Re: The Problems with Indoor FF
--- In Indoor_Construction_at_yahoogroups.com, "Don DeLoach" <ddeloach@...> wrote:
I'm getting into this debate a bit late (amazing what a few days away from the list will do...) but have a few thoughts...
I think that the below is somewhat accurate... But we have to focus on what we -can- do, not what effectively is an ideological solution to a problem that never could be implemented... (That's one of the problems with problem solving... the solutions have to be possible to implement...)
> --too many introverted experts
This is not a changeable thing... People are what they are, and it necessarily isn't a bad thing, but one that you just work around... Indoor (not unlike outdoor or any other hobby within a hobby section of model aviation...) -is- an odd group... (see Kagan's previous analysis, which I think is spot on...)
> --most events dominated by experts
What else would one expect...??? There isn't any other logical possibility other than the "experts" being experts... One of the reasons that I have -always- felt that a "beginner's event" is only fleeting, unless you don't allow the "experts" to fly, and then I'm pretty sure that the event(s) would lack popularity...
> --too much airtime devoted to events that only a handful of experts in the
> entire world can build to weight, let alone fly successfully (EZB, F1D, HLS,
> etc).
I really think that this is fundamentally off base... It really depends on a few things...
a) Who/What do you call an expert...? I -know- that I wouldn't call myself one, as I have only been flying indoor for 4 years now, but I got an EZB down to under 500mg on the 5th try, and just built my first HLS to 1.7g for this year... I really think that the "I can't do that" attitude is exactly that... more of an attitude than a real assessment of ability...
b) How much is too much airtime...? for those of us who -choose- to fly those events, you need more time for test flights and official flights... An EZB official flight from beginning to end can take upwards of 30-45 minutes (getting ready, winding, walking out, flying, walking back, recording, etc...) and if you want to make 5 officials, that's the better part of 5 hours, just for the official flights... Then add time to talk to spectators, talk to friends, watch other flights, time for others, etc, etc, etc... and you can -easily- be pretty busy for an 8 hour time slot...
c) You -can- fly for fun, and work towards personal goals... If you -only- care about winning, then yeah, you might be pretty bummed out with the competition... but you can have a great time just bettering your own times... When I flew HLS for the first time this year, I -never- was seriously thinking that if Kagan or Richmond decided to put up flights that I would beat their times... but I had a goal that I set for myself (breaking 35 minutes at USIC, which never happened since the wing never held together for an official...) that I would have left happy if I accomplished... and anyway, I left happy with just having a few 8+ minute 1/4 motor flights that proved that my goal was within my reach... Competitive...? Not really... Frustrating...? Darn right... Fun...? Absolutely, and I'll be having more of the same fun down the road...
The last point is related to one of John's posts about having something else for the "beginners" that we can support... i.e. the idea of having some kind of certificate, medal, trophy, etc. for different accomplishment levels, sort of like Boy Scouts have been doing for eons... I truly think that some kind of organized program like that would do more for indoor (and quite possibly other areas of the hobby...) than any other thing we could do... John first mentioned the idea to me a few years back, and I really think we should put something together... Not necessarily just giving something for "showing up", which would be too much like the current philosophy in society that is prevalent to give something just to make someone feel good, but if someone has some success, give them something for it, and give them goals to work for...
Now I'm just pondering if I am really one of the crusty old farts in the hobby...? ;)
JH
> This is an important, fundamental question. But I think contains a obvious
> fallacy. Why can't we have both...an event(s) with mass appeal that is ALSO
> challenging? As I type this I ponder the structural problems I talked about
> --too many introverted experts
> --most events dominated by experts
> --too much airtime devoted to events that only a handful of experts in the
> entire world can build to weight, let alone fly successfully (EZB, F1D, HLS,
> etc).
>
> It's like two large fish in a small pond. Eventually all the minnows and
> tadpoles get eaten...what's next? Starvation.
Received on Thu Jun 04 2009 - 08:24:08 CEST
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