<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Bob,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Talk about confused. Neither you nor I
mentioned the Nats so I have no idea where that connection was made. I
really didn't think you had the answer to my question because in essence you
were asking the same thing. Sure, some planes draw nicer lines and appear
more stable and paced than others, and I agree that you can get this without
spending a lot of $$ or buying the plane of the season. I am agreeing that
when judges begin docking a pilot points because he didn't bring the "right"
plane then they are being impressionist judges. When a guy that usually
finishes middle of the pack gets a 2 point downgrade and the leader does the
same thing for a 1 point downgrade, that's impressionist judging. At my
last contest I got a 10 and a 5 from two FAI judges on a humptybump. At
least one, maybe both were impressionist judging. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> I think your post about pattern longevity is
about promoting the attitude that we should be encouraging to others and to
curtail frustrating new pilots by giving them false rules to
follow.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hope that makes it clear as mud :)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>-Lance</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=bob@toprudder.com href="mailto:bob@toprudder.com">Bob Richards</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=nsrca-discussion@lists.nsrca.org
href="mailto:nsrca-discussion@lists.nsrca.org">NSRCA Mailing List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, February 26, 2006 2:47
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Pattern
Longitevity</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Lance,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I'm not sure what you meant by your reply, I was not complaining about
the judging at the Nats. I was just saying that there are pattern fliers out
there with the attitude that you have to have xyz equipment to be competitive.
Thats fine if they want to have that attitude, the problem lies in the fact
that they really believe it and spread it to others as gospel. That, I am
sure, puts some people off and keeps them from trying pattern.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I always tell people that you don't need an expensive plane to be
competitve. Sure, a lot of people may say that to prospective pattern flyers,
but it doesn't look good when that person is flying very expensive
equipment. I'm proud of the fact that I practiced what I
preached, did very well while doing it, and had a lot of fun at the same
time.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I don't think a $1000 composite airframe will be in my future any time
soon.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Bob R.</DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR><B><I>Lance Van Nostrand <patterndude@comcast.net></I></B>
wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>so how do you get an "impressionist" affected
judge to be more objective? Seems that kind of person is just the sort
not interested in those pesky little things called "rules".
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>--Lance</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=bob@toprudder.com href="mailto:bob@toprudder.com">Bob
Richards</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=nsrca-discussion@lists.nsrca.org
href="mailto:nsrca-discussion@lists.nsrca.org">NSRCA Mailing List</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, February 26, 2006 8:03
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [NSRCA-discussion]
Pattern Longitevity</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>You say "the enemy is us". I agree. I feel compelled to share a
couple of my own experiences.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>When I got started (seriously) in pattern, I did so with a Cap 21. I
had several of the local pattern flyers (well meaning) tell me that I
would never get the scores I deserved flying a non-pattern plane. If I had
ever felt that was true, I would have dropped out of pattern. I flew that
plane for two years, in Advanced and Masters. I did well, I won just
over half the contests in which I flew, and managed to win the district
points championship in '92.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I decided to! fly a pattern plane in '93, and ended up with a Hansen
Runaround. </DIV>
<DIV>For me, it was a big step up. However, it did not have a pipe tunnel,
and I decided to use a standard OS 1.20 with stock stubby muffler for most
of the season. I went to the '93 Nats with this plane. I had
problems in the early rounds, but for the fifth round I flew t! he
absolute best flight I have ever flown. I was feeling great! About 30
minutes after I flew, a rain started that cut short the flying that day. I
had a large tent just behind the flight line, so most of the judges and
scribes ended up under my tent. One of the scribes, a well known FAI flyer
(that probably subscribes to this list) looked at my plane and told me
that I would never get the scores I deserve, "flying an outdated design".
I told him that I was very pleased with the flight I just had, and he said
"you did not get good scores on that flight". I did not show it, but
it just ticked me off. I know it sounds like sour ! grapes, but I decided
that if I did not get good scores that round, I would quit pattern. I
ended up winning that round by 65 normalized points. Looking at the tare
sheets, I got great scores from all the judges that round. Now,
I don't like to use the phrase "pattern snob", but to this day that is the
opinion I have of that FAI flyer.</DIV!>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Now I know that a very small percentage of the pattern flyers are
snobs, but they typically are the ones that are more vocal and more in the
limelight than others, unfortunately.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>(climbing down off my soapbox).</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Bob R.</DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR> </DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
<HR>
<P></P>_______________________________________________<BR>NSRCA-discussion
mailing
list<BR>NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org<BR>http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion</BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>