I would like to begin by thanking all those that attended the AMA Convention in January and helped make the USRA booth the most successful ever; including, Fred Sargent, Scott and Faith Baker, Mike Tallman, John Creagh, Scott's cousin Doug Hamann, Tim Sparks, Diego, Tom, Larry, Ralph, Duke and of course Scotty Hanbury and Kenny Mac. Many of these members took time off from work and paid their own travel and lodging expenses to make the USRA the best it can be, THANKS!
Another shout out goes to all those that helped with the raffle at the AMA Convention, but a special shout out goes to Scott's cousin Doug, Faith and John for their sales ability. Due to there efforts we had a record raffle sales and over $1k was collected for the championship fund!
In the last report I promised the results of the questionnaire mailed to all the past members. Before I get started we all need to thank CRT for their expertise to compile, mail, receive and analyze the results for us free of charge. Thanks Tom, Kelley and the rest of CRT for your help!
The results from the 66 questionnaires returned are as follows:
Over half the racers from last year turned in a survey.
More surveys were returned from non-pilots in 2005 than pilots in 2005.
Most who raced in 2005 went to at least 2 races.
Of the 9 whom only attended one race in 2005, 7 plan on 2 races in 2006 Nice increase!
Among those who raced in 2005, 9 said they plan on attending more events in 2006, with only 1 saying less.
Over half the pilots have been racing less than 4 seasons.
Among those who didnt race in 2005, Sport too costly was number one answer.
Among those who didnt race last year (38), 27 plan on attending at least one race in 2006 and seven of those plan on 2 or more events!
Of all respondents, 77% plan on attending 2 or more races in 2006.
The competition and fun are the two primary reasons people race.
25% think there are too many classes, while 68% think we have just the right number.
Among all respondents, about 47% say we have too few events. Virtually no one said we have too many.
Overall racers love the spacing between events.
62% would like to see a race in March/April and that is true of both racers and non-racers, and 63% would attend in addition to the other races. Only 35% would skip one of the other events.
70% feel it is important to keep the entry fees below $250.
31% think its important to keep purses at their current levels.
61% would like to see more regional races.
Larger events werent important.
89% think overall our events are safe.
Time it takes to run heats was number one area of dissatisfaction.
Accuracy of both turn caller and start finish calls were next worst areas.
About 25% never visit the racers forum, while 37% are daily or weekly.
95% have email.
81% says email can be primary source of communication to save money.
Roughly 80% want to hear from the leadership at least quarterly.
The number one item that came out of the questionnaire was the amount of time that is taken between heats during normal race operations. Of course there are factors that we can not control (i.e. Airport traffic, weather, equipment failures, etc.) but we all help to reduce the times between heats by having our airplanes, crew members and starting equipment ready in pre-stage early. I will be working with the board, promoters and CDs to reduce the time between heats this year so please make sure you have the proper equipment and number of crew members for your airplane at each event you attend. If we get the increase in pilots as stated in the questionnaire results then we will be pushing hard to assure the events run quickly, so please be aware that pilots may miss their heat if they are not ready to go.
Besides reducing the time between heats, the board has been reviewing the following items. If you have any comments or concerns about these or any other issues please contact your District Representative, your input is IMPORTANT!
1. Establishing a contingency system.
2. Reviewing the Bi-plane rules.
3. Reviewing the T-6 rules.
4. Reviewing the membership fee structure.
5. Establishing a pilot qualification system.
6. The use of USRA officials at races.
7. Updating the web site information and links.
8. Developing a race number "registering" system / policy.
9. Developing a Tech column on the web site.
10. Developing an index class that would allow many different types of airplanes to fly together.
11. Linking up with the IMAA to provide us a larger membership base and provide us with advertising and event coverage in the High Flight magazine
It sure sounds like Unlimited will be fun this year, I am aware of at least 6 new airplanes under construction or completed (Tim Sparks, Fred Sargent, Peter Goldsmith, John Creagh, Larry Sutherland and Frank Knoll). I am looking forward to see Eds new GT racer, Tim also has a biplane on the board, I am hearing rumblings from the Vess and Lewis Skunk works but nothing has been spotted yet and I am sure there are many others working on their new birds as well!
I would like to close by announcing George Knapple as the new Dominator representative. George has stepped up this year to be the representative for Dominator. Being that Dominator is not an "official" class of the USRA, a representative is designated to police the class and advise new pilots of the rules, etc.. For the past few years Fred French has been the representative and I would personally like to thank Fred for performing the functions, thanks Fred! George has prepared a revised rules package to address some issues in the class such as engine availability, fuel, etc.. If you are a new Dominator pilot please contact George to determine how any changes may affect you. In addition I would like to announce that Tim has secured Performance Fuels as the fuel sponsor for the Dominators this year, please thank John Creagh when you see him, thanks John and Tim!
Joyce and I are headed to Toledo this week to checkout the show and the ETOC for the first time. Hope to see some of the right coast racers while we are there. We will be there Thursday through Sunday so give us a call (602) 321-9514.
If I dont see you in Toledo, I will see you in Rantoul, (only 80 days)!
Fly fast, turn left
Martin Treat
President