RE: Pattern start
Xrod, if that has been your experience, then hackles should be rising in your district. It's true, pattern has declined in numbers over the years, as equipment technology has developed. Undoubtedly there's a connection of some kind between the two trends. But it pains me to think that pattern flyers would turn a cold shoulder to a new guy. Tommy is probably right, that most old hands will wait to be asked rather than volunteering information. My own experience in District 1 has been all the other way. I go to a meet, strike up a conversation with anyone, and helpful suggestions come pouring out. Maybe I have been properly conditioned by having a pattern coach an hour's drive away, retired (like me) so he has time to indulge his generous nature (and he's a Scotchman!). Have you joined NSRCA? Are you on their Discussion List? I see members posting questions and expert answers popping up like mushrooms. Before you give up on pattern, I hope you would join NSRCA if you haven't already, and then get in touch with your District VP and let him know what kind of help you need. If all the many capable pattern flyers in Florida fail to come through for you, then pattern does deserve to die. (Heaven forfend!)
By the way, if there are any pattern wannabe's in my southern NH neighborhood who wanna go fly somewhere, I'd be happy to get a PM from you and see if we can't get together. Not that I am the big expert, but happy to share what I think I know.