Attracting new CL competitors.

Speed limit combat is something to think about. It has spectator appeal. It can be flown, with some possibility of success, by fairly inexperienced flyers; flyers who for lack of experience, desire, or effort cannot or do not fly the Beginner stunt pattern. Good ARF airplanes of several types are available. Available low-price RC engines work well, etc, etc. Could a better event for attracting newcomers to CL competition be designed? I doubt it.

I think making speed limit combat a common event at CL contests would be the best thing we could do to attract new blood into CL competition. One might object that this would just produce new combat flyers. To that I can only point out that I flew combat at the first two or three CL contests I entered in the mid-50's and have never flown it since.

That is certainly a fact. It also doesn't hurt to have good reflexes (and some of us, myself included, discover that we have begun to lose some of that edge. I don't think that I *CAN* fly any 100 mph anything and be sure of being in full control!)

>I have a non-competitive 100-mph combat airplane for sport
>flying. I herd that thing around the sky for a couple of
>minutes and I'm shaking and relieved when the engine dies.
>
You haven't brought whatever it is to Seguin at any time I know of. You should give one of the 75 mph jobs a whirl. I'll bring a spare some time if you want to meet at the steakhouse for breakfast some time soon!

>Speed limit combat is something to think about. It has
>spectator appeal. It can be flown, with some possibility
>of success, by fairly inexperienced flyers; flyers who for
>lack of experience, desire, or effort cannot or do not fly
>the Beginner stunt pattern. Good ARF airplanes of several
>types are available. Available low-price RC engines work
>well, etc, etc. Could a better event for attracting
>newcomers to CL competition be designed? I doubt it.
>
>I think making speed limit combat a common event at CL
>contests would be the best thing we could do to attract new
>blood into CL competition. One might object that this would
>just produce new combat flyers. To that I can only point
>out that I flew combat at the first two or three CL contests
>I entered in the mid-50's and have never flown it since.
>
You've been missing a lot of fun.
>
>
Elsewhere, in one message labelled "Perfection," and in another starting "GrAy or GrEy ... ", I suggested adding a show element to any Aerobatic contests.

A complementary show element for combat contests would be some play-acting between pilots who are in some means obviously from opposing wartime factions (T Shirts with large, bold, national insignia markings would be sufficient), square off in the pits for a few exaggerated attempts at roundhouse punches, and then challenge each other to an aerial match.

If not smaller planes with 35's (Golden States' repros of Sterling warbirds), then perhaps if the pilots were good enough, they could even use Brodak Warbirds with strong 40's on them but held to the 75 mph speed brackets.

Because it's all a sham of sorts, for which the pilots should choreograph and practice their moves, extra streamers on the wing tips might add additional flash for the spectators. The very most important thing of all is to use the word "Show" to get some publicity in the local newspapers' outdoors pages.

So it would have some rewards other than merely one's own sense of satisfaction, any area that can field more than one such Show Team should have a flyoff with the public judging which group put on the best show. If it really caught on with several such Show Teams, an annual flyoff could be made a part of some annual large-attendance combat contest, like the one in Tucson every year the weekend preceding VSC. Same judges - the general public, or maybe if that doesn't work well, a panel of young people from some volunteer service group (Eagle Scouts?)

K.

I think theere is alot going for this idea. Especially for the young folks--they seem to be attracted to COMBAT anything.

Another, complimentary approach that I think has some merit is the "One Design" idea. We've been doing it in boat racing, car racing, olympic sports, etc. for years.

The Brodak Flight streak/Fox 35 event is such.

It offers a way to isolate the design and execution of the plane from the pilot skill.

I could envision several beginner-to-intermediate-to-

expert one-design classes starting with a ship like the skyray/fp25 setup extending up to a full fuse flapped 600sq in ship. It could even be offered like a Pinewood Derby where PAMPA could offer the entire kit or ARF package (and make a few bucks!) Engine. props, fuel tank, weight limits, etc would be controlled so that everyone would fly the same setup.

In some of the most competitive One design sailing events, crews rotate boats after each race. As it has evolved, the most successful "classes" have been the ones with the best rules for controlling similarity of boats. It must work, because some of these classes have hundreds of members that spend a hundred K$ for a boat.

And of course this whole concept works for PA or Combat or whatever.

Another combat-like PA idea would be a match event- kind of like a skins game in golf. there would be a tree of single flight matches. Lets see--- Ted v. Paul Brett v. David Bob v. Windy. Then?? best record at he end wins. Same pattern same complexities (more for single flights) different format.

But I for one am one of those intersted spectators that can sit and watch patterns all day!! And I love the smell of hot castor!

FWIW

First off, PAMPA is a Precision aerobatics organization. Combat has their own organization. I tried combat. I didn't like the mahem (crashes). I do like precision aerobatics. It is my choice. And those who like combat can make that choice. I have no problem with that. They are having fun. They are having enjoyment. And that is what it is all about. But if I am trying to recruit people to participate in basketball, do I encourage them to try out for the football team? It is a ball game, isn't it? I find the relationship of football to basketball very similar to the relationship of combat to precision aerobatics. If you want to get someone involved in team sports, fine. If you want to get someone involved in control line flying, fine. If your aim or goal is one aspect of the sport, that is a different story. I happen to like precision aerobatics. I don't happen to like basketball. But I don't expect those who enjoy basketball as it now exists to change the rules just to get me interested. They are happy with it just as it is.

Second, our youth are easily bored. No matter what town they live in, the comlaint is there is nothing to do. So they stage midnight basketball. Great idea! (Did you ever hear of sleeping?) Most kids will look at the airplane stuff, say "that's nice" and move on.

Without parental prompting and someone to guide them:
1) Most won't even know how to get started. They have got to learn to build, they have got to learn to fly. And this all takes time. Indy style racing is attractive, but you don't hand a youngster a Indy type car and tell them to go drive. In the same way you can't hand them a combat plane or a PA plane and tell them to go fly.
2) Even with help and prompting, most will not stick to it.
3) Most will not have the funds even if they wanted to stick to it.
4) Most will not have the means to travel to the various contests so they could compete--makes no difference which version of the sport we are talking about.

I don't expect our schools to drop team sports and start classes in model airplanes instead. The numbers of people involved will always remain small in comparison.

But controline stunt pr precision aerobatics in its various forms has attracted a large number of people in the last few years and the numbers are on the rise. As Mark Twain once said (paraphrased): "the news of my death (or of controline stunt) is a bit premature."

However, there are certain events (jet speed being one of them) that are almost totally contest oriented. Those who fly in the event are aiming at entering competition. You will see very few sport flyers doing jet speed. On the other hand, aerobatic flying, whether it is an attempt to fly a precise pattern, or just "free style" sport, is flown by many people at many levels of expertise, the majority of which will never enter a contest and may never even attend a contest to spectate (become a spectator).

My point is I don't think too many contests (NATS included) are really geared for spectators or set up with the spectator in mind. contests are for the contestants. So I don't see doing a lot of jazzy show flights to wow the spectators and get them to want to participate. And, even if we did wow them, there is a long learning curve that needs to be mastered. Most people will not be willing to invest the effort.

I enjoy control line flying, and I enjoy aerobatics and it is strictly a choice I made. I really don't care of someone enjoys combat or carrier more. That is their choice, and, if someone doesn't make those choices, those events will fall by the wayside. But it seems to me that we sometimes recruit for recruitment's sake as if we are some kind of evangelist in the field (Like if we get three more people to enjoy what I am enjoying, then I must have made the right choice.)

If you like RC or free flight or decide to go into cars, I don't consider it a slap in my face because you don't enjoy my aspect of the hobby as much as I do. And if I don't go and watch your event, it shouldn't diminish your enjoyment of your choice. Contests are for the contestants, and many more people will choose simply to fly for fun. We can enjoy whatever we do even if it is not a spectator sport.

And if someone stops and watches a flight and applauds, that's OK, too. They will get back in their car and go on their way and have a new story to tell. But I don't expect to see too many of them join the sport.

And that's all right.

Leonard Neumann

The top 1/2% of the population, in at least some characteristics, is the norm in our sport. Look at Brett's posts about dew points, yours and all others on a variety of topics. Thinkers. Sharp folks. Really look at the posts, and you will see we are all elitists in some sense of the word. You guys are all darned good, and the knowledge of mathematics, street smarts, physics, and aerodynamics doesn't fit the norm of today's world.

We will never attract the great unwashed masses, and I think that is fine. I am not going to say anything negative about RC flyers.

I absolutely agree with everything in your post Leonard. I also wouldnt advocate Combat at a PA event. I'll have to figure out if I gave that impression in my post--it was not my intention. The match event I was describing was a PA match.

I also agree with all of your observations regarding getting and retaining youth. because of the nature of our events--travel is almost mandatory, as is funding, and mentoring. I know Big Art is quite active in the youth mentoring arena locally for example.

And you are right on in saying we will always be a relatively small group--like fencing, squash, Singlehanded ocean racing, full scale aerobatics, etc. PArt of the problems are that some people seem to be always driven to meet expectaions set relative to large-scale sporting events--football, basketball, Nascar, etc.

WE could try a national tour of CL PA pilot events. Million $ purse to season winners??

I think we are pretty close in our expectations and perspective--of course you've had a much more intimate understanding and experience than I.

Added response to Larry:
It IS a VERY technical endeavor. But like some other interests of mine, yours and Leonards, one can participate in different aspects and with differing levels of technical understanding. An outstanding pilot can overcome deficiencies in design and implementaion, and the reverse is slightly true. But even outside the top PA circles, a person can enter and have alot of FUN without a true understanding of the underlying technology and science. But the fact that it is there, has a way of attracting the technically astute and skilled.

Thanks