Hi Pat,
Thanks for your suggestions. We have good luck with similar procedures, but it still is a struggle at many CL contests.
Warning: EDITORIAL ..... Long Post. Read at your own risk.
I know it is in poor taste to mention the "Dark Arts" on these CL forums, (I apologize in advance if this post offends any CL flyer's, this is not my intent. I just think we may be able to learn from others sometimes?), but this problem also exists in the two events that are very similar to our CLPA. In both pattern, and IMAC it has become common to require entrants to be a judge. Participants in these two areas long ago realized that this was a fair way to spread the work load at a contest.
Because pilots know that they can, and will be recruited to be a judge, they usually volunteer in advance so the CD can make up the judging/flying matrix a week or more before the contest. This makes it much easier on everyone and prevents, or at least delays, burnout. We usually have a space on the clubs web site where one can volunteer for a help position: line boss, judge, etc. Or at least have a line on the preregistration mail in form for this purpose. We very often get more volunteers than we need, which gives us valuable backups. We have done this in IMAC for more than 10 years with great success.
Another area that has worked well is to bring spouses into the judging pool. There are several that travel to most contests in an area. These spouses are usually talented, bright people who are glad to help, "IF" it is made clear to everyone that they will NEVER be chastised, or attacked for their judgements. They usually start out as scribes, then attend a judging school, then start judging. One spouse became such a good judge I appointed her to be the chief judge at the IMAC SW Championships. She did an outstanding job.
Another part of the solution is more judging clinics. Pat and Mr P both mentioned how a pilot (or coach?) can improve their own scores by judging others. A clinic is one of the best ways to train judges and make better pilots. In IMAC we have formal 2 day judging clinics in almost every region at least once a year, plus informal clinics in each region. The combination of classroom teaching with AV aids and actual judging critiques at the field clears up many judging misunderstandings, and makes everyone a better informed judge.
We are very fortunate here in the SW to have Keith Trostle who has been very generous with his time. Keith shares his vast CLPA knowledge with us by putting on an excellent CLPA judging seminar every year here in SoCal, and one in AZ. His seminars are well attended and enjoyed by all. We all walk away knowing more about the art of judging, and always have a better understanding of the rules.
I know many PAMPA reps work hard to have judging seminars in their regions, and I hope we can all expand on this effort. And maybe we could try to recruit some of the spouses and new/retread pilots to come to these seminars.
PRELUDE: Before I propose this idea I want to say that, as a CD, I am very aware that we have to be careful NOT to hold up the start of a contest. ...... At the CA state champs I was fortunate enough to be a judge when Brett Buck was the Chief Judge. This meant that I was part of the judges "warm up" flight evaluation that most contests have. This is an EXCELLENT opportunity to learn from an experienced judge/pilot at every contest. In this case from a world class pilot/judge! :-) ..... But at every contest the chief judge is almost always someone we can all learn from. I feel we may be missing an opportunity here?
PROPOSEAL: IF the flying field has enough room, maybe we should have everyone watch this warm up flight and have everyone LISTEN to the chief judge's critique of the flight, and hear the scores from each judge and any comments made by the judges. This would be an excellent way for the pilots to find out what the judges for that day are looking for. IMHO: This should not be a secret meeting. This could be like a mini judges training session at every contest for every pilot. ....... BUT, it is IMPARITIVE that NO pilots, other than the judges for that day, be allowed to say a word, NOT a peep!!!! during this review period. A peep would warrent severe punishments for the peepee'; NO lunch, must fly with handle upside down, fly with headsets on playing loud rap music, etc. etc.! ;-) ..... There may be some good reason we do not do this, but I can't think of one? (other than the great difficulty in keeping CLPA pilots QUIET !
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The last proposal: AV training aide. Since we do the same pattern EVERY year I am surprised that PAMPA does not have a training DVD that could be available to every member for a reasonable cost of $10 to $20 or $?. (When we did one for IMAC many years ago, the AMA made the copies for us at an extreemly low cost so we could almost give them away.)
We have several areas in the USA that have a concentration of World class CLPA pilots (CA/AZ, NW, FL, etc). Maybe a group of experts from one or more of these areas could produce a quality DVD for us. With our modern digital equipment, I would think it could even be a collaborative DVD using experts from different areas? I learned a lot by just watching some of Windy's DVDs of him and others flying. With a critique by several World class pilots added to the flights, and some less than ideal flights used too, we could all learn. If no one else does one this winter, I plan on filming Keith's next seminar. ..... Or is this something that is already available, but I don't know about it?
One last comment: I was shocked to see a pilot heatedly make comments to a judge after seeing his scores at a contest. I was told that this is not uncommon at CLPA contests, and I saw it happen more than once. This is unheard of in IMAC. Any pilot saying anything to a judge other than "thank you, etc" is immediately banished from the contest. The ONLY person he can talk to is the CD. Then, if the CD thinks it is warranted the CD talks with the Chief judge to come to a resolution of the problem. This rule is always announced during the pilots meeting and it is understood by everyone. There is nothing that will kill your judging pool faster than abuse or questioning from a pilot to a judge.
On a more positive note, I was very impressed with the quality and good sportsmanship shown by all the judges I had here in the SW CLPA contests. .... Thanks judges, we all appreciate your efforts. :-)
Regards,
Topic: Number of Judges (Read 4624 times)