This is a pretty widely-read forum, and affords us all a really "neutral" venue to share our insights, experiences, and knowledge. We also can have some fun, poke and tease each other, as we should. We *must* remember - there just aren't that many of us, guys!!!

Everyone who reads my posts, stops by my page, and writes nearly always share the same sentiment; "Thank you for the information".

As I respond to questions, I try to evaluate the writer from HIS perspective. A newbie who can BARELY afford to buy a decent radio, but is PASSIONATE about wanting to learn precision aerobatics DOES NOT - *EVER* - need to read anyone say "you have to get motor x, and airplane y, and radio q, or you will fail".

An experienced person who wants to try different things does *NOT* need to be told "it ain't gonna work because ..... " We must encourage, and help each other and share the breadth of our experiences. We all learned from someone ELSE. Then, we built on that learning, with our experience, to represent NEW knowledge. It is the "lore" of Pattern.

If we can help someone by sharing what works for us, and do it in a way that is neither offensive, pushy, arrogant, or aggressive, we *grow* interest.

To discourage those who want to try different approaches is counter to everything we represent and advocate in the game.

Please - don't tell me my cheapie pattern ARF with it's ridiculous motor isn't working, or shouldn't be used if anyone is "serious". I am.

I promise not to tell you *your* stuff doesn't work....

Now THAT's what I'm talking about Bob. EXCELLENT post. Clean, short, straight to the point, and TRUE.

I'll keep the rest out of here lest another war get started in this thread too, but I just wanted to say "atta boy". By the way how many wins you have with that set up? In a tough district I might add.

Bet you were hoping I wouldn't post first?

-Mike

By the way, thank you for sharing your information, my new OS 160 set up is running like a swiss watch. I'm likin it!


I also DO want to thank Troy for the information he shares, even if I sometimes don't agree with his methods or positions. Err...vocally at that

And everyone else who has shared TONS of knowledge in the various build threads, these are solid gold to me and many others. I hope I have been some help too, and I promise to keep on keepin on. You guys ALL do the same and remember.....we're flying toy planes gentlemen, never forget that. We should be able to tease, argue, and still not want to kill each other, and that applies to me too. I'm guilty party #1 of getting overly passionate about something and then reading it later and it looks more like a tirade than anything else. For that, I apologize to all concerned, I hope you guys realize that it's just my passion getting teh better of me. I don't hold any ill will toward anyone at all. Well, not yet anyway

-Mike

Bob and everybody else:

I just want to talk a bit about PATTERN, i love pattern more than IMAC(by the way a hate EXTRAS, SUKOIS, CAP´s etc etc etc) and i think that actually PATTERN is disapearing due to the growth of IMAC fans(at least in México, but i am sure that in the rest of the world too).

In my personal opinion..one of the main reasons IMAC is growing more than PATTERN is that for example you open a MAGGAZINE like MODELAIRPLANENEWS or RCMmodels and 65% of the product reviews and sales products are EXTRAS, EDGE´s, CAP´s SUKOI´s, 25% is electric stuff(little ducted fans and litlte war planes etc) and the other 10% on accesories and other boring things). The only who is trying to sell pattern planes with a bit of nice merchandising is CAMODELS and thats all!!!!!!

There is alot of NICE planes in Japan like the Hirobo Stream´s, ASTRAL´s, MK´s etc that are designed for use with YS 110 and nobody knows that they exists!!!!. So....for me the only way PATTERN can start growing again is that manufacturers of PATTERN stuff and dealers or distributors need to work together HARD!! so they can start selling products by announcing their brand in the main MAGAZZINES.

Do i am wrong what i am telling???, maybe but this is just a personal opinion and want to share with all of you, just to have a bit of FUN!

Thanks!

Bob,

Keep up the great work. I am one of the people that goes to your website regularly to see what you're up to. I've learnt heaps from you.

For me the process of learning is as much fun as achieving success. Although I have to admit that I'd rather learn from other people's mistakes.....hence the importance to me of open and honest sharing of experiences.

Everyone has their own individual circumstances. I for one just got married and bought a house. Because of this, being competitive whilst sticking to a budget is important to me.

The more choices that are available to me the better. A lot of these choices have been pioneered buy those who contribute to this forum. I want to hear about the good and the bad but I'd prefer to hear it from those who've had hands on experience.

The other thing about forums is that that some of us (myself included) don't have the gift of expression using words. More often than not what I write is open to multiple interpretations.

Anyway I'm rambling......what I really wanted to say is keep the good information flowing! It's up to me to sort the good from the bad.

Iain

Well said Bob.
Your pages have been a huge help, and I often send folks to them for a good reference.
I have been in pattern for 8 years (with a 6 year layoff just coming back into it)
and 90% of the pattern guys are very helpful. I try to be in the 90% even when at the field practicing. (Hard to do sometimes.!)
My club has a small but growing nuclei of pattern flyers and we are pulling more sport flyers in all the time. (Mostly because we all work to
show folks the gear and explain WHY we do it, along with them seeing the planes flying so well. (well maybe not the members of Team Sped!)

I am passing on the setup info on the Icepoints to follow your lead a bit. I hope to setup a web page with my setup info. (I will spend about what most guys do to set one plane up to get both in the air for the 402 wars... ) so I will cover the lower classes thrifty setup .

Bob,

Now that's the way it should be done!

I fly a Quest 3D ARF with a pumped OS 120 Surpass. At the D4 finals it just started to fly real well, the majority of the sequence at half throttle. Of course I'm just a first year Sportsman pilot, and the plane flies a wole lot better than I do.

And Mike H., overly passionate??? You??? I can't imagine that!!!

See ya,

Ken Thompson
D4 Sportsman, again next year.

Bob,

Many thanks for all of your help, as you have with so many others. I am lucky enough to fly at a few meets with Bob. Thanks to the OS 160 setup, I have a competitive 2M plane.

Keep the ideas flowing.


-mark
www.geocities.com/markhunt_2000/INSIGHT

Bob,
I´ll ditto the above with my thanks. It´s great to see all your efforts over the years paying off, with a winning set up that does´nt cost a fortune. Plus the effort that you put onto maitaining a great Web page. Congratulations!!!!

Thanks, Guys....ya'll are embarrasin' me.....my note wasn't about that, but THANKS!!!

I just wanted to write a bit about some things that had been on my mind lately.

The game isn't about the "stuff", anyway.
It's about the guys who share "the picture", and strive to be the best they can be....and recognize that the journey has a ***LOT*** more meaning than the destination.

Thanks again!