I fly gliders because they are challenging, and I fly in contests because that's the only way I can measure my own performance.
I see the following reasons: A) If you regularly go on the contest circuit you make a number of friends that you normally only see at contests. B) Some people go to contests to win. The trouble is that if that's your motivation you get awfully frustrated if you don't win. I'm not good enough (yet) to win ESL contests in Expert class, and I'd have given up long ago if this were my motivation. C) Measuring your own performance. As the scorekeeper for the ESL I introduced an inprovement measure that is calculated each year. I do this for two reasons: One, it makes it possible to reward pilots for improving their performance. Two, it is a measure of individual performance. The neat thing is that the top fliers are the benchmark that individual performance/improvement is measured against, so they have tiny fluctuations. The major drawback is that it really highlights the effects of aging on the older pilots. Bottom line: There are "better" motivations for going to contests than winning. Anker ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Swingle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "RCSE Soaring (E-mail)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2002 1:19 PM Subject: [RCSE] Contests; why? > > Could someone please explain something? > > Why do so many pilots need contests to fly? The are volumes of posts arguing > about rules and formats. Then after an event guys argue about results and > rules. Seems silly to me. > > Bill Swingle > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Janesville, CA > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
