ORIGINAL: MTK

Dana,

We've discussed the idea of a Basic class from time to time. Most tend to oppose adding another class to Pattern. There are various reasons, some administrative and some technical.

The Sportsman schedule has the exit and re-entry in the middle of the sequence specifically to address workload of the Sports pilot...our thought was the pilot may need a breather in the middle of the sequence.

It may serve just as well, maybe better, to remove 2 maneuvers and eliminate the exit and re-entry. At the risk of (pardon the expression) dumbing down Sportsman too far, 2 less maneuvers (choice) will reduce flying time to just a couple minutes per sequence. Well, that may be enough for the Sports pilot, and hopefully he won't feel cheated for the entry fee he paid. The last thing we wantto do is irritate the same people we want to attract by giving them insufficient flying time and exposure

TO's and Landings should be scored maneuvers for all AMA classes, particularly the lower classes where skills are emerging. Control demonstration is most important to the judge. Afterall, not to belabor the obvious, this is a judged event and is a competition.....

ORIGINAL: cmoulder


Or there could be a reduced entry fee for Sportsman or an elimination of entry fee if the field where the competition is taking place is the Sportsman pilot's home field.

ORIGINAL: speedracerntrixie

I think that if a guy has enough interest he will give it a try. IMO all these things to get people over to fly a few sequences is all fine and dandy but few of the guys we "Lure" over with these tatics will actually stick around. Out of an average club there may be 10% that will want to fly competition at all. Devide that up between Pattern, IMAC and racing. On average at any one event it usually takes guys from several clubs to reach 40 pilots. Not too sure there is anything we can do about it. Any of this type of flying takes time and money. neither of these things seem to be in abundance these days.

ORIGINAL: danamania

(2) make the first sequence encountered less intimidating and easier to get one's head around. Rather than dumbing down anything, think of it as redistributing the difficulty between the two classes and getting better utility out of the Intermediate class. When considering this proposition, I invite all to seriously consider just how challenging it is to complete two identical loops back-to-back. This is simple on paper but requires great skill and experience to accomplish when correcting for wind. Why not one loop for the entry-level sequence?

ORIGINAL: rcflyer4fun

This is just my 2 cents worth of suggestion that I think would increase pattern participation. Take it for what you think it is worth but last week at my club there were a few newby wannabies to pattern that were introduced to me. I printed out some sportsman call sheets and manuever descriptions and handed them out to the guys. I figured Id help them with flying the pattern and whatnot and get them to attend the St. Charles IL contest. I know once they attend a contest a certain percentage will be hooked but the problem I ran into is that the guys found the call sheets and manuever descriptions by themselves intimidating and they told me that they didn't think they were ready to try it. I understand there stance about being intimidated but the not wanting to try part I don't. When I decided back in the early 90's to try pattern I grabbed a call sheet and had my friend Andy call the manuevers for me. As basic as the manuevers were I could not make it thru 3 or 4 manuevers before I broke the pattern and I was discouraged somewhat by this. It didnt stop me from trying though. I went to a local contest to see what It was about. I went without an airplane because I was just going to watch. I got there early and got to talking with the contest director and he talked me into driving home to get a plane and try it out. I was reluctant because I could not complete the pattern but I decided to do it anyway. After returning with my plane I was finally able to watch someone fly thru the pattern to completion. Where I am from there was no one doing pattern so I had no mentor to help me out. To my surprise my first round I was able to complete the pattern successfully! I actually was able to fly the entire pattern without breaking out of it. Each subsequent round I saw improvement in my flying and I was hooked.

So my suggestion is this. I think we should get rid of the Sportsman class in favor of a beginners Classic Pattern Class. A beginner class in which is not turn around but all centered manuevers. We could call it a Club Class if you will. My old-timer friend Andy said that back in the day it was not unusual to have 50 or 60 guys show up for a contest. If we can find a way to make it less intimidating to get these guys out there, a certain percentage will get hooked with the sport.

Evan

ORIGINAL: rcflyer4fun

I dont think making sportsman class easier is dumbing down the class because the mission of the Sportsman class should be regarded as an introduction to precision aeobatics. Lets face it Sportsman is very difficult for one just starting out. If all the manuevers were centered then a beginner could practice on his own at his pace until he is ready to hit a contest. Once confident to come out to a contest and give it a go we can mentor them into the basics of turnaround. But if guys think its to hard for them they are not going to enter contests. Since we are a SIG of the AMA I like the idea of calling sportman Club Class. When clubs have their funfly's they could introduce pattern to there members thru the Club Class and thus maybe we can get more participation at our contests.

Evan

ORIGINAL: MTK
Let's see....going from memory here, one loop, one roll, a stall turn, a split Ess, an Immelman turn and a couple 45 degree lines, one climbing the other diving. One box exit and one re-entry. Did I forget anything critical? Oh yeah, all of the 1/4 and 1/8 looping elements that make entries/exits smooth and graceful...