Pattern & Imac 2003 Nationals articles in AMA Mag.

Thu Oct 30 05:23:49 AKST 2003

Bob,

Good question.  But every IMAC contest throughout the
year had the same noise rule enforced.  By the time
July rolled around, everyone knew what it took to fly.
 I doubt that had any effect.  I'm more inclined to
believe that there is no real "stature" attached to
the IMAC Nats.

Ken

--- rwantz2 at comcast.net wrote:
> Wasn't there a noise rule enforced at this year's
> IMAC NATS?  Possibly this held back many IMAC
> participants for fear that they wouldn't pass.  ???
> 
> Bob W.
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: Rcmaster199 at aol.com 
>   To: discussion at nsrca.org 
>   Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2003 11:13 PM
>   Subject: Re: Pattern & Imac 2003 Nationals
> articles in AMA Mag.
> 
> 
>   Ken very interesting and valid points all. 
>   In particular, the great number of meets that IMAC
> enjoys now, reminds me of how pattern was about 20
> years. As of last count, I think there were about a
> dozen IMAC events in Florida alone, or about twice
> as many Pattern events.
> 
>   The fact that the IMAC Nats only had 37 entries
> this year, I don't believe reflects the relative
> participation in this area of the hobby in general.
> Dare it be said that the AMA Nats appears to be less
> important to IMAC than the professional events are?
> The Nats isn't  a money event like the other 
> national events you mentioned. I have to think that
> the IMAC people would rather win some real money or
> substantial prizes when they do well. 
> 
>   We in pattern would probably do the same if the
> opportunity ever presented itself. As far as I
> recall, Pattern has never had that kind of support
> from the Industry as IMAC is enjoying right now.
> It's also true that the Industry is considerably
> larger now than 20 years ago by a wide margin, so
> more marketing folks are willing to invest more up
> front for bigger returns later. The fact that the
> IMAC style planes seem to have proliferated every
> club in a big way, just makes this part of the pie
> very large, and affords that kind of support.
> 
>   When I see that some of the high level events you
> mention give away as much as 20,000$ worth of cash
> and prizes, it's small wonder they draw 70+ pilots.
> 
>   Right now, the Pattern Nats is the biggest event
> the Pattern folks have, and it means alot to those
> who compete to win trophies. If the same Marketing
> people supported some key Pattern events around the
> country in a similar way, would the Pattern Nats
> have the same meaning?? I haftawonder
> 
>   Matt K
> 
> 
> 
>     Subj:Re: Pattern & Imac 2003 Nationals articles
> in AMA Mag. 
>     Date:10/29/2003 12:36:06 PM Eastern Standard
> Time
>     From:rcplanefan at yahoo.com
>     Reply-to:discussion at nsrca.org
>     To:discussion at nsrca.org
>     Sent from the Internet 
> 
> 
> 
>     George and all,
> 
>     This is my first post on this forum as I've been
>     lurking for a while.  I currently fly IMAC and
> have
>     for the past 3 years.  I have never flown
> pattern,
>     though I am interested in getting started.  I
> chose to
>     fly IMAC because I like the "scale looking"
> airplanes
>     and love competitive aerobatics.  I just wanted
> to
>     make a couple of comments on your post.
> 
>     First of all, I didn't attend the NATS this year
> which
>     kind of sucks because I live in Cincinnati and
> would
>     have only had about a 2 or 3 hour drive. 
> However,
>     there were 21 IMAC contests in my region (North
>     Central) during this past season.  All of these
>     contests occur on weekends and, as a result,
> require
>     that I take no vacation from work to attend. 
> The
>     average attendance was about 20 people--some had
> many
>     more than 30, a few had less than 20.  So, at
> least in
>     my region, the competitive circuit is full.  The
> NATS
>     would have required taking the better part of a
> week
>     away from work.  Nah, for me I can compete in
> 15-20
>     contests during the spring, summer, and fall. 
> No need
>     to skip a week of work for the NATS.
> 
>     Economic reasons?  Well, this has been said many
> times
>     before, but the top-of-the-line IMAC plane
> really
>     doesn't cost any more that a top-of-the-line
> pattern
>     plane.  I don't think that "most" IMAC guys have
>     planes worth >$7500.  I personally know very
> few. 
>     However, most of the competitive planes are
> large. 
>     Ever tried to ship one of these via the
> airlines? 
>     Can't be done.  Which means you have to drive to
> the
>     contest--usually towing a trailer, or ship in a
> crate.
>     Not alot of guys in California who want to do
> either
>     (and I don't blame them).
> 
>     The IMAC NATS to me is really just another
> contest. 
>     And I have so many to choose from that don't
> require a
>     week away, that I chose to skip.  You are
> correct
>     about one thing--the article certainly won't
> help
>     future NATS attendence.  But there are plenty of
> other
>     "national" level contests to attend--the Joe
> Nall
>     Masters, JR Challenge, and Tuscon Shootout to
> name a
>     few.
> 
>     Anyway, I hope you guys realize that IMAC is
> really
>     the same type of guys as pattern flying
> competitive
>     aerobatics with a different type of plane.  Same
> goal
>     in mind, though--precision flight.  Please don't
> get
>     an "us vs. them" thing going.  This is supposed
> to be
>     fun--it sure a hell is for me!
> 
>     Ken McGuire
> 
> 
>     --- george kennie <geobet at gis.net> wrote:
>     > Boy, I had a similar reaction. After all the
> hype
>     > over the last several
>     > years about how Imac is the fastest growing
> venue of
>     > the sport, they had
>     > a total head count of 37??? C'mon, at a
> Nationals
>     > event???????????  As
>     > far as representatives of a SIG, it appears
> that
>     > they had absolutely
>     > zero support people. You can't feel that this
> is due
>     > to some economic
>     > condition, as all these guys seem to have
> airplanes
>     > in the >$7500
>     > category. It also sounds like they do not have
> a
>     > judging program to
>     > certify potential judges, as there were many
>     > complaints regarding unfair
>     > scoring awards, resulting in many pilots
> realizing
>     > that they had been
>     > unduly cheated.
>     > The overall tenor of the entire meet seemed to
> have
>     > a great black pall
>     > decend upon Muncie for the duration of their
> event
>     > with nobody leaving
>     > for home with a good feeling.
>     > This report certainly does not bode well as an
>     > encouraging carrot
>     > regarding future attendance.
>     > Their venue appears to require a super shot in
> the
> 
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