[NSRCA-discussion] Future of Pattern

Mon Mar 19 09:46:42 AKDT 2012

>Someone that needs this...loves this, will find their way in.  We just
have to make sure we don't shut them out.
>To be fair, he's got all the advantages to do well, good planes, a good
field, a dad that makes an ok coach and drags his butt out to practice
whenever he wants and sometimes when he doesn't.

Thank you for succinctly making the point I took several pages to make
earlier -- for those of us with an "internal" drive to improve ourselves
(measured, in this case, by comparison to others doing the same thing)
pattern is a bug that sticks with us -- for the bug to bite it takes
someone encouraging us to give it a try and making the initial entry
relatively low-investment.  But, depending on the strength of that drive,
staying with it requires some sense of forward progress -- that requires an
"ok" coach and time to practice.  Not everyone has the time to practice as
much as others, which may mean a slower progress curve, but with an "ok"
coach and some level of discipline to practice someone with that basic
internal drive will likely stay with it, absent external forces (life
events, a sour experience at an event, etc.)  The video game designers
understand this well -- there's a very fine line between too hard and too
easy that keeps people "addicted" to the game.  I fear the ease of getting
the endorphin "high" that video games produce is part of why a lot of
activities (pattern included) don't get the dedicated participation from
young people that they once did.  I love video games, but I realized about
10 years ago that the addiction and ease of participation was as dangerous
to me as alcohol or drugs is to others so I stopped playing them (because
once I start, unless there's an external force, I don't stop easily).
 Pattern satisfies the same parts of me that video games did, but in a much
more controlled + controllable fashion.

Peter+

On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 10:28 AM, Mark Atwood <atwoodm at paragon-inc.com>wrote:

> Keith makes an interesting point that I have some personal experience
> with.   My 15yr old son Sean.  First, I think he did the sport some good
> because he cleaned house last year in Intermediate with a 62" Osiris
> winning our district and often beating 8-10 flyers all who had full 2m
> setups.   To be fair, he's got all the advantages to do well, good planes,
> a good field, a dad that makes an ok coach and drags his butt out to
> practice whenever he wants and sometimes when he doesn't.    Sooo...the
> "Good" is that he showed people that the plane is only part of the equation.
>
> The more relevant part of this post is that even with all the advantages
> he has...he's not passionate about flying pattern.  And that's what it
> takes to really stay with this.  His comment to me was "Dad, I really enjoy
> doing this, and plan to continue some, but I don't "need" it like you do."
>
>
> So Mike is right that we have to expose people to this, help them if they
> show ANY interest, but I think keith's point is spot on.  Someone that
> needs this...loves this, will find their way in.  We just have to make sure
> we don't shut them out.
>
> -M
> *Mark Atwood*****
> *Paragon Consulting, Inc.*  *|*  President****
> 5885 Landerbrook Drive Suite 130, Cleveland Ohio, 44124 ****
> Phone: 440.684.3101 x102  *|*  Fax: 440.684.3102****
> mark.atwood at paragon-inc.com  *|*  www.paragon-inc.com
>
>
>
> On Mar 19, 2012, at 11:23 AM, Keith Hoard wrote:
>
> Mike,
>
>     The bottom line is that it is impossible to simply "encourage" someone
> to join the pattern ranks and have them hang around for years.  It requires
> that the new guy have that internal drive to want to acquire all of the
> specialized skill sets and equipment ON HIS OWN to make that transition
> from sport flyer to pattern flyer.  All we can do is cheerfully provide
> guidance on the way.
>     If you look at the rise and fall of IMAC, ask yourself what was behind
> the motivation to join their ranks on the way up?  Like you said, the cost
> of entry is way beyond pattern - $13,000 150cc plane + $5000 trailer +
> $XX,XXX vehicle to haul trailer + Travel costs to "Huckfests", Contests,
> Ect. . . . At the lower end, where most guys started, what did you always
> hear the IMAC guys say?  "Hey, anyone can enter Unlimited and win with a
> 50cc airplane" . . . Sound familiar?   The masses join, travel around to
> contests, get their butts kicked flying their 50cc / 100cc airplanes, look
> down the flight line to see who's winning / getting all of the attention
> that they thought they'd be getting (its the 150cc + Bling Guys), decided
> that its not worth it, then stop going to contests.
>     Now in both the IMAC and Pattern examples, I would argue that we could
> give those guys a full set of top of the line equipment and they still
> wouldn't be able to win and would leave anyway.  You guys need to realize
> that it takes a very, VERY specialized person to do what we do and keep
> doing it year after year.  The real story here isn't that the pattern ranks
> aren't growing, but that we still have as many guys doing this for as long
> as we've been doing this in the first place!!  If someone has the skill set
> and motivation to join us, they will join us no matter what the obstacle -
> financial or otherwise.  The opposite is also true, you can "drag /
> encourage" someone into pattern, give them all of the equipment free of
> charge, provide all of the top notch coaching, but if they don't have that
> internal drive to push themselves to continue, they will drop out.
>     Now it seems that for some reason those of us who remain tend to "feel
> bad" when that happens.  Perhaps you feel that the pattern community did
> something wrong to chase that person away, when actually the opposite was
> true.  That person dipped their toe in the pattern pond and decided that
> they weren't a fit.  It looked good from the outside but they just couldn't
> hang.  Most choose to leave quietly, while others bray like a donkey on
> their way out, or linger and take cheap shots from the peanut gallery.
> Back when pattern guys were considered "elitists", you still had guys
> joining the ranks and pattern was growing, right?  Now that the word is "be
> a nice guy to the sport flyers", our ranks are level / declining.  Perhaps
> bringing back a dash of elitism to pattern may not be a bad thing.
>     The bottom line is that no amount of "tweaks" to the rules are going
> to either increase of decrease pattern participation.  If a guy wants to
> participate in pattern and go to contests, he will do whatever it takes to
> get there.  *Everything else is just an excuse / whining.*  If we
> eliminate the weight rule, they they will then say they can't go to
> contests because of "judging bias".  If we implement electronic judging,
> they then will find some other rule to complain about, ad nauseum.
>     I think we've gone more than the "extra mile" to encourage
> participation.  Its time to concentrate on perfecting the rules for the
> guys that are actually participating and not worry about changes that "may"
> encourage some "theoretical" newcomer.  They will join if they want to,
> guaranteed.
>
>     Oh, and by the way, sometimes the best action to take is no action at
> all.
>
> Keith Hoard
> Collierville, TN
> khoard at gmail.com
>
> . . .<snip>. .
>
>>  I can't see great numbers of newbies flocking to join our ranks. I think
>> it is what it is. I'll strive to see small gains and little victory's when
>> we get someone new to enjoy the sport.. .<snip>. . .
>>  Now lets see how we handle $6 gas.  Mike Mueller
>>
>>   **
>>
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-- 
Director, Fixed Wing Flight Training
Santa Clara County Model Aircraft Skypark
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