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The Contest board has already received a number of proposals to
change the rules.<br>
<br>
There are three that pertain to this discussion:<br>
<ol>
<li>Proposal to eliminate the advancement criteria and allow
contestants to step backwards in class at the end of the year</li>
<li>Elimination of the weight rule for Sportsman, Intermediate and
Advanced</li>
<li>Eliminate the box requirements for Sportsman</li>
</ol>
<p>I suggest that if you have opinions on these proposals, that you
find out who your representative is, and make your opinion known.
It seems clear that there are some making an attempt being made to
address some of the issues. Any AMA member can propose a rule
change. If you feel strongly about any of the suggestions made in
this thread, I suggest you propose a change that you feel would
positively impact pattern. <br>
</p>
<p>Other ideas.<br>
</p>
<p>Something that has been done by the NSRCA is introduction of the
Club Class. Personally I do not feel that it would be appropriate
to add a class at pattern contests. However it would be a great
vehicle for running a pattern seminar for your area. Come up with
some drawing prizes, some pattern guys to help, someone to cook
some hot dogs for lunch, someone(s) to run a seminar on "what is
pattern" and finish up with a couple rounds of club class. Make it
an annual event and make sure the word gets to all the clubs in
your area. <br>
</p>
<p>Another thing that needs to be done is to have a real scoreboard.
A large scoreboard. This is essential for any spectators most of
which are RC flyers with no or little exposure to pattern. Without
a way to tell what is going on and who is doing it, a spectator
will watch two flights and leave very bored. <br>
</p>
<p>The scoreboard should have:</p>
<ol>
<li>Pilots Name</li>
<li>Photo of pilot and Model</li>
<li>Scores by round with both raw and normalized scores</li>
<li>Current standing in class<br>
</li>
<li>Handouts available for:</li>
<ol>
<ul>
<li>What is pattern including explanations of the classes</li>
<li>Ribbons and Aresti of the sequences being used and
explanation of scoring, k-factors and normalization<br>
</li>
<li>How about pilot Bios?</li>
</ul>
</ol>
<li>There needs to be someone designated to support the board if
you have much traffic.<br>
</li>
</ol>
<p>How about a Senior award like IMAC does at local contests? The
NSRCA used to do this at the NATs but it seems to have faded away.<br>
</p>
<p>John<br>
</p>
<br>
<br>
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