beginner pattern

[Robert Schroeder]

Not to add insult to injury , but I put a plastic uniflow on my Pathfinder with an O.S. .40FP.  You can see inside the tank so I know the uniflow was not plugged.  This was NOT on pressure, but vented.  The engine would not run properly.  Open the overflow and cap the uniflow and guess what?  A perfect stunt run.  That happens sometimes.  I later received the .46LA, switched to the open uniflow and capped overflow and...a perfect stunt run, after break-in, of course.  That happens.

I had a guy in the middle of the circle once.  I got flustered and tried to do an outside at 20 feet  .  Came in last that NATS.

[Ron Heckler]

I have judged beginner at Brodak for the last four or five years. Always interesting and fun. I try to make notes on each maneuver on the score sheet. That way beginners can have some reference to what they flew. Important elements to note are shape and location. My thought is to provide general and basic information, not coaching pointers. Were the loops round and concentric. Near the right size. Corners decent on the square. Were there recognizable corners etc. Overhead eight getting to be overhead. And so forth. Different from notes by a coach trying to gain a flier three or four extra points on a given maneuver. I have started making these general notes because beginners frequently want to know specifics about their flights. Impossible for me to remember anything. Unless I make notes. I think of the Beginner event as an introduction of the sport. My thought is to provide a helpful positive response.

Dennis,
Out of curiosity, how many flyers enter beginners at Brokak?

Ron

[Tim Wescott]

I have judged beginner at Brodak for the last four or five years. Always interesting and fun. I try to make notes on each maneuver on the score sheet. That way beginners can have some reference to what they flew. Important elements to note are shape and location. My thought is to provide general and basic information, not coaching pointers. Were the loops round and concentric. Near the right size. Corners decent on the square. Were there recognizable corners etc. Overhead eight getting to be overhead. And so forth. Different from notes by a coach trying to gain a flier three or four extra points on a given maneuver. I have started making these general notes because beginners frequently want to know specifics about their flights. Impossible for me to remember anything. Unless I make notes. I think of the Beginner event as an introduction of the sport. My thought is to provide a helpful positive response.

It would be nice to know how much is 'guidance' and how much is 'coaching'.  I can see the point of a 'no coaching' rule -- but I can't see why a judge can't note why a maneuver was marked down, particularly if it's done consistently for every flier.  My preference -- as a beginner -- would be something like score sheets with check boxes for roundness, height, etc., so the judge can check all the things that knocked off points.

[Mark Scarborough]

Tim, maybe check boxes for what you DIDN'T do wrong LOL

I think one of the reasons that commenting isn't allowed is the whole uniformity issue. Its hard enough to come up with a score number, let alone have time to write some form of cryptic notation to remember what you saw wrong. Your best bet is to do some flying before, or after the contest with someone there for the single purpose of coaching. being from the far east,, ( eastern Washington that is) I have a similar problem with not really knowing what is killing my scores,,

[Tim Wescott]

Tim, maybe check boxes for what you DIDN'T do wrong LOL

For beginner, that's probably better.

I think one of the reasons that commenting isn't allowed is the whole uniformity issue. Its hard enough to come up with a score number, let alone have time to write some form of cryptic notation to remember what you saw wrong. Your best bet is to do some flying before, or after the contest with someone there for the single purpose of coaching. being from the far east,, ( eastern Washington that is) I have a similar problem with not really knowing what is killing my scores,,

Point taken.

[afml]

Quote:"-- but I can't see why a judge can't note why a maneuver was marked down, particularly if it's done consistently for every flier.  My preference -- as a beginner -- would be something like score sheets with check boxes for roundness, height, etc., so the judge can check all the things that knocked off points." End Quote.

At the Beginner contest at the Nats, this is exactly what takes place. There are three Flight Judges and two Critique Judges that mark down any "problems" they see during your first official flight. They then discuss with the pilot how to correct these "problems" and hopefully better their score during their second official flight. Only the highest scoring flight counts.

Hope to see you at the Nats!
"Tight lines!"

Wes

[Alan Buck]

a ballpark figure for beginners at Brodaks is around twenty

[Dennis Moritz]

I didn't realize there were additions to this thread. Not quite 20 at Brodak. I started making general notes on the score sheets because many beginners asked for feedback. Impossible for me to do after the contest, or even after the completion of a round. Cannot remember. For that reason I started to make a few notes. My thought is that Beginner is an introduction to the sport. A way to gain confidence doing the basic shapes in preparation for doing the full pattern. My pointers are to assist this purpose. Truthfully I never found a beginner pilot hung up about maxing their score. When a pilot can do the full pattern go on to Intermediate. Start perfecting the figures there.

[Alan Buck]

Dennis found out the best time for feed back is right after there flightif you have time. while the next flyer is coming on the cirlce