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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>IMAC and F3A both fly precision patterns. A
differentiator that I heard at the first IMAC Nat's was that we (the pattern
guts) fly "practiced" aerobatics.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sure IMAC practices, but with a new schedule every
year, the winter/summer flying window, and unknowns at IMAC contests,
they fly a lot of "unpracticed" schedules. (Note I said schedules not
maneuvers).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>With the amount of time our schedules exist/last
and the number of times we fly them, we had better be precise :-). It's not
right to say IMAC does not fly with precision.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><BR>Eric.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=brett.terry@gmail.com href="mailto:brett.terry@gmail.com">brett
terry</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> Thursday, March 02, 2006 10:55
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [NSRCA-discussion] IMAC Vs
Pattern Participation? DoestheDogHunt on points made?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>These comments are not aimed at any particular person. I
honestly hope not to offend anybody! This is also very long and I
apologize. Most of you probably have far more interesting business to
attend to than to read my ramblings. If so, skip to the bottom...
<BR><BR>There are many absolutely talented people in SA/IMAC. The
talent, precision, and polish are certainly NOT exclusive to NSRCA
pattern. They are the exception, though, as most people don't have the
dedication to perfect minutia within the routine. Watching people fly
the one-roll 360 degree turn, starting from inverted, from the IMAC Advanced
Class a few years ago was poetry in motion. <BR><BR>I recently moved to NE
region, and left my IMAC planes with my father and brothers as I lack the
storage space and no longer have access to the "family airplane
trailer". I didn't know what to expect with respect to flying fields,
only to learn I have two fields within 7 miles of my house. The
Waterboro Pattern meet takes place 25 miles from my home. <BR><BR>I have
flown "pattern" since I helped my father build a Curare 25 years ago, but
never participated in an organized meet until starting IMAC in the late
90's. I have always been drawn to the precision aspect of flying.
I had the opportunity to fly a friend's Gator RC 2m Giles Competition a few
years ago and was again enchanted by the precision, "lightness", and relative
ease with which it flew. I knew I had to try pattern again, even though
pattern planes are significantly smaller than anything else I flew and "...as
everybody knows, bigger flies better". <BR><BR>Many of the sport SA
pilots (SIMAC/SSA?) people started flying the planes the same way they flew
their .46-powered Ugly Stick, flitting around and hovering all the time.
Poorly-muffled 50cc engines, screaming in a hover 5 feet off the ground, make
poor neighbors. No wonder flying fields are disappearing. <BR><BR>Now to
my points:<BR><BR>When I grew up skiing in the west I always had a certain
amount of disdain for snowboarders. I thought they could buy a board and
equipment, and learn to ride reasonably well in a very short amount of
time. THEY didn't have respect for anything or anybody around
them. THEY were oblivious to the rules of the mountain. THEY were
always blind to anything happening on the heel-side. THEY were the
dangerous, unpredictable, and skittish ones lacking any talent. I
thought I was precision in motion, with the beautiful form acquired through
hundreds of days of skiing with world-class skiers. <BR><BR>I learned to
snowboard, but I knew the rules of the mountain, always watched out for
others, etc. THEY couldn't be as conscientious as I and didn't deserve
to BE on the same mountain. <BR><BR>That all changed when I became a ski
instructor at an all-user ski resort. I learned that the snowboard is
more similar to a pair of skis than different. Body mechanics of skiing
and snowboarding were surprisingly similar, only the snowboarder is rotated a
bit. I began to see things from a snowboarder's perspective, that a
snowboard can carve like no ski can. A snowboard retains energy better
than any ski. A carving snowboard is powerful, controlled, and far more
capable than skis. I was blinded by my own ego, and failed to see the
strengths of the snowboard. <BR><BR>Of course, I could care less about the
flippy-floppy stuff, but the precision carving is sheer poetry.<BR><BR>Now let
me tie this in to model airplanes.<BR><BR>NSRCA Pattern MUST NOT abandon the
precision factor. I don't think making the difficult sequences more
user-friendly by relaxing requirements will attract more people to pattern
events. <BR><BR>Pattern fliers have a reputation of snobbery. Whether
this is justified or not is immaterial. (In my experience it is NOT
justified, most serious pattern fliers I have met are wonderfully helpful and
supportive people.) The fact still remains. <BR><BR>I propose a
middle ground. Rather than look down at the "checkbook pilots" with the
plug-and-play 30% ARF Yak 54's "hucking" rolling harriers and torque rolls
until their engines cook themselves ("but DA has a lifetime warranty..."), why
not suggest a "checkbook pattern alternative"? There are many on the
market. The Ultra-RC Icepoint, OTOP Dream 110 ($299 now at planesplus),
WM Groovy and Zen planes, and Global Excelleron come to mind. Let them
know about cheaper engine alternatives, rather than just the 1.60DZ or OS
1.40. RCU is chock full of used, competitive planes at reasonable
prices.<BR><BR>Some day take your backup plane to the field and play
pass-the-transmitter with a couple of the "checkbook" guys. Maybe they will
appreciate it, maybe not. But those who appreciate precision - the
ability to fly horizon-to-horizon slow rolls, to fly with minimal mixing and
maximum "smoothness", to maintain a sense of mastery and control over the
aircraft at all times - will have a new-found respect for the sport and just
might show up at the next contest. In fact, he may even beat you!
"Checkbook Pilots" just might have enough room in the budget to put a few in
the hangar. When the pattern planes start selling faster, the market
will respond! Perhaps we will one day see page after page of ads in the
mags for pattern designs. <BR><BR>Share some stick time. It just might
touch a few hearts, minds, and souls...<BR><BR>Brett<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>
<DIV><SPAN class=gmail_quote>On 3/2/06, <B class=gmail_sendername>Ed Alt</B>
<<A href="mailto:ed_alt@hotmail.com"> ed_alt@hotmail.com</A>>
wrote:</SPAN>
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<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr">
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Brett:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I think there's really a couple of tiers of SA
pilots, with some very polished precision flyers in the top ranks. You
are right though, there's also a good sized contingent that handle their
sleds the way you describe. Often, they are the "checkbook pilots" who
recently arrived on the scene and are just plopping recipes together and
playing follow the leader as best they can. Dave Michael made some
excellent points, one of which I would dub the "fade factor" with SA
pilots. Everything he said was right on - the planes have great
appeal, they get tons of press, you see them everywhere etc. So it
attracts the masses. To a degree, that's great because it does help
everything grow at a rapid pace. On the other hand, it can lead to an
implosion, such as what seems to currently be happening in the NE
region. When all you have to do is buy your way in, the event
tends to attract larger numbers of people with no particular awareness or
concern over what it takes to be an actual modeler involved with precision
aerobatics. That's what it seems like from here at least.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dave had some great ideas about promoting
Pattern, which have mostly worked for IMAC / SA. I think that the main
thing that we have to avoid is anything that would veer us away from
concentration on precision, which is where IMAC has led the SA rules
recently. Sequence design has also run amok with IMAC calling the shots
every year over what goes in the AMA rulebook, resulting in what amounts to
variations on methods to display snap rolls to the crowd. It's a lazy
way to run up the K-factors in the sequences, which has become even more
problematic for them since they have shortened the sequences to about 10
figures per class. Mess up one snap in a high K figure and you are
done, hence they have done ever more to encourage snap cheats, all the while
they valiantly attempt to teach otherwise in judging clinics. For
proof, c</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>heck a couple of the RCU experts
forums, where they describe how they do snap cheats to help teach the
masses. That's what SA pilots are going to school on for the most
part. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>We can learn a bunch from IMAC, good and
bad.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ed</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
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<DIV
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<A title=brett.terry@gmail.com
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terry</A></DIV></SPAN></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR>
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