ORIGINAL: KeithB
I'll be there flying in Advanced.
Mike, I also plan on moving up to Masters after NATS, it's just too bad for us that we "happened" to have our last year in Advanced at the same time as "The Wonder Boy" (aka Brett). Sort of puts off any chance of being national champion for several years!
Brett's been whooping my tail all year, but I'm super glad he's around as it's upped the bar for all of us in Advanced.
Keith B
Scott is no slouch either. He got some pretty stratospheric scores last year...and that was LAST year.....it'll be fun watching him and Brett go at it.
As for chances of winning the Nats and being our last advanced contest....well, it comes down to expectation really. I "expect" do do better than I did last year, regardless of placing (not shaking would be a start) and be somewhat competetive and have fun. Winning the Nats is not on my list of expectations. It takes a little more than good flying to win 1st place. If I make the top 10, it's been a good contest for me. If I come home with a Nats trophy, ANY Nats trophy, it's been a GREAT contest. Winning is a dream.
Some day I want to win the Nats if I can. Think of all the top flyers....GREAT flyers we know of that have never won the Nationals. Yet........it's like the ultimate carrot on the end of a stick for us. We chase it relentlessly, it drives us to do better, it makes it fun and challenging. And the reason we're still here is that we're realistic. This may or may not be the year, but there's always next year...and the year after...and the year after.....and along the way, we make friends, learn, get better, have fun, get better, have more fun, make more friends, learn more....man I love this game [8D]
And that being said, I'm gonna win advanced and show those kids how it's done. *ahem* You may all kneel and kiss the ring now. ROFLMAO
On another subject, have you guys heard about the new prize? The Concours de elegance (SP?) It's a prize for the plane itself; best of show, craftsmanship, design, finish, etc. MAN if I had known about that, I would have spent another month or 3 finishing my Black Magics!!!!! THAT'S one I could seriously get into and go for it. However, Bryan Hebert will have his new Shinden, and he is argueably the master. I got a lot of my inspiration from him. Well, there's a few weeks left, my planes are only 9 1/2 lbs, I'm sure a little more airbrushing and a few ounces of clear wouldn't hurt....LOL Ok, well NEXT YEAR!!!!!!!!
-Mike