Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

I was wondering what all off you guys that fly real aggresive and know wich way's wich no matter what you're doing do? Do you guys just keep flying honing your skills or do you guys compete, exploding your skills to new levels? Feel free to tell your storys or what skill level your at right now and what you plan on doing next year.

Happy Flyin

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

Practice practice practice.

When you cant fly, get on the simulator.

I have put a training schedule together to improve my skills as I plan to compete next year.

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

I compete in F3A. In my view the skills you learn doing schedules are much more transferrable to 3D than the other way about so most of my time i do F3A.

Angus

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

I was a so so pilot before I got my simulator. After a few weeks of 2 hour day on the sim, I really noticed a difference in my flying as did everyone else in the club. After about a year with the sim, I am alot better that the guys that I though were good before. They dont have a sim. The same manuvers they were doing 2 years ago, they are still doing them. Also IMAC or any othere kinda of sequence flying will make your everyday, bash around, have fun flying look even more impressive because you will tend to fly your manuvers in more of a sequence instead of just all over the place. This makes it look like you are in more control and have planned out your flying.

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

Stick time is the key for me. At the field is of course the best but the sim will keep the rust off. It really boils down to the maneuver becoming natural. If you have to think about it it's to late. It's like when you first learned to fly. Most guys get the AILE back wards when the plane is coming to them. At first you have to remember the old trick off the stick propping the low wing up. After a while it comes naturally to you and your ready to land. Next comes knife edge then inverted flying and so on and so on etc etc etc.....
As far as next year I have hit a wall with the equipment I have. I am going to try and go bigger. I have a 1/4 scale but the wing loading is a little high. I have not decided on the plane yet but that is the next step up the ladder.
I should also say that a SPAD3D helped me more than the SIM. A SPAD3D flys on the prop 90% of the time. These are great for learning rudder and throttle control. Two key things in 3D. I went through a lot of props(one every flight at first) but the hands on time with a SPAD did accelerate my learning curve. Mostly on things like hovering,torque rolling, and harriers. They look like a turd and fly sport like a turd but can't be beat for teaching your left thumb what to do.

David

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

Here is a pic of the SPAD I built for $20. It has an old ST .45 and old standard servos that I would not use on an exspesive airplane.
I built 4 other and gave them to other club members. The first one took me a day the second one took about three hours. Radio and engine install included.

david

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

Hey Angus B, seeing as I just got into this wonderfull hobby I don't know what some of the competition levels are called. I plan on competing next year and I was wondering if you or anyone else could give me a brief summary of the classes low to high?

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

Matt, look over at the pattern section for that info. I agree with Angus, pattern flying makes you a MUCH smoother and better 3D pilot. It doesn't really work the other way around. A good pilot can do both well. Practice is everything, burn fuel. But if you can't fly a straight line and control your plane, you will tear up a LOT of planes trying to learn 3D. My advice would be practice pattern THEN practice 3D and blend the styles.

In the US, the classes are:

Sportsman (entry level)
Intermediate
Advanced
Masters (top class in the AMA)
FAI/F3A (top class in the world)

For more info check out www.nsrca.org you can spend many hours there learning and searching links.

-Mike

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

To be able to know which way is which no matter what we do, it helps to think like an actual pilot inside the aircraft, instead of merely responding to the visual movement of the plane. That way we fly the plane instead of getting flown. Once in a while I lose orientation if it's really far away and doing snaps, but most of the time I know the heading before and during the move. Visual feedback is just a feedback to fine tune the stick movement.

The only part that I had to learn based on primarily visual feedback is hovering w/ the wing bottom facing me. I move the rudder stick in the direction the nose veers toward.

I've been flying mostly pattern maneuver from high school to 2 years ago. Then I started practicing 3D. I too believe that having a firm foundation of smooth flying is key to all other type of flying. It's like having the fundamental classical piano skill, then learning jazz, pop, and other styles are much easier.

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

I'm still a new learning flyer but i'm now trying the system where I try to transpose myself like im in the plane at the controls, Ie you need to see through the winshield of thge plane mentally and its easier to work the controls, but if confused at time quick tricks like is plane coming towards you moveing the stick to the same side as the dipping wing will level the plane, not sure what will work for me when I try to hover.

I also try to repeat say loops rolls ect over and over to get mucle memory and learn the best throttle managment ect ect.

Good luck, Dennis

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

I can't begin to imagine myself in the plane. After a lot of practice your thumbs just know which way to go. Remember the first time you flew and the plane was coming at you? Which way do I move the stick? Now it just happens for you. Hovering is the same, after a lot of practice the thumbs just know what to do and you don't even have to think about it ;)

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

i dont know about you guys but i wouldnt want to be in my plane because i would be dead of fright by now. just practice and you will get better and stay out of that plane!!!!!

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

WOW!!! Thanks a lot guys this place is awsome!!! I've found that I truely love flying 3d manuvers.

Just a few months ago I inherited a laser do to a crash and at the time I was flying a ucd. All I could do with the ucd was the basics of 3d. I realized that I wasn't going anywhere so me and me grandpa fixed up the laser and put a ST G2300 in it. After flying it for a while I realized I wasn't flying it (atleast my thumbs weren't). Everything I did in the air with the laser I visualized it, I didn't even take into consideration that I had a Tx in my hands. All I was doing were simple rolls and loops. Then I started mixing and realized that this was probably the way to go.

It changed my 3d flying dramatically. I was able to control my hovers and start flying with everything mixed together. Now that I have practiced this for a while and have run out of 3d menuevers that I know, I have exceeded the limitations on my ucd, so I've started coming up with my own new manuevers for 3d flying.

Now that I have found what I want to do I need an airplane to do it with. I am going to get a WH edge 540t in a few days. This will be my first gasser that I plan on competing with next year. This was one of the reasons that I was wondering if any of you guys compete at the level I am at? I don't know if I'm good enough yet but plan on finding out next year. Plus I'm hurting on money seeing as I am only 15 so I gotta get it right the first time and stay away from that thing we call earth.

Well thats my story. I agree with you guys about flying like you're inside the plane, thats how I always fly. It helps me to visualize what the plane is doing, not what I'm am doing 100 yards away from it. I even practice flying manuveres on aero-fly with my eyes closed and come out clean. It helps me learn the airplane to predict what it'll do no matter what I put it through that way I'll hopefully never have to worry about direction again.

Alright I need to stop talking. Lets hear some of your storys?

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

No more storys?

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

One other thing I hope to do soon is to practice a routine ( Show ) mabey to music that combines manuivers that I'm trying to perfect.

and do these over and over to perfection. Mabey Perfiction in my case :-).

See Yaaa Dennis

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

In the first reply to your post,I read."Practice,Practice,Pratice". I know the feeling of being in a bird ,and it took pratice. God gave us and many of us on this board that wonderfull gift. I only wish I could be in my birds again while I"m flying them .I lost this gift. Maybe I"ll get it back if I Practice,Practice, Practice.

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

The trick to getting good is small steps.. Learning to do small, very specific things by repetition.

THE #1 most overlooked thing is having a really good understanding and sense of feel for rudder control in any and all attitudes going from one to the other in any combination. Just as flying towards you is probably 2nd nature without even thinking about it, so should be flying uplines, down lines, wheels to you, canopy to you, inverted, upright whatever. If you can control yaw with the airplane in any attitude you will be miles ahead.

Also learn the tricks. Tricks like while inverted to correct heading with rudder imagine your rudder thumb on the inboard wingtip, push the wingtip forward or back to steer the plane. Its a temporary thing, once your brain catches on it becomes automatic and you dont even think about it anymore.

Learn to do the basics really well.

1. Learn to fly stright and level inverted and upright. Fly from one end of the field at the EXACT same altitude and EXACT same distance out back and forth back and forth. Use the rudder to control distance out and dont show jumpy corrections. Burn a couple of gallons doing this... Start 100' out and 50' high, not 120' out and 55' high not up and down,,,, establish a flight path and be exact until you can put the plane whereever you want and keep it there..

2. Learn to do 2 rolls then 3 then 4 then 5, 6,7,8 using elevator only,,, rolling constantly and using the elevator (timining is the key) to maintain altitude and heading while constantly rolling. Dont try 3 until you can do 2 perfectly. and so on... Once you can roll from one end of the sky to the other move on to sloooooow rolls. Have to mix out the bad tendencies of coupling now. Burn at least 1 if not 2 gallons before moving on...

3. Start on one end of the field and slowly start to roll the plane right. As the plane heads towards knife edge begin inputting opposite rudder to maintain heading. As you pass through KE begin letting off opposite rudder and easing in down elevator to maintain level flight. As you pass through inverted start letting the elevator come back to neutral and easing in rudder in the same direction as ailerons, right in this case. As you come though KE and back towards upright ease out of the rudder, dont get anxious, just let it ease back to upright and fly out straight and level. Try to make it as looooooong as possible. Burn at least 2 gallons of fuel doing nothing but this.

4. Once you can do loong straight slow rolls, then start learning to do multiple slow rolls in sequence, two in a row is TOUGH to do correctly. If you can learn to do 2 or 3 non stop continuouse slow rolls in 1 pass you can do anything. It takes a lot of concentrations. Doing this is what won Chris WHite the national title in Intermediate Pattern this year at the NATS. everone else just jammed the sticks over and did two rolls. He did his from one end of the box to the other, very impressive.


And Thats just rolls. Then there are snaps and spins(controlled spins that is). Im telling you, you learn the rudder backwards and forwards 3D wont seem nearly as tough and your manuevers will look 1000000000000000000000000000 times better.

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

Just like everyone else said, practice... stick time... and a cheap plane to mess with.

I have competed in IMAC and FreeStyle contests for the past 6 years and now am in the Unlimited class. I love it, but i can only do the things i can because of practice, stick time, and a cheap plane to mess with..

good luck

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

Hey hover master. How do you like competing and what are some of the sequences that you do? I plan on competing next year and was wondering what I'm getting myself into. Happy Holidays

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

Well, i love the IMAC stuff. its a lot of fun , the people are awesome, and you learn a LOT.. every time i go to a contest i learn something from somebody.

Like i said i will be flying in the Unlimited class this year... you can check it out on www.mini-iac.com and on the left side there is a down arrow under "2005 Sequences" and you can look at all of them there...

Chris

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

Do you know what day the freestyle will be held on for muncie IN? I've been searching all over and can't seem to find it.

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

No, i really dont, sorry.

The Free style is usually held on sat. if the contest is just two days. but every contest is a little different.

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

It runs Tuesday thru Friday July 4-July 8. I think the pilots meeting is on Monday. I think this is how it goes.

RE: Simple skill question for the aggresor?
 

Any ideas on to which day the freestyle is?