Fw: moderator....

[Bill Glaze]

It's possible that the decline has been so steady, and relatively small,
that it hasn't been until recently that long-time competitors have
looked around and asked "where has everybody gone?"
When I got back into pattern ~1991, I was surprised at the small size of
contests, relative to what I had been used to around 1960.  I recall
being the contest director in a contest held Summer of 1959.  It was
about average for that time and place, (LARKS Club, Los Angeles Radio
Kontrol Society) and had 144 contestants.  And, it was held at a place
called Turlock, in central California. Look it up on a map; it's pretty
obscure.
We used to have more folks show up for club contests than now show up
for open contests.  And, at that time, the closest thing to an ARF was a
kit that had die-cut parts that you didn't have to cut out with a razor
blade or X-Acto knife.  You actually had to.......gasp........build it.
And, still they came.
As far as pattern not dying out, well, maybe.  But, I can remember when
U-Control Speed was very big in my (then) area.  Now..........U-Control
What?
Folks on this list will come up with a lot of reasons for the above.
They each will, in all probability, be correct to some degree.
The fact that the trend has yet to be reversed is not an excuse for
accepting the status quo.
The opinions above are mine alone.  The numbers and incidents quoted are
facts, not imagination.

Bill Glaze

Del Rykert wrote:

> In some areas of the US it is on the wane. Clubs can't justify holding
> a contest if only a handful of contestants show up. Many clubs that
> used to hold pattern contest no longer do. >From that perspective the
> pattern scene isn't well. Just look at the NSRCA numbers and one can
> see the major decline.      Del K. Rykert
>      AMA - 8928
>      NSRCA - 473
>      Kb2joi - General
>
>      ----- Original Message -----
>      From: David Harmon
>      To: discussion at nsrca.org
>      Sent: Monday, October 13, 2003 9:35 PM
>      Subject: RE: moderator....
>
>      Jon
.you just ain’t getting it
..Pattern is not going to die
>      out
.ever.
>
>      Regards
>
>      DaveHarmon
>      NSRCA 586
>      K6XYZ at comcast.net
>      Torrance, Ca.
>      -----Original Message-----
>
>      From:discussion-request at nsrca.org
>      [mailto:discussion-request at nsrca.org] On Behalf Of JonUhler
>      Sent:Monday, October 13, 20039:21 PM
>      To:discussion at nsrca.org
>      Subject: Re: moderator....
>
>      Nope, not again...
>      I think pattern is a great tool for teaching pilots a lot
>      about flying.  The short time that I spent practicing has
>      taught me a lot.  It is so much more fun trying to learn to
>      rudder correct than it is learning to hover.....I was
>      teaching a young kid at our field the other day.  I never
>      really taught the use of the rudder until I started flying
>      pattern.  I just figured they would start using it someday,
>      now I am trying to get people to mess around with it early
>      in their training.
>
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