ORIGINAL: VerneK
Unless I missed it, I haven't seen a single post in this thread expressing concern for an Intermediate pilot transitioning into Advanced. Let's see, in Intermediate, you learn how to keep a fairly basic set of maneuvers in the box. That's what Intermediate is, learning to fly in the box and at that level, it's a huge step.
Now from there, we go to Advanced where you have to learn how to do a slow roll, 4-point roll, snap, and spin. Do you really think Advanced should be more difficult, or Masters for that matter? If we don't keep the steps reasonable for pilots on their way up, nothing else will matter. You won't have enough contestants at a local contest to fill a country bar on a Tuesday afternoon. That's what the sequence building guidelines are all about. You can't ever build a new schedule simply looking forward to the next higher step. You always have to have your eye in the rear view mirror. If you don't, the next look you get will be an empty mirror.
Verne Koester
Verne,
I moved from intermediate to advanced and from advanced to masters not all that long ago. At the time, intermediate to advanced was easy, advanced to masters was extremely difficult for me. The advanced sequence at the time had been dumbed down so much (zero inverted entrances and exits) that it did not do a good job of preparing me for masters, and wasn't that much harder than intermediate. I went thru advanced in two years, went to masters because of peer pressure and pointing out. In hindsight I wish I had stayed there for another year or so to fly the current advanced pattern so I would have been better prepared for masters. In contrast, I've heard from some (by no means all) current intermediate pilots that the sequence is too easy, and they like the challenge of advanced. And the good news is that advanced is now challenging enough to keep them there a few years, so I think the sequence needs to change occasionally because of that.
We also have to remember that advanced has some required manuevers by the sequence guide, like the 4 point and the slow roll, so the rest of the pattern is built around those manuevers. I had all of those, but the rest of the sequence was not challenging enough. The current 2012 advanced sequence is challenging, and I'm seeing it at the contests I've judged.
Jon