[NSRCA-discussion] More flexibility in class selection?

[Ken Thompson]

Geesh Fred,

I'm sensing a little anger here...

If a pilot states he chooses to stay in the top level of an AMA event until 
he gives himself every opportunity to win the national championship, which 
he has every right to do, why are you attempting to belittle that decision?

Your statement of  "Sorry... the world does not owe anyone any particular 
trophy.", seems a little off base.  Who said the world owed him a particular 
trophy?  I believe what Archie plans on doing is "EARNING a particular 
trophy", not that he's owed one.

You also quoted Matt saying,"You say he's second best... maybe that's the 
best he ever gets."  Maybe that's true, but he'll never know until he works 
his arse off to be first, now will he?

Your last quote about the Special Olympics is cute, however, it doesn't fit 
the circumstances.  No one is looking for any special treatment, just the 
opportunity to "play within the rules" without being belittled, is that too 
much to ask?

To have you make a statement that,"Most would be damn glad to be called 
second best in this sport..."is a little presumptuous, don't you think? 
Most of the pilot's that I know, that have acquired second place, would 
still strive for first.  It's part of being a competative pilot.  I know I 
will never be at that level, but if my skills and my ability to maintain 
concentration were at that level, you bet your sweet arse I'd go for it!!

Like I said before, c'mon out and fly with me sometime, I'm sure we could 
have a good time.:-)

Ken

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred Huber" <fhhuber at clearwire.net>
To: "NSRCA Mailing List" <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 9:19 PM
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] More flexibility in class selection?


> Well...
>
> He is the one who proclaimed that he was going to stay in the class until 
> he
> won a particular event... which how many people have EVER won?  Out of how
> many who have competed?
>
> Sorry... the world does not owe anyone any particular trophy.
>
> You say he's second best... maybe thats the best he ever gets.
>
> Every other competitor who goes to the NATS and flys in Masters wants to 
> be
> the best too.  Most will NEVER make it.
>
> Most would be damn glad to be called second best in this sport...
>
> Reality is not politically correct.
>
> This is not the special olympics where everyone gets the same trophy:
> "Participant"
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Matthew Frederick" <mjfrederick at cox.net>
> To: "NSRCA Mailing List" <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 8:17 PM
> Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] More flexibility in class selection?
>
>
>> Fred,
>> The person who made the comment about not moving up until winning the 
>> Nats
>> was Arch Stafford. He's a very nice guy, and according to the Nats finish
>> this year, he's probably the second-best Masters pilot in the nation. He
>> wants to be the best before he moves up to F3A, it's a personal goal he
>> has
>> set and well within the bounds of the rules. Having met Arch, and knowing
>> what a decent guy he is, I frankly take offense at you blatantly calling
>> him
>> out as a sandbagger. I don't know one person who flys Masters in D6 who
>> would call him that, and those are the people he competes with on a
>> regular
>> basis... There is currently no relevant points accumulation in Masters
>> other
>> than for district championships as it is the highest level of AMA 
>> Pattern.
>> I
>> completely agree with the point someone else made that stated we should
>> not
>> force someone to a level of competition that is out of the control of the
>> AMA Competition Regs. If I were ever in a situation that forced me to 
>> move
>> into F3A competition, I'd probably stop flying pattern. Full turnaround
>> patterns was a hard enough pill to swallow. F3A has too many maneuvers
>> that,
>> while very beautiful when performed well, I don't personally consider to
>> be
>> precision aerobatics. Snaps and spins are enough of a stretch.
>>
>>Matt
>>
>>