I may be the newest LSF applicant. I signed up Sunday. I may be new to
LSF but I am far from new to flying RC. I will be 64 later this month.
I am a senior manager in the work place. The most important thing I
have ever learned is that just because we have always done it that way
is insufficient reason to keep doing it that way. You can apply it to
anything including LSF.
I joined in spite of the contest requirements. I am not a competitive
person and don't want to be. Some pilots are lucky and some are good.
Over time, skill will rise to the top, but in any given contest, the
winner can be the pilot that was up when the air was good. I don't
expect to reach LV, heavens, I haven't even done LI yet. I have vision
problems and I can't go 8 hours without a head stop or two. It just
seems to me that there should be a way other than BEATING someone to
demonstrate a skill level has been reached. This is especially true if,
as many messages indicate, the numbers of sailplane pilots are decreasing.
With the cost of travel what it is and is unlikely to decrease, going to
six or ten contests in a year can be a burden that some folks just
cannot bear. With the cost of a competitive plane, radio and associated
equipment, one can sink 3 - 5000 bucks in a heartbeat. What the "We
have always done it that way" attitude is causing is pricing the hobby
out of the reach of newbys. There needs to be a less expensive way to
gain the experience and to recognize the resultant increase in skill
levels. We all have our own comments about how much we spend on our
hobby. In my neck of the woods "R/C airplanes are cheaper than bass
boats" As for me, I am going to go as far as I can with what I got.
Harold Jackson
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