Class Structure

[George Kennie]

Verne,
I certainly like a lot of what you propose. However, I also feel
that there is probably no simple solution to the scheduling problem.
Keith raises some points that I feel are highly constructive (seems
like he's always doing that). Saving the snaps for Master's is
probably not a bad idea, but there appears to be an overall dumbing
down of all the sequences to the detriment of our intended purpose.
I don't know if "growing the sport" in pattern is an attainable
goal, at least not everywhere and at the same time.
If you design a sequence for Sportsman that requires a rookie to
take-off, fly one pass of straight flight out and straight flight
back and do one flat horizontal eight at center and land, and that's
it, how many guys do you think you will get to show up???  We're
dealing with individuals who must possess a certain personality type
(high ego, high self-confidence) and the majority of the "Sport
Flyer" contingent consists of guys who are severly reluctant to
embarass themselves.They may show up to watch other guys embarass
themselves, but to make themselves vulnerable is a definite no-no.
As Keith points out, when sequences are too easily accomplished it
becomes a look-alike affair with the outcome becoming difficult to
judge with any degree of distinction. I think each sequence requires
at least one maneuver that is significant in it's performance
requirement in order to judge and establish a skill differential.
I really appreciate your input and maybe something like you propose
needs to be tried to see if it does indeed work. I'm certainly not
against it, but I would probably be an observer with some degree of
guarded skepticism. However in the event that it was successful, I
would embrace it enthusiastically. All ideas are good and have their
own merit!
Georgie

Verne Koester wrote:

>   Georgie,
> Here's a novel idea. Leave Intermediate alone and take the snaps
> out of
> Advanced. A pilot coming out of Intermediate into Advanced already
> has to
> learn Slow Rolls, 4 Point Rolls, and a longer schedule with more
> crosswind
> exposure maneuvers which is plenty.
>
> The step from Advanced to Masters is minimal at best. The step
> from
> Intermediate to Advanced is monumental. The end result is a bunch
> of pilots
> in Intermediate that are getting bored with their schedule but
> still not
> ready for Advanced so they want to add snaps to it. Only problem
> is that
> someone coming out of Sportsman will likely be scared away if
> Intermediate
> is made any tougher.
>
> It's no surprise to me that the number of Masters pilots at any
> given
> contest are far greater than the classes that precede it. Most of
> us who are
> there came up through a balanced system of steps. We're all out of
> whack
> right now. Unfortunately, I seem to be one of only a handful of
> Masters and
> higher pilots that still remembers how hard it was to learn slow
> and 4 point
> rolls which gets introduced at the Advanced level. Take the snaps
> and spins
> out of Advanced and introduce them at the Masters level, put some
> box exits
> back where they need to be, and you'll have a logical, balanced,
> and
> transitional  set of schedules that takes a pilot from Sportsman
> to however
> high he or she wants to go.
>
> Verne Koester
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "George Kennie" <geobet at gis.net>
> To: <discussion at nsrca.org>
> Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 2:28 PM
> Subject: Re: adding interest and complexity to Sportsman ... again
> and again
> and
>
>
> > <<I'm not flying masters, I'm flying advanced, the reason is
> > Masters is
> > more difficult than I think I can reasonably fly at this time,
> so
> > I'll work my way up. >>
> >
> > I respectfully disagree with your assessment of schedule
> difficulty.
> > I get the feeling that you haven't taken the time to sit down
> and
> > really study the current Master's sequence. I commend your
> attitude
> > of working your way up!!!IMHO, I find the current Master's much
> less
> > threatening than the Advanced sequence.
> >
> > Somebody mentioned "going to contests without practicing", and
> > indeed I can remember, back in the 60's going to a contest
> myself
> > having never performed the required routine and doing quite well
> at
> > the time.However those were significantly different times and I
> > myself would not desire to return to the mindset of that
> period.It
> > was called a "Pattern Contest" and the attendance was probably a
>
> > couple of hundred guys, but the mindset was more like a current
> day
> > "Fun- Fly". Nobody really took it all that seriously. Somewhere
> > along the line, the few individuals that did have a more serious
>
> > approach organized and brought a more serious aspect to the
> sport
> > realizing that the basis for guys going out and flying a routine
>
> > that was in fact JUDGED meant that the concept must
> > be"COMPETITION".  I think that this is probably the reason you
> still
> > find the most heavily attended events to be "Fun-Fly's". When it
>
> > gets too serious there are a lot of guys that start to feel
> > threatened regarding their status within the group structure and
>
> > when the pressure becomes, in their estimation, greater than
> feels
> > comfortable to them, they gravitate to a different venue that
> > restores the level of comfort they deem appropriate.
> > The same thing seems to happen, in my judgement, with  schedule
> > complexity.Some of us realize that if the schedules become more
> and
> > more complex, at some point the difficulty factor will become
> > significant enough to threaten our currently hard won
> achievement
> > status, and indeed this is true.The decision that probably needs
> to
> > be reasoned through is,in light of this truth, should the
> pursuit of
> > excellence be sacrificed to satisfy the inadequacies of those of
> us
> > who are clammoring to maintain their elevation?
> > I consider myself a part of this equation and recognize my own
> > inadequacies, however I  also realize that this same pursuit of
> > excellence will not be enhanced by any concession to tilt the
> > playing field in my favor. Noone will be served by that tack.
> Least
> > of all ME! My flying prowess ranks somewhere between Sportsman
> and
> > Intermediate(my assessment), and though I find a couple of the
> FAI
> > maneuvers really tough to execute in a graceful manner, I still
> feel
> > that there is no maneuver that I could not learn to do and given
>
> > another 50 years of practice I might even be in a position to
> > challenge Jason.
> > It's about STRIVING guys. That's what COMPETITION is! And it's
> > purpose is to determine the most skilled individual, with the
> rest
> > of us rated in descending order beneath the rating of the BEST!
> So,
> > as you can see, I'm not in favor of wussing out to make things
> > easier for anybody who finds their position at the pinnacle
> > precarious(and that includes ME).
> > Now, all that being said, I do feel that we may have a void at
> the
> > bottom and should probably go back again and reconsider a
> pre-novice
> > class for the guy who has only been involved in the sport for 2
> > weeks and has never practiced flying a straight line.This
> shouldn't
> > take much additional time as the number of guys showing up to
> > participate in this class will indeed be very few (which begs
> the
> > question, how far do we have to concede in order to grow the
> > ranks?).
> > The Sportsman sequence I proposed a couple of days ago DOES
> appear
> > to be too difficult for some of the respondants(but not all) and
>
> > maybe the old Novice schedule should be made available for
> anybody
> > showing up to try (as a pre-novice event).I also think that the
> > Intermediate should introduce it's participant to the 45
> downline
> > snap or at least a center snap on a horizontal baseline as
> > preparation for Advanced.
> > Only a bunch of opinions, guys! Don't mean I'm right!
> > G.
> >
> >
> >
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