OK, now that I'm home and caught up with LSF backlog, I'd like to make a few observations and suggestions regarding the Scale event. A fair amount of noise was generated prior to and during this event about the small number of competitors and this event getting 2 whole days. Well, in a moment of weakness, I agreed to be a scale judge, so I observed the event at very, very close range. Here are some observations: - Though the number of entrants was low (7), the quality of entrants was not. Take a look at the excellent pictures Sheldon shot ( http://www.jimbacus.net/soaring/nats2003/ss_scale/index.htm ) and see for yourself. I can assure you that the competition at the scale site was as fierce as at the F3J event taking place simultaneously. - Aero-towing puts a whole new dimension on scale. Really large models can be towed and perform "just like the real thing". - There will probably never be a huge number of scale entries. Hey, these aren't "checkbook" models - a lot of research, craftsmanship, elbow grease, ingenuity, and even cleverness go into preparing the model, documentation, and flight plan. This type of modeling, like F3B, will only appeal to a dedicated few. Due to the relatively small number of entries (although it was more than I can remember in a long, long while), there was some talk along the lines of "Well, Scale had its chance and didn't deliver a large number of entries so that's the end of Scale at the NATS." Based upon what I saw this year, deleting Scale would unfairly ignore a small but vital part of the hobby. Scale guys research, build, and fly. Therefore, I would toss the following suggestion out for discussion. Retain the Scale event, but fly it on two occasions after the rounds for a day's event are finished. There's plenty of "pre-mosquito" time available. Yes, it might take a few frequencies and maybe a few spectators away from HLG but HLG is NOT an official event. Why two occasions? The first occasion would include the static judging and the two occasions would give the scale pilots a real chance to fly and demonstrate the products of their efforts. With most scale pilots now aerotowing, there's no big setup time involved though perhaps a single winch might be needed like this year so the logistics would not be daunting. Impressed by what I saw, Jim Deck
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