[NSRCA-discussion] New sequences/one man's journey

[W Anthony Abdullah]

John,
"The rest won’t feel that they’re competitive without lots of practice and will therefore stop going to contests. Not good."

That is EXACTLY what happened to me. Between changing life situations and deteriorating eyesight, Advanced is my realistic destination class. When life cooperates I can practice enough (3 or 4 sessions a week) to be proficient and even very competitive in advanced, thats when the chants of "sandbagger and "move up" begin. The maneuvers match my level of ability and are fun to fly. 

The other 80% of the time advanced can be a little "ugly" but still relatively fun. The thought of flying masters on little practice seems pointless so when go/no go decision time comes around, its easy to start exploring other hobbies and interests. Before you know it, it's been 3 years since my last contest. I'm passionate about pattern, and competitive, but not a good enough pilot to fly masters, even safely, without dedicating my life to it, and quite frankly, I'm not trying to work that hard. Furthermore, I can't escape the internal embarrassment of beating guys in Advanced that I used to judge in sportsman or intermediate, or worse yet, get my butt handed to me by them, so I just don't go. That's no ones fault, just the way I'm wired.

There are no answers in my story, just sharing my experience to possibly add value to the conversation. 

Sent from my iPad

On Jul 17, 2017, at 2:43 PM, John Pavlick via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> wrote:

> Sounds like Joe just volunteered to be the “Sequence Committee of one”… LOL
>  
> Seriously, one more thing that you need to keep in mind: Masters is usually judged at local contest by Advanced and/or Intermediate pilots. If you want to reduce the chances of “presentation” over-riding “technical” judging criteria you have to maintain some sanity with the “made-up” maneuvers.
>  
> To Joe’s point about the 95-percent coverage: The top 5-percent will do well with almost anything that your give them. The rest won’t feel that they’re competitive without lots of practice and will therefore stop going to contests. Not good.
>  
> John Pavlick
> Cell: 203-417-4971
>  
> <image001.png>
> Integrated Development Services
>  
> From: NSRCA-discussion [mailto:nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org] On Behalf Of Joe Lachowski via NSRCA-discussion
> Sent: Monday, July 17, 2017 2:30 PM
> To: Atwood, Mark <atwoodm at paragon-inc.com>; General pattern discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
> Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] New sequences
>  
> There are still too many new maneuvers introduced to the eligible maneuvers list. Only a couple should be introduced each rules cycle if necessary. That was part of the intent of the guide. Battery consumption is too high with the low drag plane and motor combination that you use Mark in comparison to others. I'm assuming this is the sequence that is on the NSRCA site.
> 
>  
> 
> A few of the maneuvers are just fabricated garbage. When the guide was put together it was done to keep getting carried away with this stuff and adding a boat load of  "Oh, this would be cool to do" type maneuvers which have already infiltrated FAI. There is a lot of stupidity designed into the sequence. 
> 
>  
> 
> A fellow Masters pilot tried to fly  some of this this weekend and concluded it was a bunch of crap, ripped it up and threw it into the garbage.
> 
> 
> I had an Advanced pilot fly the new sequence for Advanced this weekend also. The Cobra with snap may be an issue.
> 
>  
> 
> There are also a lot of 3/4 rolls in the sequence that an Advanced pilot will have to figure out which way to roll. This may be an information overload requirement that might be overcome by a lot more practice than typically required. You only have some much time available to practice. The designers did not do a thorough analysis of the roll elements.
> 
>  
> 
> I firmly believe we need to dumb down on Masters. The current one is already difficult and requires  more practice time than I would care to put into flying pattern. The fun is starting to dissipate for this flyer and I'm retired.
> 
>  
> 
> Not everyone can get out several evenings during the week and the weekend to practice. I'm thinking of the 95% not the top 5% and I'm a middle of the road Masters pilot. I have also seen decline in Masters attendance on the local level. Based on what I see so far, I will either pack it in or reluctantly drop to Advanced which has crept ever closer towards being a Masters sequence. This is the first time I have seen so much controversy over one sequence.  Start fresh. There is still time to form a new committee hopefully with some people who previously served and get this thing right. There is still plenty of time to get it right by December 31st. Heck I could do it all on my own and come up with something more sane that what has been proposed or thrown out in this discussion list!
> 
> From: NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org> on behalf of Atwood, Mark via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
> Sent: Monday, July 17, 2017 8:09 AM
> To: nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org
> Subject: [NSRCA-discussion] New sequences
>  
> Hey All,
>  
> I was able to fly both the proposed Masters and Advanced sequences this weekend with Chuck Edwards.  All in all good, with a few thoughts.
> 
> Masters -  
>  
> I like it. Flows reasonably well.  Some fun challenges, but nothing daunting.  The two rolls opposite is easily the prettiest maneuver in the schedule, and it will separate anyone not comfortable rolling both ways.  
>  
> One concern - The only sticky maneuver I thought is the 1 1/4, KE flight, 1 1/4.   It’s simply too long to make look pretty, and if it’s a strong head wind, will really look like crap.  You’re basically trying to fit 2 1/2 rolls AND sustained KE flight on a downwind leg and stay in the box, thus forcing somewhat rapid rolls which simply look rushed.  
> 
> I would strongly suggest changing it to 3/4 roll, KE, 3/4 roll.   Same difficulty really, but a full roll shorter and thus allows for a more graceful, controlled roll rate.
> 
> Total Mah draw in modest wind (7-9kt cross) was 3580mah  without paying particular attention to throttle management, given that it was the first time through the sequence.  Quite a bit less time and power than the current schedule.
> 
> 
> Advanced.  
> It’s also nice, with one major concern.  The Cobra.  It’s not as conventional as I think is expected, and I feel it’s too much for an advanced flyer just learning to snap their airplane (my opinion).  You’re already a bit rushed going into is, and you’re pushing in from Inverted.  No biggie.  Half roll up, over the top and back down on a 45.  THEN you have a single snap on the 45 deg DOWN line.  
> 
> I can tell you from personal experience and a re-kitted Spark (St. Clairsville flying F-11 with a 1 1/2 snap down on the cobra) that a snap like this WILL crash an airplane.  You’re heading down, not all that high to begin with, and if you badly miss the snap and lose your orientation, you’re likely on low throttle and low airspeed and will proceed to stall/snap it into the ground in your attempt to recover.    I’d much rather see a snap on the UP leg of the cobra.  It would still be rushed, but FAR more airplane and pilot friendly.  
> 
> Other than that, is has all the traditional challenges.     Power was very low as I flew the schedule with only 2800mah (also a 7-9kt crosswind).  
>  
> My $0.02 worth with 1 time through Advanced and twice through Masters.  So limited testing.  Your mileage may vary.
> 
> Hope to see a bunch of you in Arkansas!   
> 
> -Mark
> MARK ATWOOD
> o.  (440) 229-2502
> c.  (216) 316-2489
> e.  atwoodm at paragon-inc.com
> 
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