Just a few more thoughts on the Nats. I agree with everything Jim
and Marc said. This was the smoothest Nats I have attended and I
have been to a lot of them. I flew my first Nats at the old SOAR
Nats in 1974 and have not missed one since except when my job
prevented me from getting off long enough and I haven't missed a one
since I retired. I do have a couple of minor complaints.
First, the landing spot was dangerously close to the safety
line. There is no reason for the spot to be closer than 25 feet from
the safety line.
Second, the landing spots were not directly behind the corresponding
winch. This is more of a problem for me since I started using a cane
to walk on uneven ground. On the last round of RES, I launched from
a winch on the left site of the tent and my landing spot was on the
other side. Walking that far while trying to fly my model was difficult.
Third, we need to allow late entry if there is an open frequency. I
know of at least two people who would have entered RES if they could
have entered after they arrived for Unlimited. I used late entry to
fly in several Nats before I retired. I I had no trouble getting
time off to fly contest except when I had a test in the wind
tunnel. In 1983, I didn't enter because I had a long test scheduled
just before the test and I didn't know if I would be finished in time
to drive to Springfield, Massitutes. At noon on Friday before the
Soaring event started, I realized that If I worked late I could
finish the final report by noon on Saturday. I left Tullahoma at
noon on Saturday and drove to Springfield arriving just before the 4
PM Sunday late entry deadline. Flying started the next morning and I
was able to enter 2-meter, Standard, and Unlimited. We flew all
three classes each day and I actually won a trophy in
2-meter. Since the flight order is computer generated, there is no
reason we couldn't allow late entry and raise a little more money
with late entry fees.
Chuck Anderson
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