When I was first learning to fly R/C my goal was to be able to compete in Pattern and go to the Nats. I loved the precise beauty of the events, the discipline of the flyer's, and the helpfulness of the local group I was involved with. Pattern was the inspiration for my spending every extra cent I had as a high school student, I loved it so much.

But the ugliness of subjective judgment and personality plays turned me away from the event. What was a pretty plane would help to forgive a less than stellar performance. A reputation could overshadow a mistake. And goodness help the person who was from another club that challenged the local guru. It was a sad thing for me to realize that the best wasn't necessarily the one who could most properly execute the maneuvers. e