The Next Step

The Town Hall Meeting takes place on the first night of NARAM.  This gave me the entire week of NARAM to start talking to people about my idea, or an entire week of torture to keep this idea quiet.  In the end, the week ended up being a healthy mix of both.  For the most part, I kept my article under wraps, but I needed someone else in B division to read it and give me feedback and suggestions.  Dad agreed and I went to the person who I knew felt the presence of this problem and wanted a solution just as badly as I did.  I went to one of the people that I knew I could trust to keep my article quiet, but would still give me honest feedback.  I went to Zach.

Zach and I share a lot of the same views on competition flying and he had been expressing similar frustrations when it came to not being able to fly as much during the contest year due to school.  He was an upcoming senior in high school and was already so concerned about keeping up with school work and competition flying that he already had plans to fly as a team with his dad for this season.  I knew that if my article and idea was anywhere close to being plausible, he would be excited and willing to help.

Photo by Chris Taylor

Two days later on the field, I finally found a chance to snag Zach away from the prying ears of the competition range and told him that I had an article that I thought he would like.  I gave him a quick summary and he gave me his email address.  As soon as I got back to the hotel, my computer was out, turned on, and the email was sent.  Now four people outside of my family had my article.  Zach was the first one outside of PSC to lay eyes on it.  This was a risk, and I was nervous about it, but I was also excited.

If my idea was leaked before the rest of the community was ready to see it or before it was worded and formed just right, my idea could be buried before it even had a chance to make roots.  It felt like I was holding my breath for the rest of the afternoon.  There was absolute silence from Zach.  No texts.  No emails.  Nothing.  I began to tell myself that he just hadn't checked his email or that he was preparing for his presentation later that night.  None of my self-reassurances could stop the sinking feeling in my stomach as the time came closer to his presentation and there was still no word from him.

Until next time, fly high, stay safe, and have fun!