Horrace, You make some interesting points about the Nat's. However I totally disagree with some of your thought's on it. When it was on the road it was a talked about event and people went to it, both to compete and watch. As mentioned the numbers were higher and I think the event held a lot higher level of anticipation and prestige than it does now. When the news leaked that it was going to be held in Muncie only forever, I know that the first thought that went through my mind was, I have been to my last Nat's, which was in Reno, NV. The AMA came up with a million reason's to cancel the road shows, yet in my mind there is the entire membership amount of reasons to keep it on the road. It has taken me a lot of years to get to this point in my flying abilities and I am not saying that I am as good as the winners of last Nats, however as a member of the AMA, I would like the chance to compete without the time and expense of going to Muncie. How can it be considered a National Event if a large percentage of the AMA membership are excluded due to time or money restriction's. As also mentioned, I beleive the hobby and the AMA would grow if more was done to get the hobby more public exposure. I can remember how excited my friends and I were at the outlook of going to Reno for the Nat's, and while I will admit that mother nature was not nice in Reno, it was still a great event to go to and you knew that every third year it was going to return to your side of the United States, which meant that you could get ready for it, as a participant, helper or spectator. I know I always looked forward to it.

Dave


Disclaimer: These are my thoughts and not RCU's.