Eness

Just found your thread on SPA and thought I would put in my thoughts. We just finished the Master's competition for SPA this past weekend and it was here in Auburn, AL ( they think they play football but that is a different discussion) I grew up in Dayton and Columbus and I think an event like that would be a good idea just to see what the people in the area are thinking about pattern and about doing it the SPA way

We had our first event a year ago and had the big contest this year. We are impressed with the SPA organization and with the way the competition is structured. I flew a lot in AMA events in the 60's and it was hard core with some bad moments in each contest. We have fould that it is a good time and the people are nice as can be. The judging is not a problem since the compatators themselves judge it.

I would advise that you try it 2 years in a row to tell if there is interest in the area. You can run the contest on a minimal budget and you will not be risking a lot of money if the turnout is small the first year. The big thing is to schedule it carefully so that there is not some big event on the same weekend. Our little football team played at home this Sat and that made the hotels and arrangements much harder.

Your idea of getting the area flyers together and picking a site is the way to go. You have so many great flying sites, it would be good to get everyone working together. The Novice level allows any airplane and that is the thing to really talk about. The pattern is easy and anyone that even thinks they like pattern would do well on the begining level. Let me know if we in
Auburn can help in any way.

[email protected]

Brian