Health of Pattern...D3

[Atwood, Mark]

I agree...but I'm not sure it's the French.

When I first started flying pattern...it was because those were the coolest airplanes.  Period.  I got caught up in the competitiveness...but the original allure was the airplanes...curares, Tipo's, Phoenix, etc.

Then they all started looking like the same pencil thin plane...one after another.  And the scale aerobatic planes where coming out in mass.

I remember the first time I took my El Nino, which was considered wide body at the time (narrow compared to my Rev Pro now) with fixed gear...and suddenly I was getting a LOT of attention at the field again.  It was a cool looking airplane. (is)  The new planes look much more like real airplanes, and have reclaimed the sex appeal that are old planes once had.

Not sure who said it, but it's all a cycle...thankfully tight jeans and short leather skirts are back in style too. :)

-M


-----Original Message-----
From:	middletn [mailto:middletn at gbrcaa.org]
Sent:	Tue 10/14/2003 7:35 PM
To:	discussion at nsrca.org
Cc:	
Subject:	Re: Health of Pattern...D3

Hate to say it,  but I'm thinking that we owe some of the revival of pattern 
to the French.  Why?  Well in my opinion, the shear volume of sexy new 
aircraft will turn heads at any local field, and there's the hook.  They 
have somehow managed to combine looks with functionality.  Sorry, but Chip's 
Bipe is something only a mother could love. (Heading for bunker) 


Kenneth Blackwell writes: 

> Folks, 
> 
> I would have to say that pattern in D3 is in good shape. We had a total of 15 contests including the District Championships. In addition, I understand that there may be another FL contest before the end of the year. 
> 
> 5 - Florida
> 3 - Alabama
> 3 - Tennessee
> 3 - Alabama
> 2 - Louisiana
> 1 - Georgia
> 1 - Arkansas 
> 
> There were 4 new or renewed contests and one that was lost due to their loosing the field.  
> 
> Most contests were reasonably attended with 20-25 contestants, however some newer contests had as few as 14. It's a building process to get attendance. Several of the bordering contests had good representation from surrounding districts such as Sulphur (D3) with people from Texas (D6). 
> 
> We had 40 contestants at the District 3 Championships held at the new club field near Pensacola, FL. At that contest we had people from all over the district and one (Brett Bowen) that flew all the way from Washington State. 
> 
> Also, D3 was fairly well represented at the NATS. 
> 
> I attended 10 contests in D3 plus the NATS and my season finale at the D2 Championships at Burlington, NC for a total of 12 contests this year. 
> 
> Cheers, 
> 
> Ken Blackwell
 
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