ORIGINAL: MTK

Dana,

We've discussed the idea of a Basic class from time to time. Most tend to oppose adding another class to Pattern. There are various reasons, some administrative and some technical.

The Sportsman schedule has the exit and re-entry in the middle of the sequence specifically to address workload of the Sports pilot...our thought was the pilot may need a breather in the middle of the sequence.

It may serve just as well, maybe better, to remove 2 maneuvers and eliminate the exit and re-entry. At the risk of (pardon the expression) dumbing down Sportsman too far, 2 less maneuvers (choice) will reduce flying time to just a couple minutes per sequence. Well, that may be enough for the Sports pilot, and hopefully he won't feel cheated for the entry fee he paid. The last thing we wantto do is irritate the same people we want to attract by giving them insufficient flying time and exposure

TO's and Landings should be scored maneuvers for all AMA classes, particularly the lower classes where skills are emerging. Control demonstration is most important to the judge. Afterall, not to belabor the obvious, this is a judged event and is a competition.....