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

[Rcmaster199 at aol.com]

Sportsman needs to be maintained as the entry class to Pattern events and  
overcomplicating it will not be a step in the right direction. I feel same as  
Steve that it's about right in complexity. I would add that it should  remain 
unchanged for a consiiderable amount of time (pick a period--10 years is  a 
nice round number)
 
Rationale for long time period before changes (if ever):  Pilots seldom stay 
in the class more than two years so the ones that move on,  see a fresh 
schedule regardless. The ones that drop, well, it makes little  difference to them. 
It would serve virtually no purpose to change this  schedule
 
Rationale for keeping the sequence "simple": A friend of  mine has tried to 
get into pattern competition for a couple years now. He is a  very good sport 
flier, can 3D his 1/3 scale aerobats just fine and knows some  construction 
technique, engine maintenance and radio  diagnostics already.
 
But the demands of pattern planes are different and he has had to  overcome 
several issues.  After a couple of years of frustration and  perseverence, he 
has started to practice in earnest. He has commented to me  how difficult the 
"simple" Sportsman schedule is. I admire his perseverence;  most would have 
quit.
 
Point is, many Sportsmen face alot issues with fundamentals that  the other 
classes have learned to overcome. Their learning curve is  vertical already. 
Lets leave the complicated stuff for the higher classes. The  Sportsmen who move 
on, will see that soon enough.
 
MattK 
 
 
In a message dated 1/9/2005 12:29:00 AM Eastern Standard Time,  
rcsteve at tcrcm.org writes:

I  have to agree with John here.  I'm concerned that we keep making the  
entry-level class too hard for the real newbie that we are trying to  hook.
 
I  flew my first contest 7 months after solo. This was back in about 1997 or  
so.  The individual manuevers were no easier, but you got to go out of  the 
box pretty frequently and get lined back up. For someone that isn't that  
skilled (people we need to bring into the entry ranks to fill the pipe), after  a 
couple maneuvers, they get behind the airplane and are going into the next  
maneuver in trouble. Leaving the box gave us the opportunity to calm down and  
get straightened out.
 
If  your skills were better than that, start in Intermediate. Same message 
today  to those that think Sportsman is too  easy.  It should be really  easy!
 
Sportsman should be constructed so that regular club sport  flyers can come 
taste pattern with little or no practice when the local  club holds a meet with 
their 4 star 40's and Tiger 60's.
 
This  year, I tried to bring a couple of our yearling's into our local  
contest.  They just couldn't handle the continuity of it all, and both  gave up. Oh 
we could be elitist and say they should have practiced more and  got better 
airplanes, but is that really going to seed the  pipe?
 
Maybe what we need is another (non-rated?) entry class?   Fun-pattern class 
or something?



 
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