[NSRCA-discussion] Chapter-1 Perils of judging part-1

[Grow Pattern]

Part-1

Way back before I became NSRCA President in 1999, Rick Allison wrote a pretty insightful piece on how FAI judging was going to fall heavily on the Masters class and on pilots in general. He warned that we would be exposed to pressures and situations that were not akin to good sportsmanship and that would strain relationships between competitors. 

 

Up to then, the vast majority of judging was done by volunteer judges. These judges eventually were replaced by pilot-judging, for many reasons, one being general dissatisfaction among the FAI community. You would hear, "These judges don't fly and they don't know what they are looking at!"

 

I judged my first Nat's FAI round and finals in 1997. Since then I had noticed that the better pilot you became the more your scores would go up and the better judge you became the more the scores you gave went down. 

 

Fast forward to July 2006, where I found myself judging one round. I was in the judge's chair for the FAI semi-finals where they flew F-07. It was a good day for flying. I was prepared. I had the schedule memorized and was excited that we were finally going to have a Semi-final the way they did the FAI Worlds. Twenty pilots would be pared down to eight for the next day's finals. I only had to judge one round so I gave it my best effort,  

 

As I did my job that morning, I saw a lot of errors during the entering and exiting of maneuvers. Some pilots were on top of their game and some were just a little out of their league. All I did was score each maneuver as I saw it. I gave out a few zeros, regardless of who the pilot was. I also had to score a lot of maneuvers quite low due to the large number of errors that were being made flying the F-07 routine. The FAI judging system does not have half-points. It is also very clear about 1-2-3 and four-point deductions for off-center roll and snap components in straight lines. 

 

My wife Michelle was my scribe. She has been my scribe since 1995 and has certified several times as a judge. I noted that nobody else was using a scribe. While I was watching the airplanes, Michelle observed that the other judges were frequently looking down before the maneuvers began and before they were finished; they were either reading the next maneuver or writing down their scores. One judge did it for the whole round. I mention this because I was later compared with their performances.

 

After the semi-finals were over, and during lunch, I was challenged by Dan Landis about his scores. I disengaged that conversation very quickly. That did not seem to be enough for his father, Richard Landis, who tracked me down where I was eating and proceeded to tell me that his son was the best pilot there and that I had scored him unfairly. I had to get up out of my chair and walk away to stop his harassment. The rules are clear that the pilot or his rep. must not badger a judge.   

 

The worst part about these encounters is that they are very upsetting. After the onslaught by Richard Landis I was due up next to fly my last Masters flight. That flight was a complete waste of fuel.  This was very unsportsmanlike behavior on their part so I reported it the next morning. 

 

But, there's more. By then, Dave Lockhart and Dan Landis, who are friends and often fly together, had already both complained that I had scored them badly.  The NSRCA ignored my harassment complaint and processed the pilots' complaint to the fullest. 

 

End of part -1

 



 
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