On Saturday, September 20, 2014 6:31:41 PM UTC-4, Tim Taylor wrote:
On Saturday, September 20, 2014 2:51:52 PM UTC-6, Andy K wrote:

Could anyone explain why 2 years in a row we have 18 m Nationals on the west coast? This year Minden and next year Hobbs. As far as I remember Bermuda High was willing to host the 18m Nationals in 2015. This arrangement is totally unfair to East Coast pilots.







Does that mean 2016 and 2017 are going to be on the East coast?







I know some of the decision makers read this news group maybe someone is going to comment?







AK



Andy,



I am surprised it took so long for someone to comment on the sad state of US contest planning.



Many years ago there was some basic rules that were suppose to be followed for contest planning.



1. Standard and 18M would be held together and 15M and Open would be together. 2. These two contest would be held on opposite sides of the country each year.



This logical approach would have allowed Standard pilots to flying in 15M, 15m to fly in 18M and 18M to fly in Open in alternate years when their class was not on their side of the country.



Unfortunately this plan has fallen by the wayside and we now have chaos. In 2015 we will have both Standard and 15M on the east coast and 18M will be in the west again for an other year. For 2016 we have both Standard and 15M at the same location rather than on opposite sides of the country like it is suppose to be.



Some of us have tried to encourage a better planning system for contests and also advocated for East/West nationals to end the confusion and encourage greater participation. Why should we have to drive 2500 miles to compete in our own class with a group of quality pilots? On average only one to two pilots cross the Mississippi to compete unless a contest is Mid-continent.



I have advocated for a Request For Proposals (FRP) date of November two years in advance (November 2014 for 2016 contests for example) for contest site requests and so that a logical planning pattern could happen. Any site interested could submit a proposal and all could be evaluated at one time so that contests are held at appropriate sites and allow all pilots to fly in their own class every other year at a minimum. This lead time would allow the selection committee to encourage sites to hold contest if they did not have enough request by November in the correct side of the country.



I have become very concerned about the overall quality of the US pilots going to the Worlds because we are selecting only from those that have the money and time to drive across the country each year or those that get lucky enough to have contests line up in their half of the country during selection periods.



I am glad to see the Pan-American contest being organized for next year, just wish it was being held during the summer months when more could attend..



Hopefully the contest selection committee and the team selection committee will:

1. Plan ahead and set a date for site proposals.

2. Work to ensure that contest are evenly distributed around the country.

3. Try to avoid placing nationals on the extreme coasts that discourages pilots from attending because of the distance.

4. Change the team selection rules to recognize East and West Championships as being worth 100 team selection points.

5. Merge to team selection list for Standard, 15M and 18M so that points count across classes.



TT

Tim, yes this is chaos. It would be nice to hear from people who make these decisions. I would still like to know why Bermuda High was not selected keeping with the tradition East-West-East-...

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