[NSRCA-discussion] IMAC Vs Pattern Participation? Does theDogHunt on poin...

Thu Mar 2 19:21:54 AKST 2006

Ed.......
.This is a pattern list..There is no reason to bash IMAC here. I respect the 
IMAC group for what it has brought to  many modelers,mfg, and sport flyers in 
general  It took a lot of work to get where they are now..
 As the past statements on the  list show IMAC is doing very well..   
 Pattern is great and so is IMAC. I fly both for many years and enjoy both 
groups.
I am proud to be a member of both.  Pattern is doing very well..
 WE have many contest and  I see more promotions  to bring in more 
members.Pattern will always be there for the precision pilot. 

IMAC  is doing extremely well.... I cant go on and on because this is the 
pattern list. but
it is to bad you  did not have a good experience in IMAC  ... lets leave it 
like that.
fly pattern  and stay in the pattern group.
Marguerite

In a message dated 3/2/2006 9:21:19 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
ed_alt at hotmail.com writes:
Brett:
I think there's really a couple of tiers of SA pilots, with some very 
polished precision flyers in the top ranks.  You are right though, there's also a 
good sized contingent that handle their sleds the way you describe.  Often, they 
are the "checkbook pilots" who recently arrived on the scene and are just 
plopping recipes together and playing follow the leader as best they can.  Dave 
Michael made some excellent points, one of which I would dub the "fade factor" 
with SA pilots.  Everything he said was right on - the planes have great 
appeal, they get tons of press, you see them everywhere etc.  So it attracts the 
masses.  To a degree, that's great because it does help everything grow at a 
rapid pace.  On the other hand, it can lead to an implosion, such as what seems to 
currently be happening in the NE region.  When all you have to do is buy your 
way in, the event tends to attract larger numbers of people with no 
particular awareness or concern over what it takes to be an actual modeler involved 
with precision aerobatics.  That's what it seems like from here at least.

Dave had some great ideas about promoting Pattern, which have mostly worked 
for IMAC / SA.  I think that the main thing that we have to avoid is anything 
that would veer us away from concentration on precision, which is where IMAC 
has led the SA rules recently. Sequence design has also run amok with IMAC 
calling the shots every year over what goes in the AMA rulebook, resulting in what 
amounts to variations on methods to display snap rolls to the crowd.  It's a 
lazy way to run up the K-factors in the sequences, which has become even more 
problematic for them since they have shortened the sequences to about 10 
figures per class.  Mess up one snap in a high K figure and you are done, hence they 
have done ever more to encourage snap cheats, all the while they valiantly 
attempt to teach otherwise in judging clinics.  For proof, check a couple of the 
RCU experts forums, where they describe how they do snap cheats to help teach 
the masses. That's what SA pilots are going to school on for the most part.  

We can learn a bunch from IMAC, good and bad.

Ed

----- Original Message ----- 
From: brett terry 
To: NSRCA Mailing List 
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2006 8:37 PM
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] IMAC Vs Pattern Participation? Does 
theDogHunt on points made?

At my last IMAC competition I tried to present my maneuvers somewhat close, 
tried to be precise, and tried to increase the visibility of my plane.  The 
judges told me to fly further away, because it can slow down the routine.  People 
were flying the back side of the roller at the limits of vision, and this is 
with 35% - 40% planes!  Some of these planes could fly away from the 
transmitter, and still be within vision limits.  So much for positioning and 
"presentation".  It is exceedingly difficult to recognize the difference between a 
vertical line and 15 degrees off...The deviation point deductions are mere 
speculation.  Forget about trying to determine the number of wingspan deviations 
during a hammerhead. 

Most people, myself included, want to learn all the fun freestyle tricks with 
the big planes.  Most spectators don't care about how well an IMAC plane can 
slow roll, or maintain track during unweighted snaps, or perform precision 
aerobatics, they want to see it blast out of a hover, Panic, Blender, Rolling 
Harrier, Roller Coaster, Waterfall, and in general act like a foamie.  

It has become the Olympic Snowboard Half Pipe event of the model airplane 
world, including the requisite adjectives, "Extreme", "Alternative" (if 
'alternative' is in the mainstream, can it still be considered 'alternative'?), 
"Radical", "Hucking", etc. 

There, I feel better now.  Back to precision.  Of course, I do enjoy the 
turnaround setup...

Brett

On 3/2/06, Ed Alt <mailto:ed_alt at hotmail.com> wrote: 
For all practical purposes, Scale Aerobatics has no box anymore.  It exists 
as an abstract concept on a piece of paper in that it has a defined height, 
width and depth, but since they eliminated the 75 degree markers, there is 
nothing left to measure it against.  Additionally, they eliminated the concept of 
zones, so you are free to place things where it seems good to place them, i.e., 
a figure that would appear to be meant for the center of the box doesn't have 
to be flown directly in front of you. Your choice of placement has some kind 
of connection to the so-called Presentation Score as it was originally 
'defined'.  There are no deductions for centering inaccuracy.  Once you enter the box, 
you still need to get figures in the correct order and direction, though 
cross box figures leave direction (in or out) to the discretion of the pilot.  
Currently, there may or may not be enforcement of a pure impressionist extra 
figure known as the Presentation Score.  It passed as a rule, then everyone was 
instructed by the IMAC BOD not to follow the AMA rule they pushed through.  I 
heard rumblings that maybe they are going to allow or encourage CDs to follow 
that rule again.  Not sure, I don't really track what they do very closely 
anymore.

Ed

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

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