[NSRCA-discussion] Price for a pattern plane...

[Matthew Finley]

To voice a few of my thoughts..... And the below is by no means meant to ruffle and feathers....

A) Yes, Pattern is in decline along with many facets of the hobby.... I hope, and I will continue to do what I personally can to promote, and increase interest.

B) In my opinion..... The more limitations, and rules you place on something the more someone is going to stay clear of it....

C) Sportsman & Intermediate classes should have as equal or lesser limitations than higher classes. If I want to fly a 40 size, or a 2M bird in Club Class, Sportsman, or Intermediate I should be able to without fear of being downgraded or frowned upon. Personally, if I in the year 2024 was just thinking about getting into pattern, I would want to have a comparable bird to the higher class guys so personally I felt like I had a chance, or was on an equal playing field.

D) On a more personal level.....What I do not like seeing, and I am seeing it more and more it seems.... Sequences are being developed for 2M planes that are lighter than the more John Doe feasible ship such as the 2M Vanquish or Acuity... In my opinion that is doing more harm than good. I for one have been flying the same 2M Vanquish for 8 years now, this year will be my 9th, and I do not plan on purchasing a $3000 - $5000 bird anytime in the near future... If Pattern was the only facet I flew, than that may be a different story... Pattern is my primary focus and desire, however I enjoy Heli's, Jets, Warbirds, Sailplanes, and Sport Flying as well. Not only are the sequences being developed for lighter birds, but light birds that have canalizers the size of horizontal stabs, and fuse's the size of a good year blimp... In my opinion, the sequences should be designed so that all birds weather it be an Integral, Vanquish, Acuity, Essence, Oxai, Focus, etc has a fair shake at being competitive... Yes, piloting skills comes into play, and I have been fortunate in Masters with my Vanquish being competitive in the mix of high $$ planes, however it is becoming more and more tough especially with the low practice time available due to life.... I'm sure someone is reading this thinking, well if you want the sequences to be different, than join the sequence committee....  I would love to if time was available, witch it is not at this time.....

E) I am an advocate for the following in order to help grow pattern, and increase interest....

  *   Increase weight limit for every class to 12-12.5 pounds, however still stay within the 2M size limit.
  *   Take the time to help provide incentives for people to make the trip by providing pilot prizes, or pilot raffles. I spend about 3 hrs on the phone, and emailing different RC companies two years ago for one of our D4 meets, and it was not even one I was CD'ing, and I acquired about a dozen nice prized for a pilot raffle. It can be done, but it does take time and effort on ones part.
  *   Come up with maybe a 3-4 person NSRCA / F3A Marketing Committee to help raise awareness, promote, advertise, and bring fresh ideas into growing pattern. I would offer to help with this if presented the opportunity.

My .02 Cents.... :)

Smooth Flying, and See you on the circuit !
Matthew Finley
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From: NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org> on behalf of Michael Gosson via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 3, 2019 2:53 PM
To: Daniel Lipton; General pattern discussion
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Price for a pattern plane...

By the time a flyer starts in Club Class, moves up to Sportsman and on to Intermediate class that takes a few to several years, speaking from experience. I've been flying intermediate for two seasons and I'll be stuck here for a while.


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From: NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org> on behalf of Daniel Lipton via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 3, 2019 7:40 PM
To: Anthony Romano; General pattern discussion
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Price for a pattern plane...

What Im not comfortable seeing is for somebody who does want to invest in pattern with dedicated equipment, but start out in Sportsman and Intermediate, to be forced to buy a new plane when they move up. They may want (though perhaps a less expensive one like the Acuity 2M, or Vanquish 2M) is a 2M plane from the get-go.  Why prevent this?



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