Does Pattern competition cost too much?

[Jay Marshall]

Let me try to put this into the perspective of a brand new pattern player
who has yet to enter his first contest:
 
Equipment Cost - I hear a lot of chatter about new pattern ARFs and such,
but in fact most of them are out of the range of new flyers. Let's face it,
I know I'm going to wear out or crash a few before I'm ready for the big
time and a $500 - $600 ARF doesn't make much sense for 401. I ended up with
a Javelin II ($130) and an OS 70FS Ultimate (which I already had). Not for
403+, but a fine starter. There isn't much else out there. I would like to
see reviews on entry level equipment in the K-Factor. 
 
Flying Sites - My club site is really unsuitable for pattern practice - too
many tall pines once you get off of the runway. Pattern requires space that
a lot of clubs don't have and I will probably have to change. Ideally the
field would be next to a sod farm! 
 
Mentors - While the people on this forum and on the NSRCA web site are
helpful, the lack of an experienced flying buddy to critique your flights,
help with the trim and equipment selection, etc., makes it difficult.
Fortunately I managed to hook up with someone in another club, who just
moved into the area, who has been flying pattern for a number of years.
 
Interest - As soon as I tried to raise interest in pattern in the area I was
faced with all kinds of negatives. Good flyers didn't want to take the time
and effort to compete. Yes, IMAC plane are very popular, even for sport
flying, as evidenced by the Joe Nall fly-in which is for "giant scale".
Look at the Tower Hobbies catalog and see the ratio of 45-90 pattern
aircraft to Extras! Let's face it, they serve the market demands.
 
No Contests - The one contest within my travel range (Myrtle Beach) was
blown away (well, I heard later that there were two rounds on Sunday).
Someone made a "brilliant" decision to schedule the district championships
over 8 hours of driving away rather than in the middle if the district.
Unless one is of independent means Friday practice is out and an early
departure may be necessary. I guess I am going to have to do a district
"crossover"
 
In spite of the aforementioned, I intend to continue pattern flying. I enjoy
competing against myself and improving my flying if nothing else. The rules
and classes provide goals and standards. Perhaps the weight rules need to be
raised so that carbon fiber isn't required, and the lower classes should
have smaller engine and plane size limits to encourage entry level interest.

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