Warning- Soapbox alert- You've been warned-

Let's put SPA/BPA/Whatever divisions aside for the moment. Let's focus on the "big picture" here., let's just call it "Classic Pattern" for now. Like the forum name.

Why "Classic pattern? Because modern "F3A" pattern isn't pattern- like we did it. (Remember- one man's opinion).

$2500.00 airframes? Are you kidding me?

Some of us just don't dig it. Does anyone remember Formula 1 pylon racing. I do. And I say remember, because it is no longer around. Why? It turned into such a high dollar, elitist activity that it imploded upon itself. and yes I knew that game well. I worked for/hung with/help out/drank beer with the best of them. Yet Q-500 soldiers on. It is a practical, yet highly competitive event that mere mortals can do without being sponsored by a high dollar team.

This, and remember that I am on a soapbox here, is where I see "mainstream pattern heading. Maybe not tomorrow, but somewhere over the horizon.

Classic pattern fills the niche for mere mortals to fly pattern. And cool pattern too. Not in a "box"(opinion). One maneuver per pass, the way it was intended(opinion). The larger share of classic pattern enthusiasts are likely guys like me, who got out for one reason or another (family, career, prison, etc) and now that the kids are gone, had some time and maybe some resources to go back and do something that they were once passionate about. Then came the shockeroo. What happened to my beloved pattern?

I think that classic pattern will continue to grow for some period of time, as fliers as described in the above paragraph continue to re-discover their old passion. And then wane to some degree as we age and die off. There will be a certain amount of new blood to come in and bolster the numbers, and maybe even become a resurgent generation somewhere in the future. It has a strong appeal.

But for now, we would be wise to band together. I suggest classic pattern be an umbrella of sorts, covering the various sub-interests (SPA/BPA/MPA/whatever) like pylon is sort of an umbrella covering it's sub interests (Q-500/Q-40/whatever).

OK, off the box. I apologize for stepped-on toes. F3A has it's place. Peace.

-Robert