Based on the comments, the bottom line is we will all do what we want to since there is no penalty for flying an incorrect maneuver if it gets scored. Way to go, pat yourself on the back - you fooled another contestant judge into thinking you did it correct! There are several comments on judging - In these days of contestant judging, at least where I fly pattern, should I demand a contestant judge, that fly's in the Advanced, know the FAI sequence in such detail as to pick out any maneuver flown incorrectly? This IS asking a bit to much. Will never happen. For the most part, they score what they see and assume you did it correctly - and our ability to 'fool' these judges, should be try, is easy.

Some reference pattern to other sports - this type of thing happens in other sports so why worry about it. This 'logic' makes no sense to me. Why compare pattern to other sports? I don't care if a baseball goes foul by inches and it's called a home run by the highly-paid umpire (I bet the other team cares, as does the batter). We do not have highly paid pattern judges, so maybe we need to help a little. I recall my patents saying to me, "if Sam jumps off a bridge, does that mean you will too". Of course not Mom! Because other sports have 'flaws' does this mean it's OK for pattern to have flaws too? (yes, we will continue to have issues - so let's not get of on a tangent here). I hope we are of a mindset that we fly pattern to fly precision the best we can - clearly some of us don't have this viewpoint. That's OK, we are all in this for different reasons.

There appears to be two types of pattern pilots, those that compete against themselves, trying to better their flying ability and scores at each contest, and those that want to win, yet another, trophy. Winning at all costs seems to be OK, even if it is something you don't deserve because the judge did not catch the "0".

We will not solve this in my lifetime - sorry to say - but perhaps future generations may find a way?

sc