adding interest and complexity to Sportsman ... again and again and

[George Kennie]

Yeah Dean,
I was thinking that it might become necessary to reinstate a pre
-novice schedule for the one guy who shows up and this is his second
week flying R/C. And yes, he's definitely in the minority, as the
majority of the guys I've seen showing up to compete in Sportsman
have achieved a degree of flight proficiency that is not going to
embarrass them.Some even compete with 2 meter ships.What's that tell
you about their self evaluation?
IMHO it appears to me that the only individuals that ever travel to
a pattern event (novice types) are mostly individuals who have flown
for at least a year or so and have decided, whether realistically or
not, that they have attaineed a degree of proficiency that will
stand them in sufficiently good stead to get themselves thru the
stated requirements.Most of us don't acquire the realization that
we're really not as adept as we once thought 'til we get into at
least Advanced. It would seem that, for many of us, it takes the
higher degree of complexity to illuminate reality in a sufficient
manner for us to acknowledge the truth. That's the position I find
myself in presently.
G.

Dean Pappas wrote:

>  Hey George,When the wind blows, even a little bit, the present
> Sportsman schedule overtaxes both the concentration and skill of
> the entry level pilot.A certain amount of this is good, 'cause all
> real learning is painful, but this is a trap that the event has
> fallen into at least four times in my recollection.We keep
> changing schedules to maintain interest, and that's good.When we
> revise the schedules, we keep adding interest: that sounds good,
> but what we really almost always ended up doing was adding a tiny
> bit of complexity until ...We have to add a new class to the
> all-important bottom of the pyramid.Want to know how many times
> it's happened? Once it was called Novice, then we called it
> Pre-Novice, then the schedules all changed,and we called it Novice
> again, then we changed the name to Sportsman, and added
> Turnaround.I like the schedule Don proposes, but I'd rather have
> the Sportsmen fly two short schedules with a "holy cow!, let me
> get back from the next county." break between the schedules.Some
> Sportsmen go without a breath for a whole schedule. Okay that's a
> slight exageration.I have used the out-of-box time between those
> two schedules to coach, calm, and teach the incoming pilots. It's
> terribly useful.Oh yes, 3 rolls is infinitely more useful for
> teaching "elevator timing" than 2.  You can fake it for 2, but the
> 3rd one requires that the plane be under control after 2.Hey Ron
> van Putte ... you out there?Tell the man about the time the Earth
> shook in Lake Charles!Regards,Dean Pappas
> Sr. Design Engineer
> Kodeos Communications
> 111 Corporate Blvd.
> South Plainfield, N.J. 07080
> (908) 222-7817 phone
> (908) 222-2392 fax
> d.pappas at kodeos.com
>
>      -----Original Message-----
>      From: discussion-request at nsrca.org
>      [mailto:discussion-request at nsrca.org]On Behalf Of George
>      Kennie
>      Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 2:37 PM
>      To: discussion at nsrca.org
>      Subject: [SPAM] Re: [SPAM] Re: [SPAM] Re: Annex proposal
>      - development
>      I too find Don Ramsey's sequence very stimulating.
>      Reminds me that I have always felt that the poor guys in
>      Sportsman sometimes appear to be getting the short end
>      of the stick regarding the schedule.Many contests that I
>      have attended have them flying the sequence twice
>      because the routine is so very short. I would like to
>      see their schedule slightly modified to give them a
>      little longer sequence and a little additional
>      stimulation.
>      I would propose something like the following.
>
>      1.T.O.
>                                         U
>      2.Free
>      Pass.
>      D
>      3.Straight Flight Out.
>      C                      U
>      4.Procedure Turn.                                   T
>      5.Straight Flight Back.
>      C                      D
>      6.1/2 Reverse Cuban Eight                       T
>      7.Immelman Turn.
>      C                      U
>      8.Split
>      S.                                                  T
>      9.2 Loops.
>      C                      U
>      10.Exit The
>      Box.
>      U
>      11.Enter The
>      Box.
>      D
>      12.Non-Rolling Triangular Loop
>      C                      U
>      13.Humpty Bump 1/2 roll up                      T
>      14.One 2-Point Roll
>      C                      D
>      15.1/2 Cuban Eight.                                   T
>      16.Non-Rolling Cobra.
>      C                     U
>      17.Stall
>      Turn.                                             T
>      18.2
>      Rolls.
>      C                      D
>      19.Exit The Box.
>      20.Landing.
>
>      C                      U
>
>      C= Center,T=Turnaround, U= Upwind, D=Downwind.
>
>      My rationale is that this is the point that we need to
>      encourage this
>      class of fliers to work on their down elevator timing by
>      introducing
>      2 rolls.This shouldn't be too much for them to handle as
>      they are
>      currently doing a 2 point roll. Also the 2 loops will
>      sharpen their
>      precision by making them work harder at presentation
>      placement.
>      The Procedure Turn will teach them something that will
>      be required,
>      and the Humpty should present no major problems as they
>      are already
>      doing a 1/2 Reverse Cuban.They should be learning the
>      Stall Turn and
>      the Triangular Loop will further strengthen their
>      centering skills.There are
>      seven maneuvers before taking a breather and seven more
>      to complete
>      the sequence.
>      Now these fellows can fly ONE sequence like the rest of
>      us and the
>      time required should be no longer than the time required
>      to fly a double
>      schedule.
>
>      Sportsman pilots out there, let me know what you think.
>      Georgie
>      P.S.I wonder if there are any Sportsman guys monitoring
>      this list??
>
>

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