermediate class winners who were
indeed flying "less than competitive" airplanes his year. Would really
like to have a photo of these two along with the planes they were flying.

If any of you have any ideas you think I can use in the column, that goes
out to non-pattern pilots, please feel free to contact me "off line".
Photos of the entry-level fliers are always welcome.

Terry T.




On Sun, 27 Oct 2002 09:29:32 -0800 "RC Steve Sterling"
<rcsteve at tcrcm.org> writes:
Tom, you have a point about the "just plain tired." In our club, one of
the most frequent excuses is the level of commitment required-- time,
equipment and money. Its not true in district 8, since you can easily be
competitive in Sportsman with a 4 star or Tiger 60, a minimum of practice
and attendance of two or three meets. But its the impression it takes a
lot of time, equipment and money that we are fighting. In reality, the
District 8 Sportsman Champion flew a fun-fly Wonder for 3 of the 4 meets
he attended. The District 8 Intermediate Champ flew a 20+ year old Hippo
Tippo. Neither practiced more than once a week. Somehow, we got to turn
this lore that it takes a $2k airplane and abondoning the family to fly
pattern.

 -----Original Message-----
From: discussion-request at nsrca.org
[mailto:discussion-request at nsrca.org]On Behalf Of Thomas C. Weedon
Sent: Sunday, October 27, 2002 1:10 AM
To: discussion at nsrca.org
Subject: RE: bureaucratic organization!


Just a few comments in responce to the questions concerning Pattern Drop
Outs. One reason not mentioned is, "Just plain tired". Tired of trudging
hundreds of miles every other weekend, coming home late on Sunday nights
and having to get up early Monday morning an fighting yourself back to
work, tired of coming home from work most every night, skipping dinner,
packing up the plane and heading to the field for practice, tired of
meeting deadlines, tired of .... (you name it). Our hobby has a way of
wearing some people down. I guess that's why I look foreward to winter up
here in the North county. I can then spend some time on my other hobbies.


Now, for the lighter side, we are seeing a resurgance in Pattern activity
up here in D4. Our latest problem, "Too Many Contests". That's great!!!!
So, Pattern will have a great future, long after I'm gone, and that makes
me feel satisfied. How about you all?

Tom
-----Original Message-----
From: discussion-request at nsrca.org
[mailto:discussion-request at nsrca.org]On Behalf Of Bill Glaze
Sent: Saturday, October 26, 2002 12:58 PM
To: discussion at nsrca.org
Subject: Re: bureaucratic organization!


Certainly not original thinking on my part, but identifying similar
organizations who are having current success in the areas we want to
increase, would be a good way to start.  Polls are interesting and
useful, and sometimes indicative, but in many cases it is difficult to
really pinpoint the truth.  Problem is, analysis of information obtained.

Some respondees themselves may not be able to answer the question of why
they dropped out; another difficulty is that there probably could be
1,000 different answers from 1,000 different people. 
I was favorably impressed by the K-Factor poll I received; it at least
recognizes there is, in fact, a problem. I feel it was very well done. 
Bob's idea of a poll is a good start; at least it isn't addressing the
choir, it is addressing former choir members to find out why they quit,
and addressing other members of the congregation to find out why they
haven't joined the choir. 
I have doubts about the number of responses; I certainly hope they are
many.  That in itself will be interesting. 
Bill Glaze 
John Ferrell wrote: 
You have defined the problem in usable terms. If growth is a good
thingThen identify the popular direction and pursue itElse the future is
random or essetially adrift. Since the potential subject base is not
inclined to respond well to surveysgathering the necessary input will be
tedious. John Ferrell 
6241 Phillippi Rd 
Julian NC 27283 
Phone: (336)685-9606 
Dixie Competition Products 
NSRCA 479 AMA 4190  W8CCW 
"My Competition is Not My Enemy"  
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