Jeff, I guess Joe Wurts and Larry Jolly just wouldn't cut it flying in the ESL. If you would like to help and be constructive, maybe you could furnish data from a couple of years of ESL contests and we'll figure out what numbers would be appropriate. Unless Jesus or the Pope is flying our there I suspect that there is some scoring standard short of perfection that would be representative. Besides, we are trying to arrive at the closest _practical_ way of coming up with a "competition equivalent" knowing from the get go that nothing will exactly ever be a "competition equivalent". Maybe the bright side will be that "real" LSF Level V's can stand on the sidelines and hold their noses while their inferiors fake having fun.
I wouldn't have driven all the miles I did to get my Level IV nor would I commit to drive all the miles I am preparing to drive to take a shot at Level V if I did not understand that doing it in a contest is the ultimate. Frankly I don't give a tinkers damn about the badge -- its about the pleasure of meeting and competing with great people. I'm dismayed that you don't seem to understand that there are places in this country where competition at the highest levels is not like it is where you live. There are places where a sane person would not undertake a campaign -- surely my judgement in this matter is questionable. As I have related before, I spent 20 years racing full size sailboats. I campaigned an Etchells 22 (a world class 30 foot racing sloop) for three years and my total all-in net cost (including a complete set of new sails every year) was less than it will cost to undertake what will probably be a futile attempt to complete my Level V. How much could you spend? The last time I checked, no one was suggesting interferring in any way with your right to seek excellence the best way you know how. Nobody is even suggesting that you don't have the right to look down you nose at people of a lesser god (the god of LSF sportsman) who seek an alternative (if inferior) way. This is not about silly little badges -- its about doing things which will bring increased enjoyment of our sport for people besides ourselves. -- dharban ------------------------------------------------------------------------ dharban's Profile: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=31927 View this thread: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=567627 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
