Beginner events - one person's opinion

From: Bill Gowen <wdgowen_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 13:51:41 -0000

This post might rub some people the wrong way but this is the way I
look at indoor flying. If you want to fly in indoor competition you've
got to spend some time, effort and a little money to figure out the
things you need to know and to develop the necessary skills. Like
anything else in life this process will be easier for some people than
it is for others.

You've also got to face the fact that for some period of time (longer
for some of us) you'll get your butt beat by the people who are
farther along in this process.

There are many events currently being flown that allow a newcomer to
build a model that flies acceptably well. My first Limited Pennyplane
would occasionally break 5 minutes and I thought that was a miracle. I
took that same LPP to USIC in 1999 and finished 37th out of 50 something.

I'm currently building an A-6 that has lived in my head for awhile.
A-6 is (or was) conceived as a "beginner" event. I had to search
through every piece of balsa I own to find the materials I needed to
build the A-6 close to weight. Building it has not been much easier
than building an EZB or F1L. Does this mean we need to clamor for a
higher weight limit for the A-6? Not to me it doesn't! There are
plenty of people out there who are building A-6's to weight.
Eventually I want to be one of them and be able to give them a fight.

If you want to fun-fly indoor models then why worry about rules? Just
build something and go fly and have a good time! If you want to fly in
indoor COMPETITION, then accept that until your desire to succeed
drives you to learn the things you need to know, you will probably not
have too many podium finishes. You'll probably find that as time goes
on the playing field will gradually start to seem more level - without
changing rules that others are happy with.
Bill Gowen
Decatur, GA USA
Received on Thu Mar 16 2006 - 05:52:03 CET