Yes I believe that in 2005 or close to then that change was made. IMAC realized that pilot perspectives were different enough to require the change.

According to the rulebook you would be correct except that your examples show correction on vertical lines. With more experience or maybe even some recent experience you would know that just following the rulebook and being technically correct is not going to win you any contests. There has to be some showmanship in there with your flight. Let me throw a couple scenarios out there.


Your flight, Lets just fly through a Humpty Bump. Mostly technically correct and as I understand the way you have described how you would handle a cross wind is to slightly roll before a vertical line is pulled. First off this is a downgrade as the IMAC rulebook does state that roll being used to compensate for cross winds is a downgrade, I did not have a copy of the pattern judges guide handy last nite so was unable to check. Then you would have a very pronounced crab angle on the way up that should be corrected before you pull or push over the top because if you don't your wings will not be level over the top and that is where it will be most noticeable. Maybe you work that roll into the pull, I don't know that for sure. Over the top you go, rudder in your crab angle to hold a straight down line. Judges are going to see that initial yaw and although technically not a downgrade it is noticed. Then if you don't rudder to remove that crab angle you will exit the maneuver with one wing low and that would be a downgrade.

Now when I fly the same maneuver I am holding just a slight breath of rudder in horizontal flight to keep what would appear to the judges a straight line. I enter the pull with no real noticeable yaw or roll. On the vertical I am holding the same small amount of rudder so the judges don't see me establish a crab angle. There was no rolling prior to the entry so no downgrade there. Wings would be level as I go over the top as I would be easing off that rudder and ease in just a tad of opposite to point the nose to match the flightpath as I went over the top. Yes there would be a slight amount of drift but because the airplane is doing this smoothly with small control inputs that are applied smoothly it's almost impossible for the judges to see.On the down line I would again apply the rudder into the wind to stop the drift, not correct the drift and get back on the same line as I came up and in reality I have drifted in or out depending on cross wind direction but it's very difficult for the judges to see that small amount of drift from several hundred feet away. Then on my pull out I would be wings level and nose pointing parallel to the runway. I would start easing into the small amount of rudder again but by this time the maneuver is finished and the judges are either writing the score down or have verbally communicated the score to the scribe. Either way his attention is not 100% on the airplane and when it is I am in position for the next maneuver. In my verticals I also did not establish enough crab angle to 100% counter the cross wind and did let the airplane drift some but that drift is very difficult to see, I made up for that drift on the horizontal flight between maneuvers where it is less noticeable and not scored. However it is done smoothly and with grace as it is part of the " Show ". The reason this is done is to try to convince the judges that the wind is having a lesser effect on my airplane then it does yours.

The other thing to remember is that if you can fly as if the wind has a lesser effect it will greatly help on those occasions when there is a slight breeze at ground level but is blowing much harder a few hundred feet up. The judges only feel that slight breeze of lets say 5 mph but you are wind correcting for the actual 15 mph wind that you are flying in then from their perspective you are over correcting. Our competitions are judged by human beings. We train them as best as we can, hold judging seminars and such but they are still humans. You can't remove that aspect so you need to learn to turn it into an advantage. Give the judges what they " Think " they want to see. In my years flying IMAC I have protested scores twice siting the rulebook. Although what I did in my flight was technically correct, waving the rulebook helped me none at all.

BTW starting out a post with " Your wrong " or " That's Just not right " type statements is rude. I doubt you would walk into a live conversation like that.