[NSRCA-discussion] From the new President - Introduction

Fri Jan 11 08:31:55 AKST 2019

Congratulations Archie.  Many many thanks to Joe for all his time and dedication.  I very much appreciate all that you have set a standard for Archie.  Both of you are to be commended for giving so much.

Mike 

From: NSRCA-discussion [mailto:nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org] On Behalf Of mups53 via NSRCA-discussion
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2019 11:15 AM
To: Frackowiak Tony <frackowiak at sbcglobal.net>; General pattern discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>; Archie Stafford <rcpattern2012 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] From the new President - Introduction

Congratulations Archie

Also thank you to the outgoing officers.

All of you can be proud of your contributions.

 I pledge my support and agree that we all have a stake in the future of our sport by being positive ambassadors.

Mike Mueller

Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

-------- Original message --------

From: Frackowiak Tony via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org <mailto:nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> > 

Date: 1/11/19 11:09 AM (GMT-06:00) 

To: Archie Stafford <rcpattern2012 at gmail.com>, General pattern discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org <mailto:nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> > 

Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] From the new President - Introduction 

Congratulations Archie! I have a lot of confidence in what can be done.

Tony Frackowiak

On Jan 11, 2019, at 8:47 AM, Archie Stafford via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org <mailto:nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> > wrote:

As the new President I wanted to take a minute and introduce myself as well as share some ideas and opinions on things we are currently dealing with.  Many of you know me, but for those that don’t I want to give you an idea of my background in pattern so that you can understand where I may be coming from.  

First, I want to thank Joe walker and the entire outgoing board for their time and talent donated to the entire pattern community.  I also want to thank everyone who voted.  Not just the ones who voted for me, but everyone that took the time to show that they care about the future of pattern.  It is proof that only a few minutes of your time can actually have an impact on things that we all enjoy.  

I started flying pattern the same way that many who are over age 35 started.  I went to the field with my dad when I was growing up and fortunately, there was a club nearby that had a contest.  We made the 45-minute trip up the road to the contest that was held in Ravenswood, WV and was put on by one of my heroes, Mark Radcliff. I was especially interested in Mark, as I grew up flying single stick radios.  At my first contest, I flew a Great Planes Cherokee that my dad built with an OS .40 in the nose.  I was flying an Ace silver 7 single stick radio and was flying against 11 pilots in Novice at the time.  After my first flight, Mark noticed I was flying a single stick and came over and introduced himself.  At the time, Mark had retired from Pattern, but was still CDing the local contest.  Also, in attendance that day were Mike McConville, Geoff Combs, and even Ivan Kristensen came down from Canada. I also believe that scale legend Mike Barbee was in attendance.  At the end of the first day as Ivan was headed back to his motorhome, he asked me to carry his transmitter case.  At that moment I was in absolute awe of the fact that I was helping him.  I won’t bore everyone with the rest of my pattern story.  The short version is that I’ve flown now for nearly 30 years and won Masters in 2012 at the NATS.  The point is, that by those simple acts of Mark, and Ivan, it changed my entire outlook on pattern and I was hooked.  It went from something that my dad thought would be interested in trying to being something that changed the rest of my life.  

I have now spent the last 20 years of my life working in the UAV (drone) industry. I have been fortunate enough to travel all over the world and experience things that I likely never would have if it hadn’t been for that one local contest in the late 80s.  My point of the story is that you never know what kind of influence you may have on a new person that shows up at the field and if we approach every new pilot with the same level of support that those guys showed me, pattern will naturally grow. 

At the end of the day, the NSRCA leadership can make suggestions, or even create new rules, but the only thing that will truly make pattern grow again is the influence we all have at our local fields.  In District 2 a couple of years ago we made the statement that is every one of us finds one new person to bring to a contest over the next 3 years, then in the next 3 years pattern will have grown.  

As President, I plan to do everything I can to see pattern attract new blood, and there are resources that we have, but at the end of the day the greatest resource pattern has are the people who fly it.  I don’t expect this to be an easy job, but I do plan to put everything I can in to it.  For those that know me, I am very open to new ideas and I’m happy to talk with anyone about how we can grow pattern.  My email is  <mailto:rcpattern2012 at gmail.com> rcpattern2012 at gmail.com.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have suggestions or ideas as I want to hear them all.  One thing that I know won’t help pattern is to do exactly what we have done for the last 15 years and expect things to change.  

Looking forward to the next 2 years,

Archie

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