[NSRCA-discussion] Official nominations for NSRCA President

[Scott McHarg]

Here are the two nominees for the office of President of the NSRCA.  The
two candidates have been asked to provide a resume to the Nominating
Committee.  I have been asked to put their resumes out to the list.

*Jon Carter:*

My name is Jonathan Carter and I am running for the office of the NSRCA
President. My history in pattern actually stretches back to the early
1970’s as a “wannabe” kid reading every magazine that I could get my hands
on about anything pattern related. After life took a hand (school, job,
wife …) I was finally able to start actually flying and competing in
pattern in 1997. I have been running pattern contests in NSRCA District 7
for 10 years and I have been the Chairman of the NSRCA Judging Committee
for the last 4. It has also been my privilege to serve as the NSRCA
District 7 vice-president for the last 3 years. I have attended the Nats 5
times as a competitor and once as both a worker bee (Scorekeeper) and
competitor. As such I have some insight into the NSRCA’s relationship with
the AMA and I believe I have an understanding of needed improvements. I
have also served the NSRCA on multiple committees including the committee
that has examined the potential future of the K-Factor and I believe that
we have much work to do in that area. My goals as president would be to
continue to promote pattern nationally, improve our relationship with the
AMA (we are after all the AMA recognized SIG for pattern!), continue our
work on judge training, improve the K- Factor and continue our work on
sequence development. Another very important factor is to ensure that the
NSRCA is managed as “transparently” as possible. There are several other
areas where I have ideas for improvement but I don’t want to write a book
here!

Thank you for your consideration.

Jonathan Carter
 NSRCA 2354
NSRCA District 7 VP
AMA 56620

*Jon Lowe:*

AMA: 7668, AMA Leader Member and Contest Director, District 5 Member of the
Rocket City Radio Controllers (RCRC) Huntsville, AL NSRCA: 3612, District 3

 Background
:
 Modeling:  Flying with my father since around age 7, including freeflight,
controlline, and radio control.  In RC I've flown everything from single
channel with escapements, galloping ghost, reeds, and the early days of
proportional.  Flew pattern in the late 60's, one of the two Phoenix 5
prototypes being my last plane, before college, women and cars took over.
 Got back into RC about 2002, and flew SPA pattern for a couple of years,
with an occasional foray into AMA pattern, and went AMA exclusively in the
late 2004-2005 timeframe.  I have worked my way from Sportsman to Masters
since then.  Became an AMA  Admin Leader Member about 2010, and received my
Contest Director certification about the same time.  Was CD of two contests
in 2012, one AMA, and the other a Ballistic Pattern Association event, and
co-CD'd several past contests.  Past Vice President of RCRC.

  Professional:  BS in Aerospace Engineering, University of Cincinnati,
1973.  Co-oped at Wright-Patterson AFB during college, and worked there
after graduation.  Worked on the B-1A and B-1B bomber programs, B-52 mods,
Air Launched Cruise Missile, Ground Launched Cruise Missile, Short Range
Attack Missile II programs.  Went to work for the Army, still at Wright
Patterson AFB from 1988 until mid 1994,working on the then- classified
Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile program.  Moved to Madison, AL in 1994,
and worked at Redstone Arsenal on the TOW and Javelin Missile programs as
the Deputy Project Manager, and then as Project Manager responsible for
over a $4 billion budget and 200 people until retirement in 2008.  Those
two missile systems were directly responsible for saving hundreds of
soldier lives in Afghanistan and Iraq.

  Platform:  I have been increasingly concerned about the direction and
lack of transparency on the part of the NSRCA board, particularly on rules
proposals, the attempted bylaw changes by the board without a member vote,
and finally the attempted vote for officers this year that did not follow
the existing bylaws.  While I understand the need for NSRCA to change with
the times, we need to do it by the book, and ensure we don't disenfranchise
members in the process.  I realize that the K-Factor is the most widely
read publication of the NSRCA, and important information and proposed
changes or major NSRCA activities need to be discussed there, if no place
else.  We currently have a scattered web presence on the NSRCA website, the
NSRCA mailing list and Facebook, which leads to confusion on the part of
members. Important information needs to be gathered in one place, but also
made available to members without web access. As long as we do not require
web access to be a member, we must allow for participation by all members.

 We need to be pro-active with AMA and particularly the AMA Competition
board, to ensure the continued success of pattern, and to make sure that
any NSRCA sanction rules proposals are well thought out, and hopefully will
be accepted AMA wide,and not just by NSRCA board members.  Proposed bylaw
changes need to be published well in advance with complete text versions of
both the original and the proposed change, along with rationale for the
change.

  I would work with the NSRCA board to establish, publish, and follow a
bi-annual calendar of deadlines, rules processes, election processes, etc
to ensure that we are on track and can act in a timely manner.  The
calendar would be reviewed at every board meeting to ensure things are
being done on schedule.

  We need to make sure interested modelers understand how flying pattern
sequences, even just for practice, can improve their flying, and by making
sure they understand that competing does not have to cost an arm and a leg.
 We need to continue to encourage production of entry level airplanes such
as the Vanquish and Osiris, and point out to potential competitors those
low cost ways of entering pattern.  We need to work with the pattern column
author in Model Aviation and provide articles geared to the new flyer on
how to get into pattern.  We also need to solicit more how-to articles for
the K-Factor which seems to be turning into contest reporting, mainly of
interest to the individual districts, and not to members at large.

  I would make an effort to get the AMA sequence changes and the FAI
changes on the same schedule to simplify the judging certification process
and record keeping.  This should be fairly easy to accomplish by delaying
our sequence changes by one year, or having a one year sequence.  NSRCA is
in control of the AMA sequence cycle, so we should take advantage of it.

  We need to make sure the AMA Executive Council understands the importance
of competition both at the national and world levels.  While recent EC
member changes have somewhat improved the situation, many EC members don't
understand or care about competition, and there have been rumblings about
deemphasizing competition, and even pulling out of FAI due to the cost.  I
would make it a priority to discuss the situation with the EC members,
emphasize our concern, and provide alternatives where possible.

  In summary, I will work hard to ensure NSRCA represents all members, that
it operates in accordance with our bylaws, and to advance the sport within
AMA.
-- 
*Scott A. McHarg*
Sr. Systems Engineer - Infrastructure
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