Why did the Alimov's pass in Advanced?
OK, I have about an hour before we head back for the evening practice, so.... from the horse's mouth:
Coming here, we never anticipated making the cut in Advanced (not to mention posting the top score on Day 1 of the qualifying). The only reason I enter the boys in Advanced is to keep them focused on flying throughout the week, between Intermediate on Sunday (which Luca finally won this year and will never attempt to re-enter) and Junior Open the following Saturday (!). We did this last year upon the suggestion of another father of a Junior, and it sure makes the week go faster. I have no idea where the boys belong skill-wise. One has flown stunt for less than a year, and another for about two years. In April-May of this year, they were flying so poorly that I was ready to throw in the towel and take up ice kurling or something else.
So, the initial plan was to fly a [shared, borrowed] ARF until the end of the Advanced qualifying, and switch to their BOM-compliant airplanes on Friday to prepare for Saturday. Making the cut in Advanced was a complete surprise for us, but we would have gone on to fly in Advanced Finals if not for the loss of the plane at 7:15 AM due to completely dead air, at the grass practice circles [notice: I didn't have to make this fact public but doing it anyway... Say, if you are wearing a catheter, had an accident and missed a flight... would you tell everyone why?]
We had just enough time in the morning to notify the officials of the withdrawal. Everything was within the rules, and I don't feel like my boys have to apologize to anyone for making the cut (does anyone?), or for pulling out -- for whatever reason. I
do apologize for not having the time to notify our fellow flyers of the changes in flight schedule.
There are many reasons why a person may have to suddenly withdraw: a tragic family event (God forbid), a physical/health condition (Mr. Hunt), loss of an airplane, etc. etc. etc. Neither do I feel that those spots should be occupied by those who didn't make the cut. If you want your shot at the "glory" (and all the money and women that come with winning Advanced), fly better and qualify like everyone else. My 12-yr old Gabe flying 10-12 ft bottoms made the cut with a Brodak ARF built in 3 days the week before the NATS. It's not that difficult. The difference between 21st ranked Advanced and the winner of Advanced is immense. Just watch Dorin (2020) or Will DeMauro (2019) fly and you will feel very inadequate. Trust me, if you can't make the top 20 (or 16 this year), you have no chance to "get lucky" and win Advanced on Friday. Not even close.
To everyone else who wonders why we do things the way we do them:
I encourage you to attempt the following:
- Teach a kid to fly a 400-500 point stunt pattern (bonus: try two kids or more);
- Take them to the NATS and spend a week flying every event possible, with enough airplanes to last a week;
- Do it all in a Ford Escape or similar size vehicle;
- Pass a sanity check upon your return home;
- Share your experiences with everyone here.
I see people proposing rule changes. That's fine by me. We will have to comply (as if BOM wasn't enough). So would everyone else. That would be a real boon for the event that already sees a rapidly shrinking event participation. I know what stunt will look like in a few years; I've driven past Speed and Racing circles all week, only to see 4-5 cars parked and not a Junior in sight.
We've had a mixed experience over the past two years. We've had people telling us how wonderful it is to see two energetic, polite young men pursuing stunt in this day and age, and offering help and advice (thank you all!). But we've also had people questioning the legitimacy of just about everything that could be questioned (our line connectors, safety thongs, the AMA number, the way we arm the ESC (yellow XT60 plug from HobbyKing, by the way), etc, only to discover that everything is within the rules.
We may or may not continue with this if it gets to be too much, I don't know yet. But I do know that on a national scale this is not very conducive to nurturing a talent pool to draw from when it comes time to send someone to represent the USofA at the World level. Not a rant, just food for thought.
Gotta go now.
Topic: 2020 CLPA Nationals Coverage...... (Read 9887 times)
