<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><DIV>I would agree here with Mark that using the wording of "Guideline" is a good solution.</DIV>
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<DIV>Regards,</DIV>
<DIV>Mark, D6<BR></DIV>
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<B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> "Atwood, Mark" <atwoodm@paragon-inc.com><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> General pattern discussion <nsrca-discussion@lists.nsrca.org><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Thursday, May 7, 2009 10:15:40 AM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Advancement System<BR></FONT><BR>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri', 'sans-serif'">WE HAVE TO CHANGE THIS!!!!</SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri', 'sans-serif'">I will put forth the same suggestion that I have in the past. REGARDLESS of how the points are determined, the wording should be changed that they are a GUIDELINE for advancement, not a mandatory system. PERIOD.</SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri', 'sans-serif'">I.e no restrictions on which class you fly. This is supposed to be fun. Some people will NEVER get past Advanced, or intermediate, and yet they will be in the top 3 at most local events. But that’s the top 3 of 5 people. And the bottom 2 there will likely surpass them at some point and move on.</SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri', 'sans-serif'">Trophy hounds just don’t exist, or if they do, they don’t exist for long. Let’s face it…we eventually get our fill and get bored and want to move up.</SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri', 'sans-serif'">But someone that used to be a great Advanced flyer…moves to masters, but then kids, work, whatever cuts their practice time from twice a week to twice a year, would like to come to a contest, fly advanced again and at least feel competitive. </SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri', 'sans-serif'">This is just ridiculous that were so concerned with trophy hounds. It’s not like they’re cheating…they’re just better than the guy they’re flying against. Isn’t that the goal??</SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri', 'sans-serif'">Anyhow, I think we should propose that ANY advancement system be a quideline. Simply something to give pilots an idea of when it’s right to move up. But don’t force it, and don’t prevent people from flying in any class they want. Let’s try it! If it doesn’t work, at least then we’ll have learned a little more about what doesn’t work.</SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri', 'sans-serif'">-Mark</SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma', 'sans-serif'">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma', 'sans-serif'"> nsrca-discussion-bounces@lists.nsrca.org [mailto:nsrca-discussion-bounces@lists.nsrca.org] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Earl Haury<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, May 07, 2009 10:24 AM<BR><B>To:</B> Discussion List, NSRCA<BR><B>Subject:</B> [NSRCA-discussion] Advancement System</SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'">In the discussion regarding the Masters sequence / length a few competitors mentioned that increasing the difficulty would cause them to stop competing. Folks, this needs to be addressed! We can't tolerate a system where folks are forced to a level where they can't enjoy pattern and/or chose to quit. </SPAN></P></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'">There are generally two views of the current system. One is that it is cast in stone and needed to force the "trophy hound" to move to the proper class. The other is that peer pressure alone will result in proper classification. I think that there's a third possibility, some folks prematurely move to a higher class for the "prestige" of that class. There's likely reality / unreality to each view which supports that some process is needed. While there have been some changes to smooth the advancement process, nothing has changed for a person who finds themselves in a class that exceeds their skills. I know - there's a process to petition for dropping to a lower class, but it's intended for hardship cases rather than being uncompetitive.</SPAN></P></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'">OK - going back to the first paragraph - how might we fix this? My suggestion is to change the rules so that folks who gather points in the lower percentile of a class for X number of events (or rounds, or time span?) have the option to stay where they are, or move back a class. The current advancement rules would be applied to folks in the upper percentile. It seems that this would provide an option for the casual competitor to seek a comfort level and retain a reasonable advancement process for the serious competitor. Of course there are administrative issues, probably best to simply use data within each district, as most already track points for district championships. A district based data set would also best weight performance within one's local peer group.</SPAN></P></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'">Just my thoughts - how about the group discussing this some.</SPAN></P></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'">Earl</SPAN></P></DIV>
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