[link=http://What is pattern flying]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3766720/tm.htm[/link]

Pattern and 3D are different but to do either well requires a tremendous amount of skill, practice and some natural ability. I fly both and find that they really compliment one another from a skills perspective. You learn about everything related to building, setup and control with both.. But if I had to single out one thing it would be how to fly with the rudder. Both force you to use the rudder constantly. There is seldom a moment when you are not on the rudder for one reason or another when doing pattern, 3D or IMAC. IMAC is the scale plane equal to pattern. The planes are larger and are scale replicas of an aerobatic plane. Pattern requires the plane will fit inside of a 2x2 meter box and weigh less than 5KG or roughly 11 pounds. The planes have evolved into sleek, powerful and graceful beauties.

Pattern is several things.
1st off its fun.
2nd, its about being graceful and precise and in control at all times.
You achieve grace and precision by honing your flying skills through TONS of practice and learning how to put your airplane exactly where you want it to be, and you control exactly how it gets there. Its about control. You learn how to make straight lines and symmetrical geometic figures and you put them exactly where you want them in space. If you work hard enough you will be able to make a square loop square, a round loop round, a 45 degree line right at 45 degrees. You learn about radius management, roll rates, and generally it will improve your skills 1000% even if you never go to a contest. Basically depending on what level you in, its a sequence of 10-20 maneuvers that consist of centered maneuvers that are flown relative to the center, right in front of the pilot. Before and after a centered maneuver you perform a turnaround maneuver at the end of the "box". Its sortof like flying in a 3 dimensional skateboard bowl.

3D is about fun[8D], control and adrenaline [>:] . If done correctly its about truly mastering control of an airplane so that you can do just about anything you want without crashing. There is flip flopping around,, and then there is 3D. To do 3D with grace and control is about as elegant as it gets, but it takes a ton of practice and you really have to know how to properly setup an airplane to make it do what you want it to do. As has been said most of the manuevers rely on a well setup plane, bigtime surface deflection, a somewhat aft CG and POWER. You spend most of the flight in a stalled condition and you need the engine to be there when you need power. The beautiful thing is, the better you get at 3D, the less you get into awkward positions that require tons of power to get you out of trouble. A really good 3D pilot can perform most of the maneuvers including hovering without a radically setup plane. But that person is also not making mistakes that require big power and big throws to correct or get out of trouble.


Here is a pic of a pattern and an IMAC/3D plane.