Electric Pattern

[Ron Van Putte]

BUDDYonRC at aol.com wrote:

> After all this I couldn't stand it any longer.
> If YS could and would have furnished Jason a very quiet one pound 
> Kerosene burning 10 HP engine, Would we be having this discussion? I 
> doubt it! Innovation is what progress is made of.
> Progress in our case could result in attracting a great number of 
> E-Power people to pattern who prior to this had no interest because 
> they thought E-Power was not competitive or possible in Pattern.
> So if Jason's efforts and performance should he be successful and 
> E-Power results in expanding our numbers be sure to remember that he 
> was the one who did it.
> Some call his venture a Gamble. Again I call it Innovation in an all 
> out effort to give him that edge to become the best in the world. and 
> remember nothing ventured nothing gained.
> I personally wish him the best


I also wish him the best.  That being said, I have to wonder about the 
planning that went into the radical change he made between the F3A Team 
Selection Finals and now.  I hope there was a lot going on to integrate 
the airplane, motor, propeller, speed controller and batteries, not to 
mention the charging system (Europe uses a different electric system 
from ours).  

To those of us on the outside, it looks like a risky gamble.  Since 
members of our discussion list are never shy to jump in, those in the 
know will surely let the rest of us uninformed sideliners know the 
errors in our perceptions.

Those of us who have invested our time, money and sweat in putting on 
the events which select the U.S. team are not owed anything more by the 
competitors than their honest effort to bring the F3A team championship 
back to the U.S.  

I have watched and admired Jason's talent for many years.  However, in 
that same time, I have watched him do things I'm sure he'd like to do 
over, like forgetting to wear his competitor's bib for one round of the 
prelims at the 1999 F3A World Championships, which could have cost him a 
place in the Finals .  I hope the change to the electric powered 
airplane doesn't end up as one of the things he wishes he'd thought more 
about.

Ron Van Putte

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.f3a.us/pipermail/nsrca-discussion/attachments/20030806/e3201589/attachment.html