I competed in my first pattern contest this weekend and I thought I'd write a few impressions. I suppose most of the guys here have lots of experience, but maybe I can encourage a few guys who have been interested in pattern and read this forum to come out and give it a try.

The pilots and officials at my contest, the Danny Herider Memorial held in Quincy, Ohio, were friendly and helpful. Nobody acted like any of my questions were stupid, nobody made me feel like a rookie, none of the criticisims were mean-spirited. Contest procedures were explained to me well. The judges were helpful, reminding me before my first flight to "call the box". Scores were pretty consistedn from judge to judge and I can't complain about any marks I got. Several guys went out of their way to make me feel welcome and to find something nice to say about my flying. I appreciated that because I was pretty much in awe of some of the skills I saw.
The atmosphere was friendly and relaxed. There was lots of good natured teasing going on among the guys who knew each other and it was fun seeing the wide variety of personalities who enjoy the sport.
I've flown in SAM (Society of Antique Modelers) contests with some success for a number of years and pattern contests are much more relaxed....no worrying about when the lift is coming through, no wondering if you can get your frequency when you want to fly, you just get ready, fly when it's your turn and enjoy yourself.
I'll be back, and I'll be better!

Scott

Oh....if they could just do something about the seven foot tall corn right up against the edge of the runway, lol.

Hey Scott! Congrats! Will we see you in St. Clairsville at the end of the month (assuming you're in District 4)? I wish I could have been in Quincy, but my son celebrated his 13th birthday that Saturday, soooo, priorities won out. Hope to meet you either at St. Clairesville, or our district championship in Cincy at the end of September (a contest NOT to be missed!)

-Mark Atwood

Congrats on your first Pattern Experience. Hope you're hooked now....

Richard

Yes, I'm hooked.
Mark, I won't be at Cincinatti because of a previous commitment, but I will be at St Clairsville. Pretty much have to, it's my club's contest, lol. In addition to flying I'll be helping Rick do whatever needs to be done...I'll probably be the guy taking pictures, too.
Looking forward to meeting you!
Scott

Hi Guys,
We had a ball in Quincy! And we hope to see you all in St.C... Pete Cosky will have a flyer out here on RCU and on the NSRCA site.
We should field a good Sportsman lineup and will have at least 3 from our club alone with potentially more. As Scott put it, if you've been thinking about giving Pattern a try, here's you chance. I,ve been flying pattern for a couple of years now and am glad I ventured forward swallowing the butterflys. The folks you meet are serious about flying but are more serios about having fun and sharing their experience and the experience with
you.
Watch for the flyer or contact me at [email protected] or [email protected].
Rick Cilles RC11

Hi,

I live in Michigan and I found out last Friday about the contest in Quincy. Had I known earlier I would have tried making it. It would have been my first contest and I would have been competing in the sportsman class. I am glad to hear that you had such a good time.

Out of curiosity, do you recall what airplanes were being flown in Sportsman?

Thanks,

Teo

Teo, I've seen a wide variety of airplanes being flown in sportsman like ugly sticks,Sig senior, Venus, Venus2, Spot on 50 and the list goes on and on. Basically any plane that can do a loop and a role. Basically I can't say enough about my first contest experience being that you learn so much about flying, building, plane set up and even radio set up. Pattern flyers are great group of people but be prepared if you ask a question you'll probably get more information than you could absorb. Two years ago I posted a thread on this forum entitled how good do you have to be and all the responses I got were just go fly. The best advice I ever got. I'm happy to say that now I am a pattern addict and loving every second of it. Scott, you flew extremely well and I was very impressed by the way you got your nerves under control and it showed flight after flight. Looking forward to flying with you again in St. Clairsville.Rick, we will be coming down Friday for practice. What time do you think you'll be finished mowing the runway lol. I did see the flyer and I noticed you did not include GP coordinates for those who can no longer read a map. Ha ha.Jim

viva, Quincy would have been a great contest for you because it was a first contest for me and another guy, too. I hope you can make it to St Clairsville, it's not a whole lot farther for you than Quincy was and it's a good field for a first try, too.

Also, Jim's wife has a 55 gallon drum of Twizlers that she shares with everybody.

I love pattern contests. I started last year and I can say that I am hooked. Unfortunately the closest one is 3.5 hours and the average meet is 6 hours away.

Teo I've been helping out a father and son team from Peru. Tony and John Gago. Do you know them? If you don't mind a drive we will all be at the St Charles Illinois contest Sept 5th and 6th.
http://www.foxvalleyaero.com/index.html
Mike Mueller

Hey guys,

Thanks for the responses. As it turns out, I will be in Florida over the labor day weekend, so I would not be able to make the contest in Illinois. However, now I know what to expect for next year. At this time, my "pattern" planes are rather modest, a Balsa Nova 40 and a Groovy 50. Both of them are electric. I meant to have a Venus II flying this summer, but I got the bright idea of recovering the airplane to personalize it a little and simply ran out of time. Once the nice weather hits, I rather be flying than building. For next year, I will either have the Venus or possibly a Focus Sport. I just need to get the budget "approved" for the Focus Sport.

Mike, the last name Dago sounds familiar, but I did not recognize the first names. Peru used to have a relatively small middle class, so it is not unsual to have heard about someone without actually having met the person. I came to the States 25 years ago and in a sense lost track of many of the people I knew.

Thanks,

Teo

All this makes for great reading from a past pattern flyer (novice/advanced). Although pretty much out of it the past twenty five years I've been itchy to get back into it so I'm getting ready (joined AMA again and even got my old number back!). I can't help but ask if this is the same Mike Mueller who flew in pattern contests back in the mid - late seventies, early eighties. Would've been at theTri-Village (?) meet at Busse Woods, RC3 at Kickapoo Woods, down at Effingham, Salinas, etc.You mightrememberLarry Ott, Jerry Worth, even Tony Frakoviak (sic) was at our (RC3) contest. You might remember a kid named Mike Bliss (expert class) who I often traveled to contests with; last big contest was the 1980 Nats at Wilmington, Ohio. I think you were flying mastersorat least expertthen. I loved pattern and was in awe at the way you guys flew those ships. I started with a Kaos 40, next a Tiger Tail (Kraft .61) then a Bootlegger (Rossi .60RE); of course who didn't have a Dirty Birdy back then. Anyhow, I hope to eventually make it back into pattern in the near future.

Mark

Hey Mark yes it's the same guy. I quit pattern for many years but I'm back for around 10 years now. If you get a chance we will be at the St Charles field on the labor day weekend. I can only be there on Saturday due to the fact that I have a wedding to attend on Sunday.
If you make it for a bit give me a shout. Mike Mueller

Crazy. I'll try to stop by but we're probably going to be in the Galena area that weekend. Hopefully I can catch you somewhere and certainly will give ya a shout. I'll need some practice but the goal is to get back into pattern flying. Sure do miss the classic pattern stuff though. How difficult do you think the new (for me) patternsareusing a single stick Tx?

Mark</p>

Anyone know where I can get the PDF for scoresheets that have all the classes on them. Ray Morton had them at Muncie at the D4 D5 Shootout. A scoresheet for every pilot for every round.. Kinda simplified things. I would like to use them at St.C.
Thanks,
Rick