Landing Direction

[Ed Alt]

<snip>
"Well, FAI hasn't  scored TO&L's for a number of years now, ..."

Perhaps this is because the skill to do a good takeoff and landing was well 
developed by FAI pilots as they advanced through the AMA classes on their 
way to FAI?

Ed

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jerry Budd" <jerry at buddengineering.com>
To: <discussion at nsrca.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 1:09 AM
Subject: Re: Landing Direction


> Well, I guess we'll have to disagree on this one.  Many have said that 
> takeoff and landing were aerobatic maneuvers but no one has offered up any 
> rationale as to WHY they think that it is.  Simply asserting that you 
> think that they need to be scored isn't rationale, just opinion.  I 
> understand that TO&L's don't have to be aerobatic maneuvers to be scored, 
> I just don't think they're particularly relevant as part of the scored 
> sequence of competition maneuvers (there's nothing aerobatic about them). 
> Do they require skill to do well?  Sure they do, but so do a lot of things 
> that don't have anything to do with flying pattern (flying a limbo in a 
> fun fly contest comes to mind as one example, I'm sure there are many 
> others).
>
> What I have heard is that many are in favor of scoring TO&L's because it's 
> a matter of "tradition", kind of a "since we've always done it this way 
> then we should always do it this way" attitude.  I find that kind of 
> attitude to be archaic and counter productive in a competitive 
> environment.  It breeds stagnation and in a competitive environment you're 
> either moving forward or you're moving backward - there's no in between. 
> Don't get me wrong, traditions based on solid fundamental rationale are 
> worth perpetuating.  But making a case for something based on tradition 
> "for traditions sake" is a hollow argument that won't stand up to 
> objective scrutiny.
>
> The other thing I've heard is a variation on the "Chicken Little", "the 
> sky is falling" argument.  Along the lines of since TO&L's are no longer 
> scored, they'll soon look like crap.  Well, FAI hasn't scored TO&L's for a 
> number of years now, and I fail to see the problem there (those in FAI who 
> can't make decent TO&L's tend to not score very high even though they 
> still get "10's" on them). Professional pride and peer pressure (Verne - 
> would that be called ridicule in D4/D5?  ;-)) provide the remaining 
> incentive.
>
> Here's an observation and my final comment on this issue:
>
> /rant/
>
> There seems to be some mentality among the group that membership in the 
> NSRCA dictates that one should cow down to the groups wishes, once they 
> are known via some mechanism such as a survey or poll (ever hear of the 
> phrase "group mentality", it's generally not meant as a complement...). 
> Some even suggest that it's the democratic way to do so, the will of the 
> majority, etc.  They are wrong.  The ultimate responsibility of a 
> democracy is to protect the rights of the minority in spite of the will of 
> the majority.  The reality is that we live in a democratic republic, where 
> the elected representatives are charged with making decisions that they 
> determine to be in the best interest of their constituency, whether the 
> constituency likes it or not.  That's their job.  If you don't like it, 
> elect someone else (just be careful what you wish for).
>
> /rant off/
>
> Thx, Jerry
>
> -- 
> ___________
> Jerry Budd
> Budd Engineering
> (661) 722-5669 Voice/Fax
> (661) 435-0358 Cell Phone
> mailto:jerry at buddengineering.com
> http://www.buddengineering.com
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