Dave, I think we are very much aligned with regard to the current masters schedule. I too would like to keep the current schedule at least as challenging as it is, but I think making it much harder is going to rile up a lot of advanced class flyers, who are already concerned about the jump in difficulty going from advanced to masters. On the other hand, logistics issues at local contests are very real. I can remember a couple of times during 2009 when f3a flyers complained very loudly about the workload associated with judging 10 to 15 masters pilots.

Given this, how about considering two masters schedules like in f3a? There could be a shorter schedule for the first four rounds, and then a more challenging schedule that's flown for the last two rounds. This way advanced flyers can still move up to masters and have a schedule that they can handle, and the more experienced flyers can still find challenges that will separate the good flyers from the best flyers.

One possible twist to this would be to run contests with preliminary rounds on Saturday with the easy shedule, and then allow the top 50% of flyers to compete on Sunday with the more challenging schedule. The easy schedule could be short, and the harder schedule could be the same length as the current schedule without over-burdening the f3a pilots with judging duties.

I know that a longer finals schedule isn't going to be as effective at saving batteries, but maybe with 2/3 fewer flights that are long, battery would be improved anyway.