Bureaucratic /Begginers

[Chris Larson]

Here's another beginners story -
I soloed in the fall of  99, after 10 years of looking at the Goldberg Eagle II I built with my wife in 1989.  I farted around, boaring holes in the sky, building a couple kits and a few arfs, and did some instructing at the field.   A friend by the name of Dick Beldon flys masters in our district, and was always out practicing in his Typhoon 2 + 2. Fascinated by how he flew, I looked into pattern and even IMAC basic and sportsman sequences to see how difficult they were.  They looked pretty easy!  <NOT>  I settled on Pattern because of Dicks involvement, and it just seemed more precise.
After much frustration with trying to perfect straight flight out with my World Models T-34, I realized flying with a purpose is more difficult than it looks.  Here-in lies the clincher - I was challenged and fascinated from that point on!  Don't laugh, but I thought I was "really" getting into it by buying Hangar 9 Aresti!  Anyway, I got it together and flying 4 days before the Bud Garric Classic in Sacramento, CA this summer.  I practiced the Sportsmans sequence 3 nights after work trying to "perfect" it.  Haa haa!  I had a friends son Matthew Ylst, calling for me.  I had soloed him just this spring.
The time came for the event.  Dick Gave me some words of wisdom before I went up and Matt got my plane ready for starting.  I flew a absolutely HORRIBLE sequence, but was hooked!   I placed fourth in that event out of 5 in our class.
Well Matt was pretty fascinated by the whole weekend too, so he went out and got a Tiger 2, and I helped him get it together.  We flew together in the recent competition in Napa, CA, and are having a ball.  He placed fourth out of 5, and I took second place.  We are kind of co-coaching each other, and look forward to next season.  Dick has been a tremendous help and source of encouragement as well.
Matt and I will both be flying our clunkers this next season in Sportsman, but at the same time are gearing up for the 2004 season.  He is working on getting a Zen 90, and I will be building a Typhoon 2 + 2, with some help and advice from Dick.
Moral of the story?
-    I got the bug from watching a guy practice at the field, and he took the time to answer a LOT of questions give advice.
-    At each event, contrary to common rumor, even the most advanced flyers were extremely friendly and genuinely wanted to help.
-    By bringing a friend, he inadvertently got hooked.  Maybe we should start a "Bring a Friend To Pattern" Campaign?  Kinda like the AMA's Sign a Friend?
-    I have just joined the NSRCA, and feel now what you guys must feel, like I am an ambassador to the sport.
Hope this all made sense, 
Chris Larson
Plymouth, CA
NSRCA 3484
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