pattern future

[Bill Glaze]

One of the things that concerns me is the "we've got it good here in our
district."  While I applaud how that (or any particular district) is doing, if a
pie in the oven begins to burn the crust at the edges, sooner or later it will
be burning the center also.  That is why I feel a continual inspection of what
we are doing is essential.  It can help the lagging districts/contests, without
hurting those that are doing well.
Bill Glaze

Wayne Galligan wrote:

> I'm with you there Bill.   I flew a few pattern contests in the mid 70's in
> the Midwest (Iowa and Minnesota, Omaha) and the few contests that I could
> get to where quite large in attendance.  The one thing they did there was
> have pattern and scale contests intertwined at a few of them.  Thus the
> large turnout. There was even a separate contest for bi-planes with large
> turnouts too. SIg Manufacturing and the Omahawks held a few of these.
> Getting 3 rounds in a day was a lot of work and if you didn't make the 3 min
> slot.... you where out for that round.
>  We are pretty lucky here in D6 with the amount of pattern interest.  The
> only thing that scares me is the lack of sportsman turnout this year that
> could be interpreted as a future concern in attendance.  We will have a
> large Advanced and Masters class next year and probably see anywhere from
> 10-14 contestants in each class. Looking forward to next year.
>
> Wayne Galligan
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Bill Glaze
>   To: discussion at nsrca.org
>   Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2003 9:18 AM
>   Subject: Re: Fw: moderator....
>
>   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
>
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