ORIGINAL: Matt Kirsch
That said, I otherwise agree with your take on flying styles and banning specific flying types or maneuvers. Perhaps instead of banning or trying to regulate flying styles, the AMA should define and separate them? That is, no 3D while others are "flying the pattern," and no flying the pattern when others are flying 3D. There is nothing wrong with either flying style, but the traffic patterns they create are not compatible with each other.
If egos and selfishness didn't get in the way, there wouldn't be a need for such rules in the first place. The 3D guy could wait 10 minutes for the other guys to land, and the guy who "just flies" could give up the sky for 10 minutes so the 3D guy could get in a flight.
Hi Matt,
What I'm seeing around here is that these situations are pretty much ironing themselves out. I was at an IMAA event in Chenango Bridge a few weeks ago where it looked like a problem was developing. The CD stepped up and set flight times for each type of flying style. The Warbird and "conventional" guys got their flight time and the 3Ders got theirs. The different styles didn't fly together and everybody seemed happy. I agree that flying both styles together is asking for trouble but if the pilots are uncomfortable they won't come back and that'll spell the end of the event or at least limit it in size. That alone gives the CD a little incentive to find a solution.
Dave