Originally Posted by
thermalstudent
Hello
I am generally bored with RC. - The graceful lines, disciplined flying and aesthetic 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.
- 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
You already well ahead of most. The love of a disciplined challenge will take you very far. The desire to put in the effort is truly the elusive quality.
When I was doing a lot of flight training, I would see many students work very hard to solo. Every week at student night, every weekend at the field and lots of questions as they try to learn each of the steps and be able to command the aircraft. Once basic training was completed they were on their own and with no real goal. You would see them less and less and finally they would stop by to tell you about their new hobby.
To me the challenge of pattern keeps me going. The great satisfaction when you find the right trim for an aircraft or that troublesome maneuver finally comes together makes it all worthwhile. If I hadn't found pattern I would have quit this hobby years ago.
How fast you progress is entirely up to you.
The above links to the NSRCA will definitely point you in the right direction. These links are also very useful.
http://www.troybuiltmodels.com/ns/learn/awesomepilot/
http://www.ckaero.net/blog/