I've been following this thread with great interest. I was "trained" in pattern, but work requirements put me in a position that prevented me from getting the hours in that Pattern really needed. My instructor always told me the way to success is to burn fuel. Unfortunately, time restraints prevented me from being out as often as I really needed to be.

So, I guess you can call me a Pattern "wanna-be". That doesn't mean that I am not interested, it just means that there are situations we all have that make Pattern "overcome by events", I'm sorry to say.

However, what Pattern taught me was a couple of things. One was discipline and the other was to build them light. So, even with my "sport" planes, I attempt to keep them as light as I possibly can. So, I can't understand why manufactures allow planes that are very sport specific, Pattern, are shipped knowing that they are not going to meet weight standards. If it were me, I would think that, for the price you guys have to pay for a good, competitive, 2 meter airframe, why they can't be held to the weight limits and spend just a little more time making them meet requirements.

Anyway, I didn't want to butt in where I may not be welcome, not knowing you guys, but it seems to me, even as a "wanna-be" that watches such things as weight, that the very people that profit from the hobby are not giving you what you need to compete with.

CGr.