[NSRCA-discussion] Length of 2011 Masters Sequence

[Matthew Frederick]

I think y'all are starting to get somewhere with this discussion. I remember the days of pattern contests in the south being 40+ pilots on a regular basis. I also remember how strict the rules were in regards to getting up in the air quickly. There were 3 ready boxes leading up to your time to fly, and you better be in them when you needed to be or you lost your turn. I was at the Space City contest this weekend in Katy, TX and I must say I haven't seen a contest that well executed since I started flying again 3 years ago. The CD wasn't even a pattern pilot! He just wanted to run an efficient contest. There were 30 pilots evenly spread among all the classes (although Advanced was definitely the largest at 8), and we had no problem getting in 6 rounds and we were finished with the awards by 2:30 on Sunday. I think we should focus on running efficient contests before we start worrying about how long it takes to fly a sequence. I've also seen a couple comments about the electrics being at a disadvantage due to the length. For what it's worth I think the sequences should drive the technology used, not the other way around. Oh, by the way, I judged a round of Masters and the only thing that bothered me about it was that my legs were already sunburnt from sitting through 2 rounds of Sportsman and 2 rounds of Intermediate the day before.

Matt
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Bill's Email 
  To: General pattern discussion 
  Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 1:46 PM
  Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Length of 2011 Masters Sequence


  John Ferrell wrote: 
    Based on experience as site director at the Nats and CD at local contests I don't think the extra minute on the sequence is the problem. The FAI guys are being as professional as possible and seldom take their allotted time to take off. There a lot of guys flying Masters that you have to run down and wake up before they even start to get ready to fly. 
  I've run a few larger aerobatic contests (40 to 60 pilots) and I found it is precisely those minutes that can kill you. Think about it. 35 pilots each taking 1 minute extra. 35 minutes per round times 4 or 5 rounds, and WOW you are talking about an extra 2 hours 20 minutes to maybe 3 hours!! SO regardless of if it is in the sequence or on teh ground, those pesky little minutes add up like mad!!



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