[NSRCA-discussion] Fwd: Advancement System

[verne at twmi.rr.com]

Carl's perspective from Intermediate is interesting and one not heard from often enough. For him, and I suspect many others, the skill level required for Advanced is a little intimidating to say the least. Yet, on the other end of that scale, we have some Advanced pilots saying that Advanced isn't hard enough which makes the move to Masters too difficult. This is exactly the dilemma faced by the sequence committee every time one is formed and charged with the task of developing new schedules. 

To be successful and fair about it, the committee has to step outside of their own individual skill levels and pay close attention to what they've seen, particularly from judges chair. They have to forget about what they can do and pay attention to what others are capable of at a different level. Each level should be a training aid to prepare a pilot as much as possible, for the next level. All the while it's doing that, it shouldn't be so difficult as to discourage and drive away someone just entering the next higher class. 

It's not a directly proportional scale. A pilot leaving Advanced for Masters should be prepared for a more difficult jump than someone leaving Intermediate for Advanced. The skills required for turnaround flying should have been pretty much mastered by someone leaving Advanced for Masters, a fact overlooked and/or taken for granted by many. The task at hand for someone entering Masters should be pretty much limited too learning some new, challenging, and sometimes scary maneuvers. Staying in the box shouldn't be an issue for the most part. 

The Intermediate pilot entering Advanced has to learn some new, challenging, and sometimes scary maneuvers from his frame of reference which is different than an experienced Advanced pilot. In addition, he must continue to master the skills associated with staying in the box. From that perspective, I would argue that the move from Intermediate to Advanced is just about as difficult as the move from Advanced to Masters, maybe more so. 

I still remember moving (by force) from the old AMA Advanced to the then, newly created Expert Turnaround class. There were only eleven maneuvers and I had already been performing all the higher-K in Advanced and winning on a fairly regular basis. The only task at hand was learning the end maneuvers and keeping the whole mess in the box. That was without question, the single biggest challenge I've ever faced flying pattern. Anybody creating schedules that advances some from Intermediate to Advanced needs to remember it as well. My opinion is that the last committee (I wasn't on it) got it just about right.

Verne Koester 



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