I'm sad you have such a bitter outlook on the current contest formats. I personally love F3J because: * Man-on-Man- I get to try to fly strategically against 3 to 14 other pilots who are in the air at the exact same time. * 10 and 15 minute rounds: With the long rounds it adds to stratedgy and often creates a situation where one thermal won't last you, you'll need to go up wind and hook up again. * Not a huge emphasis on landing- compared to many US AMA thermal contests where the winner is almost always determined by dorking the bullseye. In F3J you get maximum landing points by being in a 1 meter radius circle. For each one meter extra you are away you lose 5 landing points. I love F3B because: * Everything listed under F3J * Course- Unlike 98% of the glider contests in the US, in 2 of the 3 F3B tasks you have to steer your craft around a given course and you are scored on this ability (time or # laps). Those who have never tried this, you are missing out on a HUGE way of improving your flying skills and a fun way of gauging your progression in flying skills. I think you missunderstand many of us. I don't give a hoot who the world champ is either. Although, he is definately a great pilot and I would be improving my own flying skills by competing with him man-on-man. I've told many people that I wouldn't want to be on the "elite" team in F3B or F3J because I enjoy testing my skills flying against these guys. Mark Taylor [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "d. o. darnell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Cottrill, Flash" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2001 11:49 AM Subject: [RCSE] extreme soaring, extreme equipment, extremely boring > Good Idea. > > I'll never admit to getting old, although I"ll be 60 in May. I was smart > enough to invest in an PRK so at least I can still see. > However, it isn't the eyesight or the reflexes I'm so concerned about as > much as I am the expense. (rules and all that other stuff aside). > > Yes, I have a couple of grand invested in the two Heras I'm currently > campaigning, but there are only four other guys in our club now who compete > and all of them have a lot more invested than I. It takes a lot of cash to > compete so I fear that unless prices come down a whole lot, there will be > fewer and fewer of us as time goes on. > > Events which are more fun and less expensive are the keys to the future if > we are to have any. Otherwise, the sport will become a whole different > thing. (Witness what happened to drag racing, for instance) HLG aint it. > F3J defiantly aint it and forget about F3B. > (with the exception of the twenty or so guys who participate) > > Personally, I don't give a hoot in hell who is the F3b or F3J or F3whatever > champion. I do this to have fun. When the fun runs out, Elvis leaves the > building. > > I believe the day of the home-builder-kit-model-world-champion is definitely > over. It's sad, but true. Some think this is a good thing, but it has > killed a large aspect of an otherwise really fun hobby. > > I often take out my 60" poly and light highstart and fly for a couple hours > all by myself. I've also taken up parkflying with micro-electrics. Cheap > ones. > > Sheese, sorry for the rant, but I guess I just got board with all the BS on > the forum and struck out at what was pissing me off. > It's just my nature. > > Regards > D.O. > > > 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]
