Radio Control Aerobatics
Eric Henderson <[email protected]>
A successful new entry-level "Club Class" contest
It is easy to write about what should be done to bring more people into an activity or sport. I have put forward many readers' suggestions in this column. It takes much more to go ahead and actually try to do something.
I received a couple of communications on the subject from Mike Dorna of Wisconsin, who has been a prolific supporter of RC Aerobatics (Pattern) competition for many years. We served together at the national level for at least four years surrounding 1997. Not only is Mike a great contributor, but he is also a master builder, an extremely good flier, and fun to be around.
Mike took the concept of making a real entry-level class and added it to a contest he has been running. Although he sent me a report on his contest, I have included the bulk of the following to give you a feel for the larger picture and flavor of a Pattern contest.
Mike Dorna's report: how Club Class came to be
I'm attaching a preliminary article about the Club Class. Basically it explains the concept and how it came to be.
The score sheets are pretty neat—the small numbers in the corners of the boxes where you would enter the score are the maneuver numbers, which helps the scorekeeper tremendously. Jim Chaffee from Wisconsin Rapids, WI came up with these score sheets long ago.
We've got a great club and it's very close to my home in an urban area—a rare treat these days. The club is located in Menomonee Falls, WI. The field itself is about five miles or less from the border of Milwaukee County. You can Google "Flying Electrons," or better yet, here's the link: http://flyingelectrons.com/navigate.htm.
About six years ago I was looking for ways to make the local contest that I'd been running for a few years more interesting to the members of the host club, the Flying Electrons of Menomonee Falls, WI. I really don't want to take credit for this concept, because I'm sure there was input from others.
Somewhere along the way I'm confident that I read an article, had a conversation, or something related to the idea of having a club-only class that allowed any AMA-legal plane to be flown in a basic Pattern sequence, allowing host club members to get their feet wet at a Pattern contest.
I put together a modified list of maneuvers based on the old Novice class. I dubbed it "Club Class" and presented it to the membership. It was a flop. No one showed any interest at all. I tried in vain to drum up some curiosity, but the next few years proved fruitless. I gave up after about three years of no-shows in Club Class.
A few years ago, my contestant turnout was hovering around 16—just about the breakeven point for our event. We made a minuscule amount of money and club members were giving up two days of flying for this. Of course, I know it should not be all about making money, but breaking even or losing money is not a club option.
Historically, the weather on our contest weekend was either windy, raining, cold, or all three—un-flyable for 99.9% of the membership. The other 0.1% was the club members flying in the contest. The worst part was there were only about three club members participating out of a membership of close to 200. Something had to be done.
Reviving Club Class and the one-day format
In 2006 I decided to resurrect the Club Class. I promoted it heavily, ran a trimming clinic at our monthly "Club Only Fun Fly," and we had new members that were interested in giving it a shot.
We had five or six people participate and it was well received. I had heard that there were more people interested who did not come out, so I did some investigating and found that quite a few could not make it out both days.
This year I'm running Club Class and Sportsman as two separate one-day events. If you sign up on Saturday, you're done on Saturday afternoon. You can come back Sunday if you want to, but it isn't necessary for a complete contest.
The basics are:
- Club Class is limited to host club members only.
- Any AMA-legal aircraft is allowed.
- Club Class pays $10 for one day of flying; two days are $20.
- Regular contestants pay $25 for the weekend Pattern contest.
With this particular set-up of two one-day events, we can't afford to have full-blown trophies for the top three spots. Instead, the top three places in Club Class and Sportsman receive a "paper-in-frame" award and the placement medals that are available from the AMA.
Our club hosts "Club Only Fun Flys" about four times a year. Club members volunteer to run them. They usually involve fun-fly-type activities—Balloon Burst, Limbo, Spot Landing—you get the idea.
I jumped at the chance to host the Club Only event two weeks before our contest. I recruited my co-Contest Director at the time, Paul Hohensee, and my friend from Chicago, Bill Gregg, to come up and do a trimming clinic for the Fun Fly.
Of course, this was a thinly veiled precision aerobatics clinic! We took all of the participants and helped them trim their airplanes—there were no contingencies about flying in the contest.
I don't particularly expect a mass of Pattern converts using the Club Class method. It's done to let folks get a taste of a little good-natured competition while learning something about their airplanes and themselves.
We're having a good time, we're exposing a good number of club members to a real Pattern contest experience and maybe, just maybe, we'll get one or two regular Pattern fliers out of the effort. Even if we don't, it was worth the effort. One major point we make to them is—you control the plane, not the other way around.
Last year we had five Club Class contestants participate on both days. Everyone enjoyed himself or herself, and the club seemed pumped to have more people try out.
When it comes down to it, I think that most people just flat-out avoid competition. They are not in the hobby so that someone can judge them. They find it relaxing and enjoyable to get away from the competition of life and not have to worry about besting or being bested by someone else.
I will continue to offer the option of a Club Class; however, it will be done in two one-day events, perhaps even to the point where they fly back-to-back rounds twice so they can come out, fly, and go home if they so desire.
As you can see from the attached score sheet, the schedule is straightforward. The score sheet lays out the sequence, including "free" non-scored turnarounds. They are flying duplicate maneuvers, meaning that the pattern repeats itself.
As far as promoting the whole deal, this is where I probably fall a little short. I could do more, like more articles about it in the newsletter, hold more clinics, etc. My Co-CD this year, Joe Burzinski, was a huge help with the contest and he bought a used Hideout a few years back and is hooked big time!
What got Joe interested in Pattern? He wanted to be able to fly and handle his scale warbirds with more proficiency—what a concept!
Years ago I bought one of those scale documentary handbooks—I forgot what it is called. They are always advertised in the magazines and a new one usually comes out every year. Mike Barbee wrote a forward in the one that I have that said he flew Pattern for years because he wanted to be a better Scale pilot. Now he is one of the top Scale pilots/builders in the country. A great plug for Pattern by Scale! Go figure. I think the book is called Bob's Aircraft Documentation or something like that.
Highlights from the last contest
At the most recent Club Only Fun Fly, 23 pilots were attracted to the Pattern contest. That's a good number, and they were able to get in six rounds of flying between a few raindrops and one usual Wisconsin downpour.
Joe Burzinski was the Co-CD. He edited the scoresheets for the new maneuver schedules, made awards for Club Class and Sportsman, and did countless other tasks and errands that made the contest work.
Last year the Club Class and official Sportsman class were run as separate two-day events. The contest had a special guest who traveled all the way from Arizona: Troy Newman. He is a top-class FAI pilot who loves to attend and support any local contest that is within his reach.
Troy is a Team JR member who is well known for his helpfulness to fellow competitors. This event was no exception. He even loaned one of his competition engines, a YS 170, to Club Class entrant Joe Burzinski when Joe's 140 misbehaved on Friday!
There were two electric-powered Pattern airplanes in the air at the Electron field! Even cooler was that one of them was flying with a JR/Spektrum radio system.
Mike thanks the entire club for allowing him to host the 10th annual Pattern contest. In a more reflective moment, he added:
"I think it boils down to one thing—people either get it or they don't. The first time I saw a Pattern plane fly I was hooked. That's what I wanted to do. And I still feel that way. It's fun, and I'm crazy about it. However, I'm not going to force it down people's throats.
"I've seen guys practicing the pattern that will never fly in a contest. I've also seen guys in my club buy a Pattern-type plane, fly it like a Pattern plane, tell me they are coming out to the contest, and never show up. That's about all I know."
Mike, I say you know a lot about this sport. Thanks for your letter and a job well done. Please keep the Pattern flag flying in Menomonee Falls for all of us. MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
