Just a general thought -

We don't get points for "pretty" in pattern. Yet it is our (pattern pilots) nature to compete. I have seen us compete like mad with each other at a video games arcade when waiting for the rain to stop. Who has the best engine, gas-glow or electric etc., who has the best build, best paint job, control connections, you name it. I have even seen piots compete to see who is the best judge! It all counts for nought when the points you get are for how you fly - right.?

Wood roaches, carbon queens etc. all have to fly, in the end, under the command of you the pilot.

We keep falling for the elephant-pit-trap of being an eletist. The trouble with being superior is that you have no one left to look up to! (Eric 2006).

I say all of this, because low-end, as in dollars, pattern ARF's draw a lot of fire from high-end pattern pilots, experienced builders and pattern suppliers. Surely they can see that a pattern pilot has to begin somewhere. The unbridled denegration that I have seen of late can only serve to discourage more pilots from trying out our sport.

I'm going to stay with my 1999 plan of showing what is out there that will fly our routines. The options are not always perfect but if they work I'll write about them and how to fix any problems if I know how.

Regards,

Eric.