With all due respect, basing the judgment that task times are too easy using Joe as the yardstick is crazy. Joe is the Lance Armstrong of soaring, and while we aspire to that kind of skill and consistency, VERY few will ever achieve it. Perhaps at the major events, where all the top guns show up, you can hypothesize that the tasks are too easy because a bunch of guys make them, but at the club level that sure is not true - and most of the soaring events are club level contests. I'd like to think that our club is one of the most competitive around with about 35 regularly competing pilots. As the scorekeeper I can assure you that maxing is NOT a given. We always fly MOM and most contests have rounds with few flyers maxing. I will be accumulating the scores for all our pilots for the end of year banquet and will be doing some statistics on them. It is always interesting.
We did do a Thermal Deathmatch contest (ala the winchdoctor - MOM - one-on-one - histart launch - landing only counts if you both exceed 10 minutes) - guess what - the same guys that fly TD showed up - none of the non-contest flyers attended. Guess who kicked butt? The same guys that win the normal TD contests. Like most of the contest flyers I know - it doesn't really matter what the task is - if the CD calls it - we'll be there flying. It's a FUN thing.... Jim PS: Another reason that tasks like F3B Distance and Cross Country are unlikely to gain much support is that they require lots of resources to run. It's hard enough getting a CD to organize an event where flyers just show up, nevermind setting up courses, getting pole callers, drivers etc. I'm a CD and run 2 or 3 events every year and it's a lot of work normally and those kind of events just get frustrating. Jim Monaco Rocky Mountain Soaring Association Denver, CO -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 1:23 AM To: Joe & Jan Wurts; RCSE Subject: Re: [RCSE] Emphasis or de-emphasis on landings I think that the Don S. post really hits the nail on the head. The tasks have not kept up with the evolution in the aircraft. This comment is sure to bite me in the butt, but (!) I'll still make it. It has been about two decades or more since I've missed a target time at Visalia by more than a few seconds. A soaring contest, or a landing contest??? I will admit that I've had a few close calls, but over a hundred consecutive flights where the determinant is landing seems to me to be evidence of a landing oriented event, not a soaring oriented event. 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.
