Originally Posted by
thermalstudent
Hello
I fly a few foam planes and I am generally bored with RC. but I think I'm having a mid life crisis. Let me explain - I was at an RC show the other day and one of demonstrations was by a world class F3A pilot flying F15 I think. The graceful lines, disciplined flying and esthetic beauty of his demonstration just rocked me! I went home got out a foamy park flyer and tried to replicate some of what I observed at the show - yup this is hard and could take years to get good at this.
So thinking about developing the skills to fly F3A and then competing.
A little about me - I love the discipline and training aspect - regimented behaviors to achieve something - that's me to a T. When I undertake something I have to do it well - I'm generally not interested in being mediocre.
I have time and parks within walking distance to fly small planes (like 1 meter ships) and not far away (20 minuets by car down the road) is a full size flying field and club - I'm not a member yet.
The questions:
A) Is there a training plan that a pilot can follow to develop F3A pattern flying skills?
B) Open ended question - what time, practice or ...... does it take for a pilot to get to competing at a regional level and scoring in the upper half of the pack?
thanks for any replies
./cheers
W
A) First step is to attend a contest, probably as a spectator, and keep your eyes and ears open. From there you would basically learn the rules and the maneuvers and develop your own plan. If you have someone you can meet and fly with who is experienced in precision aerobatics (that is, a coach), you make a training plan together. The basic criteria are simple and if you have the basis of an analytical mind plus mixed with surfing this forum, etc you can come up with your own plan pretty easily.
B) If you're dedicated and have support and fly a lot, you could probably place pretty well at a district championship level in the sportsman class in a couple of seasons. Upper classes take longer, the competition is tougher.
What sparked my interest in pattern were the amazing articles in Flying Models by Dean Pappas. I knew from reading these that pattern would be my niche because of the devotion to the purity of the aerodynamic endeavor it requires. Attending a couple of contests sealed the deal!
Good luck and best wishes, Bill