Ben, I have never been so insulted as what you have posted here. Perhaps Jeff and Bret are just as insulted.
I have been flying HLG longer than you are probably old, old enough for me to be your father and grandfather! Just so you know, there were three other US pilots at the German Open, yet you never acknowledge US!!!!!!!!!! I have flown HLG long before anybody ever thought about HLG contests. I flew in Dave Thornburg's HLG contest, and even designed a 66" HLG for it which parallels what we fly today. I fly HLG/DLG because it gives me the enjoyment and independence of not having to wait for winch lines or frequency control. Jeff Carr, Bret Carr and I supported our US group and flew. We may not be the creme of the crop that Oleg, Bruce, Paul or Phil may be, but we participate for each of our own reasons. You make it sound like we are invisible to the rest of the group. I think you are somewhat lost. I design and build DLGs because I enjoy the opportunity that they offer me. Of the US group, besides Oleg who flew his 5 year old Taboo designs, I was the only US guy there flying My Own design!!! DLG pilots fly DLG for one basic reason, it allows each of us to fly independently and to not depend on waiting for winches or any other complaints from others. I can go out and fly in the AM, Noon hour, or PM, and enjoy my time hunting the elusive thermal. Contests are not the only thing that matters in this world when it comes to flying. Some of us design, others fly, but in the end we fly fly fly!. In my opinion, the AMA does not know what DLG is doing for the world of soaring. TD contests will be going by the wayside. Bruce Davidson put it quite plainly at the German Open to me, "why should he travel 10 hours, fly three or 4 flights then drive back from a TD contest", when he can fly DLG, many rounds and many flights and have the enjoyment of not having to just do spot landings. I will go to more DLG contests than TD contests this year and I am perhaps giving up TD contest entirely. I can do the social event at HLG/DLG contests and still get the technical and design satisfaction of DLG flying. After all What is DLG but a subclass of TD. Perhaps we should be saying that TD is really a subclass of HLG/DLG because we used to thermal out TD ships from Hand launches when we test glided TD ships! Personally I see DLG support by the AMA replacing F3B and even perhaps F3J, as a world class group. So I think you owe Jeff, Bret and Me an apology for not recognizing us as participants at the German Open at the same level as Oleg, Bruce, Paul, Phil and the rest. Don't forget, Bret did make the Junior flyoffs and did place in that realm! Please come back when you realize there are others who fly also. Thermals, Chris Adams LSF 348 Lvl V (#8) > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [RCSE] An argument for handlaunch. > From: Ben Wilson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Tue, July 29, 2008 7:15 pm > To: soaring@airage.com, LASS Soaring List > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > So y'all have probably heard my whining about the lack of 2 days of > handlaunch at the NATS, so let me pitch you my argument for it and for > better attention paid to handlaunch by soaring in general. This is the > product of a number of discussions I've had with a number of people > involved with soaring at different levels over the past couple of years, > so here goes: > AN INTRODUCTION > I've been in soaring since 2003, and have been to the NATS the last 4 > years in some capacity or another. My first love is handlaunch, but I'm > also a big fan of RES and Unlimited stuff. I also got the > international-style bug last year towing for an F3J team at the NATS. > Second, let me state that I have helped Denny Maize over the last 3 > years organize his Polecat Challenge. In those years, it's gone from a > pretty well attended contest (40 pilots) to last year, which had 93 > registered and paid pilots. Around 80 or so flew. (Yes, we managed to > top the IHLGF this year, but that might just be a statistical "wobble", > or it could be the Red Bull girls, pig roast or huge soaring raffle). > As I was intimately involved with the registration of the pilots and the > gathering and reporting of information about that contest as well as the > NATS last year, I've got a somewhat unique perspective into handlaunch > and soaring. I stress "handlaunch and soaring" there, because the > crossover between HL and TD is pretty well delineated. There are a lot > of people doing HL and more doing TD, but there is only modest > intersection between the two. > SOME NUMBERS > At the Polecat Challenge, out of the 80-some pilots: > 13 of them were "Novices", meaning that they hadn't flown a contest before. > 29 of them were Sportsmen. > The rest were experts. > The average age for handlaunch competitors skews much younger than > soaring in general (this is empirical) > Last year at the NATS when I did the coverage for the NATSNews, I had to > hunt and peck for guys who were new to soaring or the NATS - and that > was out of 100+ pilots. I think I counted maybe 5 or 6 that were new to > soaring or to the NATS. Many of them were in handlaunch (I brought at > least two of them with me). I'm not covering the NATS this year, but > attendance is the same as last year, but with RES attendance way up, so > I'm assuming things stayed the same. Someone contradict me on that if > I'm wrong. > I spoke with a number of the new guys at the Polecat and a large number > of them had never flown sailplanes before getting into handlaunch - but > they had flown some sort of R/C. Helis, electrics, some gas, etc. > Handlaunch is drawing people from other R/C niches to soaring. That's a > good direction for us. > WHY TWO DAYS AT THE NATS > Well, frankly, because when I tell handlaunch people to "come to the > NATS," they all say "I would, but only if it's a two-day contest". And I > swear to you I didn't put that quote in their teeth! I will lay a $5 bet > that the first two-day handlaunch contest at the NATS draws at least as > many pilots as 2-meter, and maybe even as many as RES. I've spoken to at > least that many people - and the handlaunch community is pretty damn > tight - we'll support it. Period. > Now, about the recent German contest - the German Open this year (just > last weekend, same as NATS HL) drew away at least a half dozen of our > top handlaunch pilots FROM THEIR OWN NATIONAL COMPETITION. Oleg > Golovidov, Phil Barnes, Paul Anderson and Bruce Davidson, all past IHLGF > or Polecat winners, didn't go to their own NATS because there is a > better contest -- in Germany. 112 pilots from all around Europe, Sweden, > Norway, Ukraine, etc etc. Huge. Beer on tap *at the field*! > We've now got two serious and large contests - the IHLGF and the Polecat > - but we don't have a "NATS" that is worth going to, and therefore isn't > considered a "National" contest by anyone in the HL community. I don't > want to get into that whole "Is the NATS a fun-fly?" argument again, but > I would like to make Handlaunch at the NATS worth going to... > SUMMARY > * Handlaunch is attracting more new pilots > * Handlaunch is attracting a younger audience > * Handlaunch is acting as the "gateway" into soaring in general > If you hold it, they will come. > If you bring more handlaunchers to the NATS, you are bringing more (and > more young) people into soaring. > If you bring more people into soaring, it is a good thing(tm). > And finally - F3K is "official" now and is going to have it's first-ever > World Champs in 2011. It is never early enough to start supporting it. > Some of you on the RCSE have already heard this before and I appreciate > you listening! I am happy to say we *are* making progress on it. > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and > "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and > unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. > Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in > text format RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
