Re: [RCSE] LSF Comments

[Jim Porter]

I would love to be a Level V member of LSF.  It is never going to happen.  I could already posses (or develop) the skills needed and still never achieve that goal, because...I will never enter contests.    This is like saying you'd like to acheive the highest level in one of the martial arts, but don't want to pass any of the tests normally required to establish your proficiency.  That's not to say you might not be that good, but who will ever know?  And would anyone but you care?  And is it necessary for anyone else to recognize this?       For many people, the problem they have with LSF requirements is not competition but contests.  I'm very competitive but I live 200 miles from the nearest contests -- I know, I know, many are saying, "Gee, that would be nice!"  Like me, many people don't have the time or the dollars to spend a weekend, motel room, 20-25 gallons of gas, and entrantance fees just to enter a contest.  I fly in a 100 acre pasture...by myself.  I could devise a set of "goals" for myself that would assure my continued progress as a flyer, but I would love to have a set of COMMON guidelines that I could test (contest?) myself against.  As I understand it, that is the what that is being sought.   This part is real easy.  Pick one or more of the AMA competition tasks and fly them - and not on just the best days, but in every kind of weather.  If you can consistently score above 95% of a perfect score you're approaching the competition level of the better pilots.   Most pursue the LSF levels for their own satisfaction and there's no reason you can't mimic this in another manner, as long as it is truly challenging.  Lay out a program and complete it.   All this 'desire' but so far only Don Harban has attempted to lay out a proposal.  Seems there are a lot of 'wannabees' out there.  To paraphrase Yoda, "There is no try.  Do or do not."   Flame suit on.   regards,   Jim Porter Johnston Iowa USA   "The airplane stays up because it doesn't have the time to fall."      Orville Wright