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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>great comments, i did the same with my son, he got all my
leftover stuff and did very well. he doesn't fly anymore but it is a very good
memory for him<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>
nsrca-discussion-bounces@lists.nsrca.org
[mailto:nsrca-discussion-bounces@lists.nsrca.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Mark
Atwood<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, March 19, 2012 12:29 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> General pattern discussion<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Future of Pattern<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal>Keith makes an interesting point that I have some personal
experience with. My 15yr old son Sean. First, I think he did the
sport some good because he cleaned house last year in Intermediate with a
62" Osiris winning our district and often beating 8-10 flyers all who had
full 2m setups. To be fair, he's got all the advantages to do well, good
planes, a good field, a dad that makes an ok coach and drags his butt out to
practice whenever he wants and sometimes when he doesn't.
Sooo...the "Good" is that he showed people that the plane is
only part of the equation.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal>The more relevant part of this post is that even with all
the advantages he has...he's not passionate about flying pattern. And
that's what it takes to really stay with this. His comment to me was
"Dad, I really enjoy doing this, and plan to continue some, but I don't
"need" it like you do." <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal>So Mike is right that we have to expose people to this, help
them if they show ANY interest, but I think keith's point is spot on.
Someone that needs this...loves this, will find their way in. We
just have to make sure we don't shut them out.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal>-M<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:black'>Mark Atwood</span></b><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:black'>Paragon Consulting, Inc.</span></b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>|</span></b><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'> President</span><span
style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:black'>5885 Landerbrook Drive Suite
130, Cleveland Ohio, 44124</span><span style='font-size:10.5pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><span
style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:black'>Phone: 440.684.3101 x102 </span><b><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>|</span></b><span
style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'> Fax:
440.684.3102</span><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:#1351F3'><a href="mailto:mark.atwood@paragon-inc.com">mark.atwood@paragon-inc.com</a> </span><b><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>|</span></b><span
style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><span
style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1351F3'><a
href="http://www.paragon-inc.com/">www.paragon-inc.com</a></span><span
style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";
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<p class=MsoNormal>On Mar 19, 2012, at 11:23 AM, Keith Hoard wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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Mike,<br>
<br>
The bottom line is that it is impossible to simply
"encourage" someone to join the pattern ranks and have them hang
around for years. It requires that the new guy have that internal drive
to want to acquire all of the specialized skill sets and equipment ON HIS OWN
to make that transition from sport flyer to pattern flyer. All we can do
is cheerfully provide guidance on the way.<br>
If you look at the rise and fall of IMAC, ask yourself what
was behind the motivation to join their ranks on the way up? Like you
said, the cost of entry is way beyond pattern - $13,000 150cc plane + $5000
trailer + $XX,XXX vehicle to haul trailer + Travel costs to
"Huckfests", Contests, Ect. . . . At the lower end, where most guys
started, what did you always hear the IMAC guys say? "Hey, anyone
can enter Unlimited and win with a 50cc airplane" . . . Sound familiar?
The masses join, travel around to contests, get their butts kicked flying their
50cc / 100cc airplanes, look down the flight line to see who's winning /
getting all of the attention that they thought they'd be getting (its the 150cc
+ Bling Guys), decided that its not worth it, then stop going to contests.<br>
Now in both the IMAC and Pattern examples, I would argue
that we could give those guys a full set of top of the line equipment and they
still wouldn't be able to win and would leave anyway. You guys need to
realize that it takes a very, VERY specialized person to do what we do and keep
doing it year after year. The real story here isn't that the pattern
ranks aren't growing, but that we still have as many guys doing this for as
long as we've been doing this in the first place!! If someone has the
skill set and motivation to join us, they will join us no matter what the
obstacle - financial or otherwise. The opposite is also true, you can
"drag / encourage" someone into pattern, give them all of the
equipment free of charge, provide all of the top notch coaching, but if they
don't have that internal drive to push themselves to continue, they will drop
out. <br>
Now it seems that for some reason those of us who remain
tend to "feel bad" when that happens. Perhaps you feel that the
pattern community did something wrong to chase that person away, when actually
the opposite was true. That person dipped their toe in the pattern pond
and decided that they weren't a fit. It looked good from the outside but
they just couldn't hang. Most choose to leave quietly, while others bray
like a donkey on their way out, or linger and take cheap shots from the peanut
gallery. Back when pattern guys were considered "elitists", you
still had guys joining the ranks and pattern was growing, right? Now that
the word is "be a nice guy to the sport flyers", our ranks are level
/ declining. Perhaps bringing back a dash of elitism to pattern may not
be a bad thing.<br>
The bottom line is that no amount of "tweaks" to
the rules are going to either increase of decrease pattern participation.
If a guy wants to participate in pattern and go to contests, he will do
whatever it takes to get there. <b><u>Everything else is just an excuse /
whining.</u></b> If we eliminate the weight rule, they they will then say
they can't go to contests because of "judging bias". If we
implement electronic judging, they then will find some other rule to complain
about, ad nauseum.<br>
I think we've gone more than the "extra mile" to
encourage participation. Its time to concentrate on perfecting the rules
for the guys that are actually participating and not worry about changes that
"may" encourage some "theoretical" newcomer. They
will join if they want to, guaranteed.<br>
<br>
Oh, and by the way, sometimes the best action to take is no
action at all.<br clear=all>
<br>
Keith Hoard<br>
Collierville, TN<br>
<a href="mailto:khoard@gmail.com">khoard@gmail.com</a><br>
<br>
. . .<snip>. . <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal> I can't see great numbers of newbies flocking to join
our ranks. I think it is what it is. I'll strive to see small gains and little
victory's when we get someone new to enjoy the sport.. .<snip>. . .<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal> Now lets see how we handle $6 gas. Mike Mueller<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________<br>
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<a href="mailto:NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org">NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org</a><br>
http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion<o:p></o:p></p>
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