RE: 2007 Knowns
First, thanks to all who have responded personally and in public to my question on this list and others. It was very surprising and gratifying on how positive those notes have been.
I will attempt to answer some of the questions posed, and also give some tips based my flying these sequences.
Basic:
There is a very small pallet of figures to choose from for this class, plus as a sequence designer for this class safety and the pilot’s ability easily string the figures together is the key for this class. In Basic, we as a committee last year decided that for Basic it was
important and beneficial to have the roll as the first figure and a 1-1/2
pos spin as the last figure of the sequence. We have observed over the years
that for most new Basic pilots when the roll was mid-sequence they tended to
get rushed and sometimes risky trying to get that roll between two figures.
Having it as the first figure the pilot has time to get himself ready for
the figure. As for using a 1-1/2 spin at the end, again for safety, they
don't need to be as high as for a two turn spin, and if they dead stick they
are headed downwind and should be able to make the 180 turn to final into
the wind. If you dead stick a two turn spin, you either have to make two
180's to get into the wind, or make a downwind landing. So with those two
above criteria, and the limited figures you can use for Basic, the sequences
tend to be similar.
Sportsman:
Much has been mentioned about entry altitude and placement of figure one the Goldfish from the top. First if flying the B sequence (left to right) come into the box at a reasonable height and wait until reach center box before you start this figure, and stay off the power. You do not need speed or much altitude to start this figure, with a simple push to a 45 downline, the speed you need for the snap will come quickly, just center it on the 45 line. A point to remember is that the radii for the entry, ¾ loop and exit should all be the same, but the length of the 45 lines can be different. So use this to your advantage setting up for figure two-three combo. If you place everything right with a short 45 downline the exit will be at center box and with some altitude to help with the next two figures.
For figure two the Half Outside Loop with the 2 of 4 entry, start this just left of center and if you placed figure one correctly, do the 2 of 4 and than push for the half outside loop giving you enough altitude for what would normally be just a 1-1/2 spin, don’t worry about the teardrop part of the figure because this no different than a normal exit except just keep pulling on the exit and add power as you reach the bottom of the 5/8 loop. Again the length of the 45 upline is not a criterion, just draw a 45, do a half roll and draw the same length 45 line after the half roll.
Again for figure four the Vertical Downline with the half roll, get off the power, almost like you are going into a spin, then push to the vertical down line, of course half way down, do the ½ roll.
Use figure six the cross-box Humpty to adjust your Y axis placement, as in most cases we all need this because most of us are less than perfect in our wind correction. So learn this both bringing it in and flying it out.
The rest of the figures you all should be able to figure there placement out, but a word to the wise, don’t over look the last figure, the 180 degree Aerobatic Turn. This is an important figure in learning future aerobatic figures. Remember, first roll to a bank of 60 to 90 degrees, then pull the radius, establish 180 heading then using the same roll rate, roll back to level flight.
I have flow this sequence many times along with a Basic pilot who is thinking about moving up and it flows well and can comfortably flown with a small footprint.
Intermediate:
One of the key goals of the committee this year was to place the 90 roller as best we could mid-sequence. Reason for this is that with past year’s end of sequence roller, it became a “throw-away” figure, and no one seemed to practice it or performed it well. So if we could place it mid-sequence, it would become more import to learn, and would help the pilot in the long run, this is a difficult task as flow and footprint become an issue. Our solution was best demonstrated with the 4-7 figure combo of this sequence.
Now here is good way to set your self up for this figure combo. The key is to fly a bit past center before you start the 135 pull for figure four (the “Z”), place it so the exit at the top is also past center. Now draw a line before you set up for the spin towards the end of the box, remember this distance will place the Hammer and the 90 degree roller. After the cross-box spin, draw a line deep enough for the roller coming back, yet not to deep so you can still fly the nothing up Hammer. After the Hammer, start your 90 degree roller and if your placement was good you should be able the fly the Y correcting Humpty (fig. 8) center box. Of course, you can start the whole sequence at the back of the box and end up flying the roller outbound, but I think most will find it better to learn to fly it in-bound. And again this will greatly help when it becomes time to move up in class.
Advanced:
This is my class and I have flown this sequence more then any other, my biggest tip here has to do with figure 4 the cross-box Humpty leading into the 270 roller. Again using the B sequence, flying left to right, fly past center before you pull for the Humpty. Plan it so that the vertical downline with the cross-box exit is also still just a bit right of center. If you do this, the exit of the roller will give you room to center figure 6 (the figure “9”). With this placement, the rest of the sequence will flow and place nicely.
Unlimited:
Believe me, I’m not an Unlimited pilot, but have flown this sequence, not well mind you, but I have seen “real” Unlimited pilots fly the sequence. It does present well and I think it would be best to let some them give you all tips in flying this sequence best.
Hope this helps,
Tom Wheeler
IMAC Sequence Member