Hi Jason, Actually, for those who commented and said we should have gotten our act together earlier, we did. Aaron has only been involved in trying to get this this together for a week or so. Tom and I have been trying for 2 months (although I was in Greece for 2 weeks). Calls and emails to AMA contest department were not returned. I know they have been very busy with the NATs, Electric world champs, and preparations for these two events. No, it doesn't matter how many are entered. The contest that was going to take place was not a "contest", rather a "record attempt". The part about 900 point does not apply. To qualify you must meet static scores and times in each task (better than 22 seconds in speed, 18 laps in distance, and something that's pretty simple in duration). I agree, having a handful of people in a contest, and being qualified with an overall normalized 900 is shadey, but that's not the case. My personal opinion is that everyone at team selection should have to go though the qaulifying process EVERY TIME. Then there wouldn't be this problem where we have a contest for 4 people to get them qualified. There would be more F3B contests and that is good (and would make the AMA more money). END RESULT: A couple of pilots that shouldn't have any problem qualifying with respect to piloting skills can't get qualified due to difficulties with the AMA paperwork, etc. They made a timely and honest effort, yet due to unavailability of resources at AMA it didn't happen. Mark Taylor ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jason Werner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Aaron Valdes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2000 8:20 AM Subject: Re: [RCSE] F3B disappointment thanks to the AMA > Aaron, > The contest sanctioning process was created with a purpose. The waiting > peiod was designed to allow people who wish to participate to actualyl learn > of hte contest, make arrangements to come, and actually come and > participate. Sanctioning a contest (especially a qualifier) does not allow > people who would want to participate to do so. I know of several > individuals that probably would have participated in a qualifier because > tehy have not yet done so! > Also with a qualifier contest one of the qualifying parameters is to get > a certain percentage of the winner's score. So if a small group make a > qualifier, they could easially get everyone qualified if that was their > goal. Is this fair to others that went to a real qualifier (like the > Chicago contest) where people competed and the competition was kept fair? I > am NOT accusing you of even thinking of doing that, but you have to realize > that people have done this in the past (not in soaring, but in several other > events). So that 30 day period at least allows other participants to get > involved at the minimum. > Should they have been accomidating to past participants? Yep. I do > believe so there. Probably should have waived the qualifying need for them. > But for new participants, or even having a qualifier I do think the system > needs to be followed to make the qualifying process a valid process. > > Jason Werner > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Aaron Valdes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Monday, July 31, 2000 5:48 PM > Subject: [RCSE] F3B disappointment thanks to the AMA > > > > > > > > > I am writing this note to voice my disappointment with the AMA. I have > > > been a member since 1986, and have generally not had a problem. However, > > > last week I encountered less than satisfactory "customer service" from > the > > > AMA. > > > > > > Don Edberg, Tom Copp and myself had decided to form a team and fly in > the > > > F3B team selection finals. Obviously Don has been through this process > > > before, as had I; this was Tom's first participation. Research revealed > > > that the "new" qualification rules meant that Don was no longer > qualified > > > to fly in the finals (the "old" rules allowed any past members of the US > > > soaring team to fly in the finals). I had flown in the previous cycle > and > > > was pre-qualified, and Tom was not qualified. This meant that Tom and > Don > > > needed to qualify before the August 3 deadline (30 days before the > > > finals). Our decision to do this was a bit late, but not outside of the > > > envelope for success. > > > > > > Early last week, we tried to organize a qualifier contest for last > > > weekend. There was a group of southern California pilots that was > > > interested in flying in the finals and we had potentially four people > that > > > needed to qualify. We contacted the competitions department at the AMA > and > > > acquired the appropriate paperwork to sanction this contest. Normally, > > > this process can take up to 30 days, however, for such a small group of > > > people the process should not have been a problem. There were obviously > no > > > other qualifier contests in California last weekend! > > > > > > Well, to make a long story short, our qualifying attempt was halted by > > > Steve Kaluf. He stated that our sanction would be blocked because we did > > > not submit the paperwork 30 days ahead of time. I understand that this > is > > > the letter of the law. But the actual effort required by the AMA is > > > minimal. And the reward would be increased participation in an event > that > > > normally sees low contest attendance, something the AMA ought to have an > > > interest in doing. Additionally, the contest enty fees are in excess of > > > $125 ... $95 of which go to the AMA. > > > > > > By denying the sanction, the AMA has essentially kept five participants > > > out of the program and cost themselves 500 bucks! These people are the > > > four that wanted to qualify along with myself (I don't have teammates, > and > > > now need to hook up with a team, or I am out of the cycle). > > > > > > I am very frustrated by the way the AMA dealt with our situation. We are > > > all long-time members, and active contest participants. In the many > years > > > I have been a member of the AMA I have never asked them to do anything > to > > > help me. I have won the National sailplane championships twice, and feel > > > that I am a fine member example. However, when I asked them to help me > > > with the seemingly trivial problem of sanctioning a contest in a hurry, > > > they were unavailable to me...literally, I have at least five unreturned > > > phone calls! > > > > > > Sorry to vent this in an open forum, but I feel it is important for all > of > > > the soaring community to hear about this. Let me know if what I was > > > expecting was unreasonable. Thanks. > > > > > > > > > > > > Aaron Valdes > > > Aerospace Engineer > > > TRW Unmanned Aerial Vehicles > > > (858) 592-4201 direct > > > (858) 592-4228 fax > > > > > > > > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" > and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
