Sportsman revisited / Growing Pattern

Wed Jan 12 18:42:20 AKST 2005

Pete - 

EXCELLENT! Thanks for sharing! 

Where do you live? 

I'm in NJ; a flying buddy is in south central PA - are we getting close
at all??? 

Keep the faith! 

Rick Wallace 

-----Original Message-----
From: discussion-request at nsrca.org [mailto:discussion-request at nsrca.org]
On Behalf Of Pete Cosky
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 8:31 PM
To: discussion at nsrca.org
Subject: RE: Sportsman revisited / Growing Pattern

If your interested in a perspective from someone who wants to fly
pattern but doesn't..I'll give you one.

The Sportsman sequence is fine the way it is. I'm a pretty good sport
pilot and struggled with flying a straight line for quite sometime. That
is the toughest part to learn and it takes some doing, especially where
I fly as it's windy all time. I forgot what a rudder was until I tried
to fly a straight line.

I thought about flying pattern back in early 80's but got out of RC for
about 15 years. Back then local clubs were more active and you heard
about meets within a reasonable distance. Now the closest meet to me is
four hours away and no one locally seems too excited about doing
anything. 

John is very correct that the NSRCA needs a higher profile. My friend
Buddy is the one responsible for me being interested in pattern again
AND the one who told me about the NSRCA. I've read a couple K Factors
and the ones I saw were nice if you wanted to know who competed where
and how they did. What does that offer someone who wants to know about
gear or construction or flying techniques? One did have a nice how to on
building a coupler for split elevators. I also have to ask why there
isn't a higher profile in Model Aviation. Whey isn't there an aerobatics
article every month with an ad for the NSRCA on the page? Have I joined?
No. Why? What is the incentive? If I can get to a meet and wind up
liking it will I join>? Undoubtedly. 

If you want to see pattern grow then you have to find a way to get it
closer to those who you want to attract. I for one don't mind taking a
trip, but I am not going to travel 4 to 6 hours one way to see if I like
something. Other than the time, I am also on call 24/7. I'm sure there
are a lot of others that would go if there was something closer to them.
I tried getting some guys together who were interested in pattern from
the PA, OH, WV area together at my local field and only one showed out
of six.

My local club was down to 46 members a few years ago. We got a young guy
in as president who got an article in the paper and put up a web site
and a nice sign right next to the road and grew to 92 members in a two
year span. All I heard from the new members was "We didn't know you guys
were here" and "I'd have given up if it weren't for having someone show
me how to fly".

As has been mentioned before here and on RCU; there is a very real
misconception that you NEED a 2M plane to compete. I bought two myself
and they fly a whole lot better than my KAOS did, but they weren't
warranted for either the Sportsman or Intermediate sequences. Because of
Bob Pastorello's thread on RCU I just bought an Excelleron 90 and I'm
sure it will be just as capable in the lower classes as anything else. 

As for me right now I have a Sequel, a Prophecy, an Excelleron and a
Javelin II and am hoping I can make a meet this year. If I can't I'll
keep burning fuel and practicing because I enjoy the challenge.

Just my $.02

Pete Cosky (a confirmed pattern junkie)

-----Original Message-----

From: discussion-request at nsrca.org [mailto:discussion-request at nsrca.org]

On Behalf Of John Pavlick

Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 8:28 PM

To: discussion at nsrca.org

Subject: Sportsman revisited / Growing Pattern

Guys,

 Here are some (more) ideas regarding Sportsman and new pattern pilots.
If you're sick of this then don't read, but if not... The two obvious
threats to membership in the NSRCA are: 1. Losing current members. 2.
NOT finding new ones.

I can add some insight into problem #2 -

Before we condemn the current Sportsman pattern and invest time trying
to build a new one, give this some thought. If you want to increase
interest in pattern, the first thing that needs to be done is make the
NSRCA a little bit more noticeable to the aero-modeling community in
general. I can't speak for all of the country, but in my area (CT)
almost no one has heard of pattern. Seriously. About 15 years ago this
wasn't the case, but right now, that's how it is. When I do meet a
pattern flyer they're usually older than me and remember the good old
days but can't find anyone to fly with or any contests to go to. It took
me a while to find out about you guys and I was LOOKING. The LHS owner
thought pattern was some type of racing. Everyone is either flying Park
Flyers or 3D. Luckily I got a hold of a K-Factor and a D1 contest
schedule or I would still be flying my Kaos at the baseball field. The
Pattern Primers are a VERY GOOD THING!!! We need more of them, or
something like them. A lot of people are a little bit afraid to go to a
"real" contest. Remember, pattern still has a certain aura surrounding
it that intimidates beginners. When you leave your first Pattern Primer,
you know where you stand. You either go home and practice or you give
up. Maybe there needs to be a follow-up of some kind if someone doesn't
come back. Get enough information from Pattern Primer entrants so that
someone can call them if they don't show up at any more contests. Extra
work yes, but this might provide some answers. Right now we're guessing
at a lot of things. I honestly don't think the Sportsman schedule is at
fault. Could it be better? Maybe. Does it need to be? Maybe not. Since
we don't need to submit any rule changes until September (is this
correct?) why don't we use the time to gather some more information.
Maybe put some more of those poles up on RCU. Ask the general public
what they think about the Sportsman schedule and entering a pattern
contest. They're the ones we're trying to attract. In the meantime,
anyone who is working with people that plan on attending their first
contest this season, try to assess their progress and what is giving
them the most trouble. Then we'll have some real life answers instead of
guessing. I don't think there's any ONE thing that we can do to improve
things immediately. It is a complicated problem, but as with anything
complicated it can usually be broken down into small elements. Fix as
many as possible. It won't happen overnight but it WILL happen if we
work together. I don't want to see pattern disappear from the AMA rule
book and I don't think anyone else does either. Sportsman is the seed
that keeps pattern alive. OK so it's not the prettiest thing to watch
sometimes, but we all have to start somewhere.

As far as problem #1 - I think I've already invited enough criticism.
I'll leave that to someone higher up on the food chain...

John Pavlick

http://www.idseng.com <http://www.idseng.com/> 

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