In this article: http://ozreport.com/12.229#0 I provide eleven concrete suggestions as to how the USHPA can improve and help competition grow. In this article you will also see that I went ahead and created an on-line form of the USHPA competition sanction form that if the USHPA would just put it up on their web site would be a big improvement when it came to making it easy for meet organizers to "send in the paper work."

Please go over the suggestions for improvements that I have made. Add to them.

I would suggest other changes that we could make to the competition system.

1) Do away with the sanction fees and deposits. Money is always an obstacle. How about making it so meet organizers don't have to put money upfront to get sanctioning? I know of a meet organizer right now who is not sending in his application until the last moment because he doesn't want to put the fee up front.

2) Encourage the Foundation for Free Flight to make a matching grant to fix up the aerotow runway at the Francisco Grande in Casa Grande, Arizona so that the Santa Cruz Flats Race can take place. The meet organizer has been greatly discouraged by a BOD member from even applying for a matching grant.

3) By all means (and I say this in the article linked to above) develop a supportive relationships between the USHPA (either EC or CCC or CC or President, or ED) and the meet organizers (and potential organizers). Right now it is an adversarial relationship (and is somewhat designed to be that way) with lots of venom on each side. As I state here: http://ozreport.com/12.228#0 this is a dysfunctional relationship that can only be made better if the USHPA reaches out concretely and consistently to improve it.

4) Put on a hands-on scorekeeping seminar, either at the Fall BOD meeting or on-line. Teach new scorekeepers how to configure a downloading computer (and help them configure their own computers). Also how to download GPSes, how to download them when there are problems, and what problems to expect.

How to install scoring software (install software on seminar participant's computers). How to configure scoring software. Bringing in pilot's and getting their CIVL ID's. Setting up daily tasks. Scoring flights.

5) Include the goals found here: http://ozreport.com/12.238#1

6) Make the US National Champion more likely to be the actual best respected pilot and thereby enhance the prestige of all the USHPA sanctioned competitions. Make the 2009 National Champion the person with the highest total NTSS points in 2009 (or 2010) at their best scoring two USHPA sanctioned meets.

I ask the Competition Workgroup to contact all the interested parties, all those who submitted comments regarding their proposals and engage them in a revised process of bringing about the desired changes in our competition system. This process should consist of:

1) Goal clarification.

2) Strategizing. Coming up with all sorts of different ways to reach the goals.

3) Resource identification.

4) The costs and benefits of each proposal.

5) Vote/decision making process.

Structurally the USHPA BOD has a very difficult time passing proposals that cost money and resources. Since the Finance Committee is separate from the other committees it is much easier to make rules and regulations to "encourage" behavior, than to create incentives to "encourage" certain behaviors. This explains much of the limited list of proposals for changes that the Competition Workgroup has come up with.