For what it’s worth................
Precision Pilots don't have much to shoot for any more. You have the NATS, Regional Championships, The new IMAC World Championships and the occasional Invitational. The loss of events like the long time running Masters Aerobatic Championship, know more recently as the Don Lowe Masters. This was a fantastic event where you had 20-21 pilots the top 10-15 (invitational) from the previous year was automatically invited back. Then you had 5-6 open qualifying positionsto make the field, what a great idea! I did this on three occasions from 2000-2003 and the reason I got into precision flying in the 90's. I wanted the opportunity to fly with my hero's and learn. The TOC was based on NSRCA FAI/F3A pattern points by district to make the field, which automatically eliminated the IMAC guys that actually flew those type planes. These big venues are what helped produce the technology’s we have today in this hobby through creative thinking and testing ideas.
We need more contest like the Don Lowe Masters to come back and provide moreincentive for guys to compete again. Having competed in both FAI/F3A ( Dist.Champion in 2009) Pattern and giant scale aerobatics the District and Regional Championships are skew in the sense, it's more about who can make the most contests. For Instance the IMAC SE region is huge, from Virginia to Florida andthe reason I will not put much time into IMAC, if you can't afford those long expensive trips you don't stand a chance at the championship. The NSRCA district I fly in is much smaller and way more manageable to attend all the contests. A competitive person doesn't want to compete simply to participate (some do), they want the"Big Trophy" at the end of the year for winning. I think you'd see more participation come back at all level and less attrition over all, if IMAC shrunk some of the HUGE districts down to a manageable size. Especially with the economy being soft and consumables being higher. Simply my opinion..............., as it's my Achilles heal.
The Halo factor needs to go away! I've been a victim to it many times ( anyone that competes has) and it's a turn off to those who put in the long dedicated practice times to be over looked on game day. I have always shared the opinion...,you take a mixed group of "Big" names and lesser known from the same class, have them fly the same plane, same sequence and place the judges, so they can't see who the pilot is. I believe you'd have a different outcome everytime. The way competition is meant to be, not a set name of winners every week. At the end of the day, the guy with the most sponsor’s doesn’t always have tobe the winner....
The pattern World Team Selection years at the NATS is another example, as longas the top 5 pilots keep showing up. The contest is between them and 6 through10 are having their own contest. Not taking anything away from these very talented guys, as I know many of them and have flown with some of them. The problem is being honest with one'sself, while judging. No impression judging, that like stealing from someone. So.., ask yourself this question, if for some reason JAS, AJ and BW didn’t show up to the NATS on a World Team selection year who would be the next three guys in line.............................................. ...............? If you just made you’re top three list, you just selected the winners before the contest ever started (and that’s my point and only an example) ;-)
The cost of the hobby has actually become more affordable now then it was 15years ago, for those new to the hobby, in many ways and in some ways it has not. I always try to fly American made products, impossible to do 100 percent. ARF's are more affordable now and the quality has increased 10 folds in just the past few years alone. The companies that offer kits for $1,500.00 to $1,900.00 for a box of wood and some foam are losing to the masses. I have always flown Carden's, but with the likes of PAU, Pilot, Hangar-9, Extreme RC and 3DHS, just doesn't make sense to spend several months building a plane when you can be flying in a week for half the price and win with an ARF that will last for years.
This same question/debate comes up all the time, it falls on deaf ears or those with thepower to push change, perhaps becoming complacent with protecting their owninterests maybe. Attendance is down all over..., why not try something different for a change; at the Big venues like Clover Creek, TAS, instead of invitational’s,everyone has to qualify and you have elimination rounds every day based on total score, alternating qualified judges every day. Give the sportsman level pilot something to shoot for, a dream to work toward! The arrogant pilots that don’tlike that format won’t come!!!! It’s like having 20, 2000lb grizzly bears fighting for the same fish and for those that get to watch, you just don’t know who’s going to win! Trust me.., they exist like, little spoiled brats that need a spanking.
You want to repair and re-grow these segments of competition, focus on the things that push people away or have forced people away. Work at bringing them back and the rest will come.
I’m just pointing out things that no one wants to say out loud.... food for thought. The next contest I go to, I'll finish last as punishment for writing this........ lol.
Bill
Last edited by AmericanSpectre505; 11-03-2014 at 08:46 AM.