[NSRCA-discussion] NSRCA Dues Increase
Jim Woodward
Jim.Woodward at armorholdings.com
Tue Dec 26 04:39:13 AKST 2006
Hi Don, All,
Nice email and information below. It is very difficult to cultivate a
person from beginner-to-aerobatic flier, then to a fully invested status
such that they will go to contests practice, and have the commitment to
drive to farther away contests. There are only so many people in the
R/C arena that are leaning towards disciplined aerobatics, better
equipment, invest the time to learn to set it up correctly, practice,
and then drive to contests. My own opinion in 1000 words is simply that
IMAC and Pattern require the same type of person - we are each others
target audience. After competing in IMAC in 2006 in the south east and
developing some good relationships and practice with some folks, there
are at least 2 serious guys and a couple in the wings who are going to
"cross-over" and fly pattern in our area too. Cross-training between
IMAC and pattern is hugely beneficial for those that will dare it. I
know from many conversations with the well-seasoned IMAC flyers in our
area that after seeing me compete for 1 season, that they recognize that
the pattern provides all the foundational elements and fundamentals that
IMAC doesn't focus on. Flying IMAC provides the "stick-gymnastics" that
the pattern sequences miss. Plus, putting together a pattern plane
these days compared to a 40%er is a relief to them.
However, it is not enough to fly just a pattern plane or just an IMAC
plane for the cross-over benefit. The real difficulty and benefit in
pattern flying is only achieved when you apply the full rule set like:
Box requirements, centering/positioning, etc. Once you "practice" the
pattern sequences with a pattern plane the discipline becomes 100% more
challenging than from watching from behind the flight line. If you only
fly the pattern plane you'd be left to say "...that plane flies good,"
... but you have no real exposure to the discipline. Likewise with
IMAC. The real benefit to me is practicing the IMAC sequence with an
IMAC plane. Learning how to snap roll and perform opposite point rolls
on uplines, downlines, 45, inverted, upright, left and right, is the
"bread-n-butter" of the game. Each maneuver is loaded up in complexity
and the penalty is a bit more severe if you miss your wings on roll or
snap exits. .... He who can combine the pattern fundamental stuff
within the IMAC set, and "smartly" positions the maneuvers (... IMAC
currently does not have designated positions for each and EVERY
maneuver) is going to do very well in any class. While it is easy to
make the correlation that "pattern flyers do well in IMAC/Masters - just
look at the Invitational level meets and see the top guys," it mostly
falls apart at the local level because there are some VERY good IMAC
guys who have never flown pattern. The local IMAC guys have their own
hero's to look up to, and sort of see that pattern fliers to well at the
Invitational events as either an anomaly, strictly dependant on there
huge personal talent, or due to some judging scenario. However, when
average guys enter their contests and fly well, it brings it a little
more home regarding the benefits of doing both.
Anyway - cross training is great and it makes sense in any other sport.
In my area it allows for more contest attendance, and also gets some
others to come to try pattern. I don't mind another $10 to help the
NSRCA.
Thanks,
Jim W.
________________________________
From: nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org
[mailto:nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org] On Behalf Of
AtwoodDon at aol.com
Sent: Monday, December 25, 2006 4:50 PM
To: nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] NSRCA Dues Increase
Ron, I agree....
Having served a term as VP for District 7 and participating in the
'management' of the NSRCA, I can assure you the NSRCA Officers and
others that help are very focused on expenses, promoting of the NSRCA
and most importantly supporting and promoting pattern activities.
For those that think there may be a one time fix for promoting pattern
or swelling the ranks of NSRCA membership, I would guess you do not
understand the overall situation. In the not so distant past, Pattern
was a glamour 'niche' RC activity. If you flew pattern, then you were
the elite flyers in the club or area and known for flying and building
skills. That glamour image has been significantly diluted over the past
years with the development of helicopters, free style type flying, etc.
We are pretty sedate compared to some of the newer groups so we are no
longer the 'glamour' guys at the field. There are many other types of
challenging flying to attract people from the newcomers ranks.
To me, the challenge of maintaining our sport is a day to day, week to
week, personal challenge that we all have in supporting, teaching and
generally being good RC citizens. We just happen to fly pattern at our
local clubs. I don't think there is a magic pill or one time fix for
our challenges, but a continued, constant, steady push to gain new
members and more importantly to keep the ones we have.
Over the years, the Kfactor has been our single largest reason to join
the NSRCA and it has spread/shared an incredible amount of knowledge,
tricks, tips, etc. If you have ever had the 'opportunity' to write an
article each month for the Kfactor as each of our officers does, then
you know how hard it is to gather interesting tips, building articles or
news worthy items to include in the Kfactor. And if you haven't shared
your personal tips or tricks, please do so with your VP to help make
their life easier!!!
How we deliver that information can probably be changed for most via the
internet, however, without good content, delivery methods are kind of
beside the point. If we want the NSRCA and Kfactor (or some other
delivery vehicle) to be better, it is up to us as individual members to
pitch in and help, share and promote, more so than our officers. Sure,
they represent us to coordinate, steer, etc, but our presence at the
field on a week to week basis, helping someone trim an airplane, fix an
engine, building tips, etc, goes much further to attract members than
advertising campaigns, or tricky slogans.
Here in District 7, we are blessed with a large geographic area with
lots of contests. For most of us in D7, it is easy to go to 8-10
contests a year without terrible driving challenges. We have enjoyed a
gradual increase in our membership, contest attendance (with a burp here
and there) and newcomer interest. That is because we spend time
personally encouraging people to participate, not because we have flashy
slogans, banners, etc. It has been a slow but steady process that takes
time to see an impact but I think we have been pretty successful at it.
Sorry for the long winded email.... flame suit on..
<http://cdn-cf.aol.com/se/smi/0201d20638/08>
Happy Holidays
Don Atwood
,
In a message dated 12/25/2006 9:26:49 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
ronlock at comcast.net writes:
Here is one way to look at it.........To a large degree, the
product is us.
Were a membership community, having characteristics of a
technical society,
a social club, and much more.
The "management" of NSRCA and the K Factor is partly a product
those in our
membership that choose
to run for an office, and then volunteer time and resources for
the
betterment of pattern.
Later, Ron Lockhart, NSRCA 321
(Renewed on line, worked fine)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wayne" <Whinkle1024 at msn.com>
To: "NSRCA Mailing List" <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 24, 2006 11:54 PM
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] NSRCA Dues Increase
> Ok guys I guess I'm the only one not willing to renew because
the product
is
> poor. By the way my dues last year were only $30 not $15,000.
500 members
at
> $10 increase each is only $5k and merely a Band-Aid on the
issue.
>
> The advertising $ is not there because our great quality color
publication
> doesn't go to enough people to make the advertising as worthy.
I think we
> need some drastic changes to the way we do business.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mike Hester" <kerlock at comcast.net>
> To: "NSRCA Mailing List" <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
> Sent: Sunday, December 24, 2006 8:11 PM
> Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] NSRCA Dues Increase
>
>
> > Ummm..........Merry Christmas.........I'm going to swallow
the freakin
> > blood
> > from biting my tongue clean in half and I'll get back to
this one after
> > Christmas is over. Not trying to be adversarial, but wow,
I'll get into
> > that
> > after we have a nice holiday.
> >
> > Merry Christmas, and hold that thought....but if you don't
see anything
> > going on to promote pattern, I wonder where you're looking.
> >
> > -Mike
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Wayne" <Whinkle1024 at msn.com>
> > To: "NSRCA Mailing List" <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
> > Sent: Sunday, December 24, 2006 9:16 PM
> > Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] NSRCA Dues Increase
> >
> >
> >> Don't worry Paul it wasn't announced in the KF either!
> >>
> >> So you didn't miss anything.
> >>
> >> I understand the need for increased dues. I also understand
the need
for
> >> the
> >> NSRCA to give us something in return for our support. Today
I don't see
> >> much
> >> going on to PROMOTE pattern. While I wish to support
pattern and
promote
> >> it
> >> I will take my $40 and spend it on attendance at an event
rather than
the
> >> NSRCA.
> >>
> >> Sorry but poor management of more of our funds are not
going to get it
> >> done.
> >> 2 years ago when folks asked questions of Derek and Lamar
the bank
> >> account
> >> was sitting on a surplus of about $12,000 or so. If I
remember the
> >> numbers
> >> correctly. I'm going to go find the old KF that had this
number in it.
> >> Rusty
> >> Dose tells us last month that we are down over $15,000 is
dues and
> >> advertising revenue. Looks to me like this has been a
sinking ship for
> >> some
> >> time. The very fact that I received a renewal notice with
the $40 price
> >> tag
> >> on it a full week before we heard about it from the board
is another
sign
> >> of
> >> mismanagement. A 30% increase in dues just because there
has not been a
> >> increase in many years is not the solution to our problems.
Where is
the
> >> 30%
> >> increase going to help support precision aerobatics.
> >>
> >> I think that with all products and services in the market
place today
the
> >> NSRCA needs to show some value to the modelers out there.
If this
happens
> >> then membership will grow. Revenue will increase. And
Pattern flying
will
> >> prosper. I feel that I and other vote with our pocket
books. The reason
> >> advertising dollars are down, the reason dues dollars are
down is due
> >> directly to the product supplied.
> >>
> >> Perhaps the NSRCA leadership is listening but instead we
talk about
what
> >> a
> >> great job has been done and how far we have come. I'm not
into bashing
> >> the
> >> guy that just left but Derek we have seen nothing about how
to get us
out
> >> of
> >> this pickle we are in. Therefore I elect not to renew at
this time. I
> >> think
> >> there are better places to spend our money to support
Precision
> >> Aerobatics.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Wayne
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Paul Brine" <pbrine at uoguelph.ca>
> >> To: "NSRCA Mailing List" <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
> >> Sent: Sunday, December 24, 2006 3:19 PM
> >> Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] NSRCA Dues Increase
> >>
> >>
> >>> It also wasn't announced to the membership until Dec 22nd
via Lamar's
> >>> email.
> >>> Remember not everyone (ie myself ) is in a position to
download and
read
> >>> the
> >>> k-factor on-line.
> >>>
> >>> Applying the increase to those who renewed before then is
like you
> >>> signing
> >>> on the line to buy a car and being told a week later by
the dealer
that
> >>> the
> >>> price went up a $1000.
> >>>
> >>> Paul
> >>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>> From: Martin X. Moleski, SJ <moleski at canisius.edu>
> >>> To: NSRCA Mailing List <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
> >>> Sent: Sunday, December 24, 2006 1:07 PM
> >>> Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] NSRCA Dues Increase
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> Anthony Abdullah wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> > Silly quesion:
> >>>>
> >>>> > After a long pattern lay off for grad school and such I
am
returning
> >>>> > in
> >>>> > full force. Part of that included renewing my NSRCA
membership.
When
> >>>> > I
> >>>> > downloaded and printed the form from the NSRCA website
the dues was
> >>>> > listed as $30.00 and that is how much the check was
written for
(just
> >>>> > two days ago). Do I need to send an additional check
for $10.00 or
is
> >>>> > the price increse effective Jan 1?
> >>>>
> >>>> There was a missed communication between Lamar and myself
early in
> >>>> December, so I didn't hear about the change in dues until
two or
> >>>> three days ago.
> >>>>
> >>>> The law is probably on your side, if you want to take the
time
> >>>> to take it to court.
> >>>>
> >>>> It would be a huge kindness to simply send along another
$10 check.
> >>>>
> >>>> I believe the forms have all been updated.
> >>>>
> >>>> I'm hoping to work on the Paypal front end over this
vacation.
> >>>> It hasn't been satisfactory for a couple of years ... my
bad.
> >>>>
> >>>> Marty
> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>> NSRCA-discussion mailing list
> >>>> NSRCA-discussion at lists.nsrca.org
> >>>> http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> NSRCA-discussion mailing list
> >>> NSRCA-discussion at lists.nsrca.org
> >>> http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion
> >>>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> NSRCA-discussion at lists.nsrca.org
> >> http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > NSRCA-discussion mailing list
> > NSRCA-discussion at lists.nsrca.org
> > http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion
> >
>
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