Pattern is most certainly not dead. In fact, it may be one of the few competition events left that are solely for the competitors..

As soon as you try to appeal to the spectators.. you head down a slippery slope that soon enough gets out of control, and you turn your competition into nothing more than an airshow where the person who dodges the ground the best wins.

Hi Doug. We used to have 6 contest per year here in the Denver area with 30 to 45 contestants. Now we have one and it got 8 pilots. The younger pilots are not as interested in pattern anymore. Maybe because of the expensive airplanes it takes to compete or just more options in RC today. The field I fly at a lot is being taken over by electric helicopters. I didn't start this thread to cut down pattern, just to spice things up and get some different responses. I flew pattern for 20 years and loved it. My buddy Rob Kelly had a good idea for a pattern event for electrics. Limit the airplanes to use only 3cell 2100ma lipos. Their are lots of great flying airplanes in that catagory that are inexpensive. Jim

We've added an informal "Mini e-Pattern" event to our Pocono Pattern Contest for the past two years. Ofcourse there's no AMA event for it, so it's something we do outside of the sanctioned event after the contest rounds are done on day 1. The "rules" are really just enough to create a loose boundary for the models. Fixed wing(s), electric powered with only one prop, battery capacity limit of 2100mAh and no more than 3 cell LiPo or equivilent. Two classes; Novice and Expert. That's it. One award plaque in each class for the top dawg. Here's the sequences we used this year:

2007 E-Sportsman 408
1 Takeoff Sequence (U)
Enter Box
2 Double Immelmann Without Rolls (U)
3 Immelmann Turn (T)
4 Two Point Roll (D)
5 Split Ess (T)
6 Square Loop (U)
7 Humpty Bump With Options (T)
8 Non Rolling Triangle Loop (D)
9 Half Reverse Cuban Eight (T)
10 Cobra Without Rolls (U)
11 Stall Turn without Rolls (T)
12 One Horizontal Roll (D)
Exit box
13 Landing (U)

2007 E-Expert 409
Takeoff (U)
Enter Box
Reverse Cuban Eight, 2/4 Rolls (U)
Stall Turn (T)
Four Point Roll (D)
Humpty Bump With Options (T)
Square Loop w/ ½ Rolls in Vert., 2/4 Pt.Rolls in Horiz. (U)
Half Reverse Cuban Eight (T)
Triangle Rolling Loop (D)
Half Square Loop, ½ Roll Up (T)
3-Turn Spin (U)
Top Hat with Quarter Rolls (T)
Slow Roll (D)
Exit Box
Landing (U)

I am a guy who flew in pattern contests (3) back in the late 90's. I have no where near the experience with RC planes as many of those who have posted to this thread, but I see pattern as being no different than any other recreational or competition activity. I have been a college basketball player and a competitive golfer in my younger years and experienced many of the same things this thread has discussed. I feel that if one gets into this type of competition, they need to be prepared to accept the good with the bad and remember people are all individuals and have different dispositions. Having played college basketball, I know that some of the more competitive players are very self-centered and seemed to be unbearable to be around, but there are exceptions to the rule. In my brief and limited experiences with the pattern competitions, I found the competitors to be very supportive and helpful as a rule which was a nice surprise when compared to golf or B-ball competitions. As John Johnson mentioned, in the May entries, I have been involved in the upbringing of my children and am probably 3 to 4 years behind, but am trying to get back into an activity I truely enjoy. I would hope Pattern is not dead. The thing I feel would help, would be people interested in pattern should welcome and support newcomers in an effort to enlarge the numbers.

Mike Buckner

Mike,

I'm not sure where Wilson, TX is, but if it is close to Beaumont/Houston, then let me invite you to the Gulf Coast Pattern Championship in Sulphur, LA in a couple of weeks. There should be enough people here to help you get answers to any questions that you may have getting back into the hobby/competition. Look me up and I'll be happy to introduce you around to the people at the contest.

George

George, thanks for the reply. Unfortunately Wilson is about 20 miles south of Lubbock which is probably around 700 miles from you. We do have the High Plains championships on August 25-26 and I plan to participate.

Mike

I don't think Pattern is dead, I do feel that it has lost it's popularity because it has priced itself away from the average flyer. However there is a special interest group, the Senior Pattern Association. I am a member of SPA and the reason I became so interested in it is for all the reasons I stopped flying pattern in the first place. I flew pattern until about six years ago. It became expensive and the flying became more like work. When I started flying SPA I loved it because they use airplanes that fly outstanding but don't cost an arm and a leg with a second mortgage to boot. The flying is competitive and very challenging. The people in SPA is what makes it well worth the effort, they are guys who love to fly pattern and one of the main concepts in SPA is the comradarie and fellowship between flyers. In SPA you don't compete against other , you compete with them, and there is a difference. All the folks I have met and flown with in SPA are some of the best guys to fly with and quite helpful. In addition to being some of the best folks in the sport there are several that are some of the best pattern flyers out there.
And like I said before to have a very competitive airplane does not cost a fortune either, I fly a Bridi Utter Kaos with an OS .61FSR and that is not only a great flying airplane but it is one of the best airplanes to fly in SPA. Setting up the KAOS did not cost me a fortune either.

SPA is a great organization, and chapters are forming all over the country. People are really interested in it because it represents what people love (or loved) about flying R/C and pattern. For anyone interested check out there website www.seniorpattern.com .
Take it easy!

In large part, I think pattern has rebirthed itself in the form of IMAC. What I find really beautiful is a combination of 3D + IMAC + Pattern in the Freestyle form.