It was so much fun! I've never seen pattern flying before today (precision aerobatics where everyone flies the same routine and gets judged), except one video of a guy on a sim. The masters were so graceful; watching them made me feel like I was soaring through the clouds with the plane or something. OK sounds cooky but it was really spectacular.

I competed in the Sportsmans class and took home a third place plaque. It was humbling though, I definitely received my fair share of zeros for missed or aborted maneuvers.

I learned how to use my rudder inverted which was totally cool. I was thinking about how to do this a week ago and never would have thought I'd actually be using my rudder inverted yet. I'm pretty psyched.

Anyway, just wanted to plug pattern flying and hope some other beginners/new guys take the time to check it out, and even try flying the routine for yourself. You can find it here: http://nsrca.us/