Ken, Anthony,

Thanks for the kind words - heres what you should consider:
1. Box: You NEED a box to practice pattern. From your habitual pilot station, setup some 60 degree lines, even if temorary. Place some poles or flag markers out about 25 meters along these lines and a center marker (or do it at the 150 marker is your club allows). These can be something you take home if you wanted. If you do this, and your centered maneuvers are still rushed, you are simply flying too close.

2. Fixing your Perception: Fly at a baseline height where "level" flight means you can just see the bottom of the outside wing panel. This is much easier to hit consistently than a lower baseline hieght where you only see the wing tip. Maybe 40 meters up for a quick number. Then, fly straight passes. Use the 1/2 reverse cuban 8 for a turnaround manuever. Just before starting the manuever, induce a miniscule wing dip, and then start the manuever. Do this small wing dip both directions. One side will look really BAD, one side will look BETTER. Repeat the BETTER looking angle on the next pass, and make refinements so that when you "pull" the turnaround manuever, you need little to no rudder correction. Repeat this until you can exit one turnaround maneuver, fly the straight line, and start the next turnaround mauever, with little deviation in heading or roll. Bets are that doing this at the baseline height you "see" the bottom of the outside wing will train your vision to que into the true wings level position. Making these adjustments on the turnaround manevuers is good for the visual que, because your eyes can see the wings position better at the ends of the box.
3. Centered loop: With your new found level flight position, try a gentle centered loop. In my opinion, lots of folks do not keep the "outside" wing down. In that, they sort of roll the plane so that the "see" the top of the wings too much, and make up for this with larger amount of rudder input, and the plane heads in after the loop. I think you will be surprised at how much different a loop looks if you keep the outside wing down. Further more, your rudder work through the loop will be cut in 1/2 when you keep the correct wings level position through the backside of the loop. One way to easily determine if your wing are level "through" the loop, is that upon exit, do you need to make an aileron correction? Fact is, if you need an aileron correction at the bottom of the loop, you probably needed it much earlier than you "saw". - learn to NOT need to see the top of the plane as a comforting factor.
4. TOP OF THE BOX: IMHO, flying at the top of the box, wings level, on heading is hard! How many times have you, or at least seen, huge deviations is exits and straight lines. A typical top of the box error I see (and I make), is to head in when going across the top. For instance, 1/2 square loop with 1/2 roll: At the top of this, when pushing the exit radius, make sure the plane does not head in. Typically, I see lots of people (including me) head in and decend. Try to recognize this early. Other than practice, I don't know how to help with this one.

1. Straight flight: keep baseline where you see the bottom of outside wing panel
2. entry radius: work adjusting your wings level position until you can pull into it with little to no rudder.
3. Centered maneuvers: keep outside wing down, resist urge to see top of plane.
4. Anyone else help with the top of the box stuff??????????????
Jim Woodward