I'm not crewless by choice! My sister, Diane, drove over from Oxford, OH several days during the Std. Class Nats at Caesar Creek this summer and it was great. As you say, it makes me feel freer to push a little harder. Plus it's just more fun.

I was crewing with my family from about age 10 or 11 and made the transition to flying my first contest at age 17 much easier.

My wife and daughters crewed for me for many years. The last time was in 2010, when my daughter, Tina, rode out to Hobbs with me for the Std. Nats. The contest was a bust (rain) but it ranks high on my list of priceless experiences as a parent. She wrote her successful college Common App essay on rising to the challenge of running her first wing there. And she was a much more confident, mature young woman (16) when she came back from that contest, where she not only played a significant role on the launch crew but assisted when we had car problems on the way out and recruited more than one driver for our retrieve vehicle when I landed out. I even taught her how to drive--in the full-size van--on Hobb's amazing ramp in the rain and how to hook up and maneuver the trailer around the airport.

There are all kinds of good things about crewing--under the right circumstances. But--nearly every school was in already in session during the postponed Std./Sports Class Nats in August. The same was true for my last regional, at Fairfield, PA a week ago. I could afford to take 3 weeks of vacation to cover those but I don't expect many others to get excited about that. Crewing should be a nice option, not essentially mandatory if you're serious about competing.

So--I'll fly under whatever Rules the group thinks best. But if the end result is more landouts, I predict we'll lose a few pilots here and there who reminisce fondly about the old days but don't want to actually revisit them..

Chip Bearden
JB