[NSRCA-discussion] My Head is Spinning

Sun Nov 6 07:31:04 AKST 2016

Keith I didn¹t know you and I were members at the same club..LOL

Seriously the conversation of growing pattern and what we can do and what is
a good idea keeps coming up but the one thing overlooked in most
conversations is the slice of the pie. I have to say Anthony and Chuck hit
the nail on the head. No matter what we are competing against other
interests and demands on time.

Growing Pattern  we talk about introducing people to it and making it
easier to attract new blood but we lose sight that this discipline, and make
no mistake it is a discipline, only appeals to a very few that not only want
to challenge themselves but then also get ranked against others to see how
well they are progressing. It isn¹t for everyone. Making it too hard is an
issue but so is dumbing it down to the point that people get bored or its
too big of a jump from the introductory class to Intermediate.

Stopping the exodus of competitors  There is NOTHING that will make people
stay, life changes and so do priorities. I love pattern and made a lot of
friends that I miss but I haven¹t flown a pattern plane in 3 years let alone
practiced a sequence. I didn¹t even put up a single RC flight this year. My
son is 10 and has no desire to fly RC so guess whatŠdad doesn¹t go to the
field and miss the baseball game, the Tae Kwon Do testing or even playing
catch in the yard. My job has changed and that was the start but John not
wanting to fly was the hammer blow that finally stopped my participation.
PrioritiesŠI don¹t even go to my local club meetings anymore (for a myriad
of reasons other than time). When John is a little older and dad is not cool
anymore I can see me flying again.

I will say this and then I will go play catch with John:
Moving the NATS or any other idea may or may not be a good idea but nobody
knows until we try. If anyone on this list says an idea is bad then you have
given up before you even tried and that is the same as saying I¹m not going
to the contest because I might not place first.
Do I personally think removing the weight limit is bad? Yes I do.
Do I personally think moving the NATS is a bad idea? No I do not.
Do I personally think Anthony should not have bought a smoker and just used
a barbecue grill? Yes and he know that. :-)

Guys, I wish I was more active and had the time, but the answers aren¹t in
fighting or quitting but in trying different things. I have found a million
ways to fail in my life and I have also found as many ways to succeed but
that is only because I tried.

Hope to see you all in the coming years.

Pete

From:  NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org> on behalf
of Keith Hoard via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Reply-To:  Keith Hoard <klhoard at outlook.com>, General pattern discussion
<nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Date:  Sunday, November 6, 2016 at 11:53 AM
To:  'cahochhalter' <cahochhalter at yahoo.com>, 'General pattern discussion'
<nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Subject:  Re: [NSRCA-discussion] My Head is Spinning

I can¹t even convince the members of my club to obtain the skills necessary
to keep from crashing into the pits every third flight . . .

So pattern is way out . .

-Keith Hoard
-klhoard at outlook.com

From: NSRCA-discussion [mailto:nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org] On
Behalf Of cahochhalter via NSRCA-discussion
Sent: Sunday, November 6, 2016 09:44
To: W Anthony Abdullah <aabdu at sbcglobal.net>; General pattern discussion
<nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] My Head is Spinning

So if we turn pattern in more of a spectator sport wr will attract more
pilots.

No one has addressed how the hobby itself has changed. The building of pla
es is gone. 3D, helis, quads, fpv and our general ama focus is no where near
pattern. Pattern is about the indiviual who decides they want to be better,
its personal. Its attracting local pilots with other local pattern
individuals thats keepa it going. It's not a magazine article, a scoreboard,
the Nats, or the NSRCA.

Until we as individuals take responsibility for growing pattern and dont
place blame on an organization such as the NSRCA for trying to keep up with
change and no one knows the answer.

No one has mentioned poor judging at Nats, biased judging, lack of
commitment to an event where at yhe end of the week the same few people are
left to judge finals and then people complain about the lack of selection as
some districts obviously are more commited than others so the judging pool
is loaded for different parts of the country.

Comments made online about the success of ensuring some pilots made the
finals in masters so they dont judge fai.

Do these things not hinder participation in pattern due to the negative
perception of events and lack of effort to address them.

Moving the nats isnt going to fix anything, but it might bring a breath of
fresh air into a sport that is stagnant.

Maybe mixing in spa / cpa would allow some cross over between disciplines,
might both organizations grow?

Chuck

Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

-------- Original message --------
From: W Anthony Abdullah via NSRCA-discussion
<nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Date: 11/6/16 9:12 AM (GMT-06:00)
To: John Gayer <jgghome at comcast.net>, General pattern discussion
<nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] My Head is Spinning

I like the scoreboard idea. Perhaps we need to make pattern more of a
"show". Big jet events and even our annual club big bird fun fly has an
announcer. Imagine Michael Buffer announcing the pilot and calling the next
maneuver over the PA system <JK>. We don't need to go all WWF but a little
showmanship wouldn't hurt. Imagine baseball without announcers.

Mark A, don't you dare nominate me as the permanent "color" man. :o)

Sent from my iPad

On Nov 5, 2016, at 6:45 PM, John Gayer via NSRCA-discussion
<nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> wrote:
> 
> The Contest board has already received a number of proposals to change the
> rules.
> 
> There are three that pertain to this discussion:
> 1. Proposal to eliminate the advancement criteria and allow contestants to
> step backwards in class at the end of the year
> 2. Elimination of the weight rule for Sportsman, Intermediate and Advanced
> 3. Eliminate the box requirements for Sportsman
> I suggest that if you have opinions on these proposals, that you find out who
> your representative is, and make your opinion known. It seems clear that there
> are some making an attempt being made to address some of the issues. Any AMA
> member can propose a rule change. If you feel strongly about any of the
> suggestions made in this thread, I suggest you propose a change that you feel
> would positively impact pattern.
> 
> Other ideas.
> 
> Something that has been done by the NSRCA is introduction of the Club Class.
> Personally I do not feel that it would be appropriate to add a class at
> pattern contests. However it would be a great vehicle for running a pattern
> seminar for your area. Come up with some drawing prizes, some pattern guys to
> help, someone to cook some hot dogs for lunch, someone(s) to run a seminar on
> "what is pattern" and finish up with a couple rounds of club class. Make it an
> annual event and make sure the word gets to all the clubs in your area.
> 
> Another thing that needs to be done is to have a real scoreboard. A large
> scoreboard. This is essential for any spectators most of which are RC flyers
> with no or little exposure to pattern. Without a way to tell what is going on
> and who is doing it, a spectator will watch two flights and leave very bored.
> 
> The scoreboard should have:
> 1. Pilots Name
> 2. Photo of pilot and Model
> 3. Scores by round with both raw and normalized scores
> 4. Current standing in class
> 5. Handouts available for:
>>> * What is pattern including explanations of the classes
>>> * Ribbons and Aresti of the sequences being used and explanation of scoring,
>>> k-factors and normalization
>>> * How about pilot Bios?
> 6. There needs to be someone designated to support the board if you have much
> traffic.
> How about a Senior award like IMAC does at local contests? The NSRCA used to
> do this at the NATs but it seems to have faded away.
> 
> John
> 
>  
> 
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