Displacement during snap rolls (was Why is it so quiet?)

[Ed Hartley]

Amen Ed!

I believe we have gone to far and it seems like no new AMA pattern can be created without a snap or two. I would like to go back to the old days when it was pretty to watch, graceful and as you so eloquently stated, EASILY VISIBLE to judge. I agree, one could certainly judge more accurately in those days! I too am on the side of the bar that has sunk into the cream.

I would like to see the requirement for all judges to agree on a zero reinstated. It would stop the zero and nine thing. I was involved with a few of those last year and yet another pattern pilot or two was upset! In all cases a snap was involved.

I am not surprised at the drop in contest attendance, number of contest, and the NSRCA membership. I contribute much of it to the difficulty of the patterns. I know of several who stopped flying F.A.I., went back to Masters, tried that for a year and then just quit competing! Several friends of mine who flew Masters have also packed their tents and left. In chatting with folks in these categories, the general consensus is it takes to much time at the practice field just to be in the middle of the pack and not embarrass themselves. These are members of the younger generation by and large, not old folks like me. Of course I consider anyone under fifty in the younger generation!

In Senior Pattern they have simplified the patterns. A couple of years ago they had a loop with 1-1/2 snap. No two judged it the same way and attendance dropped! It was taken out last year and attendance is climbing back up! Hmmmm. Oh Well! 

Best to all,
Ed

----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Ed Miller 
    To: discussion at nsrca.org 
    Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 7:10 PM
    Subject: Re: Displacement during snap rolls (was Why is it so quiet?)


    Seems the never ending snap discussion was beat to death here last year too. This will be long but hear me out. No doubt what I'm about to say will at the very least be controversial. That's fine with me as I think we need to think outside the box more often. My wife enjoys watching figure skating. Being the "supportive spouse", on occasion I will watch for a bit with her. It seems in figure skating, the multiple rotation jumps, triples and even quadruple rotation variations is where all the judging ( and viewing ) emphasis is placed in a skaters routine. It also seems the judging is focused on 2 things, the entry to the jump and "sticking" the landing. Frankly, those that say they can see every element of the skaters rotation are, IMHO, full of blank. It plain happens too fast. I have better eyesight than most, in my younger days I could pick up the stitching and rotation of a baseball thrown at 90mph. I'll admit, some of that sharpness is gone but, I honestly cannot pick up all the rotation elements in a figure skaters jump in real time ( we all can when they replay it in slow-mo ). Ever since the snap roll was introduced into precision aerobatics, an oxymoron IMHO, we have had the same problems judging snaps as professional figure skating judges have judging triple toe loops. I have watched ( and learned some ) from the real snap masters, aka Lockhart and Pappas, yet, when in the judges chair I look for departure in pitch ( entry ) and "the landing " of the maneuver ( exit ) . So, to me, we've introduced snaps into precision aerobatics to separate the wanna be pattern jockey hackers like me from the gifted, talented folks like Lockhart, Pappas, Hyde, etc. but in fact what we've done is actually dumbed down our judging criteria. These talented flyers will find the setup and stick movements to present a maneuver such that it defies the laws of gravity. However, most of us are only humans and as judges, only judge what can we realistically see and honestly assess in a snap roll. Most all snap rolls I've seen done and performed rotate at such a speed that again, the exit is the focus. Once in awhile you can pick up the obvious aileron roll exit. There are many more elements of a snap roll besides entry and exit yet as I read/delete/read/delete, etc. the discussion we are having here, it boils down to entry and exit positions. The ex-masters maneuver of 2 rolls in opposite directions. It is a thing of beauty when done properly  takes a lot of time to perform, especially compared to our beloved snap rolls, has many more places for the pilot to screw up that are EASILY VISIBLE to the judges besides the entry and exit points. That's precision aerobatics IMHO. AMA pattern was always smooth and graceful until someone decided as the FAI does, so must the AMA. Some will say it's progress, new maneuvers, it's just raising the bar to let the cream rise to the top. I'm on the side that the bar has sunk into the cream. Maybe the some of the lost NSRCA members felt similarly.
    Ed M
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