ORIGINAL: DMichael
Good explanation- followup question. I have flown the current Advanced sequence which has, maneuver #7: Immelman followed by, #8, an 8-sided outside loop from top. I don't fly in contests often enough to be sure- can you confirm my interpretation that:
#7, Immelman- judging of this maneuver ends after the roll when plan is wings level.
The line between #7 and #8 is judged
#8, eight sided loop- while technically the manuever may start with the first 1/8 loop- in fact, any errors in the line between the end of the immelman and the start of the 8 sided loop would be applied to the following manuever, in this case the 8 sided loop.
So- if I'm right, the beginning of judging of the loop starts at the end of the preceding maneuver.
Thanks-
To answer your questions...
1. The Immelman is complete after a straight and level horizontal line is flown after the 1/2 roll is complete.
2. The line between maneuvers should be judged as it essentially encompasses two distinct things - the straight and level flight line that all maneuvers should have on exit, and the straight and level flight line that all maneuvers need to have at the beginning. Since we don't have a defined length for this line, one could argue that they exit line and entry line between maneuvers merge at some point (if the distance between maneuvers is not long). Even if there is a long line between maneuvers it is always a good idea to maintain wings level, straight and level flight between maneuvers as the judges will be watching your plane the entire time (that is a judging requirement).
3. In order to achieve maximum points on a maneuver one should be looking at all criteria of the maneuver - precision, smoothness and gracefulness, positioning (centering), and size/distance - and including all the maneuver elements such as radii, rolls, etc.