Rules Change Advancement

[Ed Miller]

I totally agree with Troy. I have long said there is nothing wrong with a 
career class pilot. As long as they participate we all benefit. At one time 
I could be hard to beat in District 1 Advanced. It was through sheer luck 
and my ability to rise to an occasion only, not from my hard work 
practicing. I rarely had time to practice but enjoyed going to the contests 
to be with everyone. I like to compete but more importantly, I NEED to have 
fun. That's why I fly RC planes, to have fun. Sorry, work is not fun. One of 
the reasons I moved up to Masters was I saw some of the folks I was beating, 
really, really working hard at winning and striving for the district point 
championship, something I never cared about or desired, yet I could on many 
occasions rob them of that goal. Was I ready for Masters ?? Not a chance. 
Now, in Masters my "satisfaction level" of my flying is much lower, you just 
aren't going to do well at the Master's level unless you put in some time to 
practice. I'm not saying this should be easy but make it too difficult and 
no one is going to play the game with you. 2 jobs, a wife,  2 sons ( more 
like food compactors ) , well, frankly I'm not going to have the time to be 
remotely competitive in Masters in the foreseeable future. I already see my 
desire for the sport waning. For years we have been hell bent on changes, 
raising the bar, obsolescing expensive airplanes with a stroke of a pen and 
yet no one has looked around to see one by one our numbers and status in the 
RC community drop. Like it or not we are an aging community. I have the 
greatest respect for our more senior members every time I see them fly at a 
contest and appreciate the fact how hard they have needed to work to keep 
up. In many cases they are retired so have the time to devote to practice 
but time has taken away their reflexes and sight. Our present course isn't 
attracting anyone new in great numbers and arguably is pushing whomever is 
left away. What Troy suggests and I suspect many agree with would be a step 
in the right direction.
Ed M. 

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