Here is a question for all of you instructors! After a student is checked out on his trainer and is gaining confidence in basic aerobatics and capable of precise flying (figure eights, spot landings etc..) and is interested in one day competing in sport aerobatics. What sort of training regime would you suggest. PLEASE don't tell me just go out and have fun!!!! I'm going to do that whether I have a plan or not.

What I am looking for are the building blocks that will allow me to build my confidence and my flying ability in a planned and relatively controlled manner where I will see my progress as the years go on.

I do understand that a local guy is great for that and I am taking all of the local advice to heart. Our club has some great pilots and I am learning a lot from them. BUT we have very few regulars that have ever competed and that's what I am looking for somebody that HAS competed and placed in competition "How did you start and build up your abilities to get to successfully compete??"

If someone can point me towards a training syllabus of sorts that I can use in conjunction with the help of the local instructors that will improve my flying abilities on the plane that I have now (telemaster 40) and the planes I plan to build in the future. So that one day I would have a chance in competition I would appreciate it.

Thanks
B

I am by no means an expert ... I would put myself at about half a season ahead of you.

All I need is motivation and a realistic goal. Fun is my motivation, and my goal is the basic IMAC pattern.

See the following link:
http://www.mini-iac.com/Sequences/2004/Basic_B.pdf

It is the 3004 basic IMAC Sequence ... all pretty standard ... loops, rolls, hammerheads.

Work on each move, then join them together, then make it look good.

gus

I got ahead of myself ... it is the 2003, not the 3004 sequence ;-)

gus

Well, I can tell what not to do. Don't be like me. I know what it takes to be a competitor and I never had the discipline to do it. The best pilots go out and practice one maneuver for flight after flight after flight. By that I don't mean a whole maneuver - I mean one part of a maneuver - like keeping the wings level through a loop or using the rudder in a roll. It's tedious and not a lot of fun, but that's the kind of discipline it takes if you want to compete.

I found it a lot easier to keep smashing my planes and building new ones than to go through all that.

Doing it by yourself may be difficult. Go look for a mentor. If that takes driving an hour to another place, then that is what you have to do.

You will only fly as well as the others around you.

I travel for over an hour to fly with some others to practice pattern. I watch them and they watch me and it helps us all do better.

CafeenMan is heading you in the right direction. You really MUST take each piece and practice it until you can do it precisely, every time, in any conditions (calm to gusty gales).

Start with straight and level flight. It's actually harder than you think to keep the plane straight and level, and the same distance from your edge of the runway consistently. Most people, even on calm days, may be able to keep it at the same altitude, but the natural tendency is to form an arc around yourself. ie. the further to the left or right you go, the closer you get to your side of the runway.

Once you have that down cold, you might try loops. Keep the diameter the same throughout the entire thing, come out the bottom at precisely the same altitude as you started your upline, keep wings level throughout. Points are deducted for visible corrections to level the wings for example.

I know pattern flyers who will spend an entire day working on one maneuver. Then they'll spend the next session incorporating it into one other maneuver with a "turnaround" at each end.

As CafeenMan said, it takes discipline, and LOTS of it.
Dennis-

I'll take what the others said, and embelish a bit.

First a note: When doing any maneuver, Start from straight and level flight, and end with straight and level flight at the exact same altitude you started at.

With that in mind, do these:

3 loops... each perfectly round, each one in the exact same path as the other, with no loss of speed on the up side, and no gain of speed on the down side.

3 rolls gaining or losing no altitude.

Cuban 8

Hammerhead

There are hints on getting started in competition aerobatics on the NSRCA website: www.nsrca.org Also tips on trimming the aircraft for best performance.

NSRCA (National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics) is the special interest group for pattern competitors in the AMA.

The advise to split up the maneuver sequence and practice one at a time is good. You will also want to practice the maneuvers in sequence, and be able to do it consitently before going to a competition.

You need at least 4 people at your practice sessions. Your spotter/caller, You and 2 observers. (these are in order of importance REALLY!)

Your spotter/caller's job is to help you avoid hitting other aircraft, or warn you if a plane is potentially going to hit YOU and to tell you which maneuver is next. He's going to be too busy to judge if your maneuvers are done right.

Your job is to fly the plane safely. If you aren't doing it safely, you aren't doing it right.

The observers are to judge how you perform. The pilot always thinks his loop is round. 99% of loops done by R/C flyers are egg shaped at best.

The most usefull hint I can give for your first competition: Get the plane OUT 250 ft from you. Its a lot further out than you are used to flying. Its out further than the normal downwind traffic pattern leg. This distance gives you space and time to perform the maneuvers. (it is also the distance listed for AMA Pattern competition and too close is a downgrade.) Having judged 4 Pattern contests, I have yet to see a Sportsman (beginning level competitor) that flew more than 180 ft out.

Note that the maneuver sequence changes every 2 years. It will be different next year than it is now.

Wow FHHuber, that gave me something to think about. I thought that one pilot was just "better" than another. I see now it's more like training for the Olympics if you really want to be rated at something. I was watching a guy at our field doing incredible stuff with a big plane. My instructor said he was an IMAC champion, and I'd always have fun watching him fly. I always just thought he was good. I'm really new, and didn't realize the work that man must've done to fly like he does. Thank you sir! - Joe

I would have the beginner just do very simple things like flying a straight line.
You will be supprised in the number of great pilots that can't fly the length of the run way in a straight line. Do a simple loop and make it round. I spent two days doing this before I learned the right throttle managment to make it look round.

Try 45 degree uplines and keep them straight and at 45 degrees.

Just these three things are a good start.

Two days is major league good. It took me a lot longer than that and I still can't do it consistently. I'll always be a way better builder than pilot. In fact, I wish I was part of a builder/pilot team. My building is second to none, but I can't make my planes look good in the air. I'd love to see them flown properly by someone with skill.

Thanks for the compliment.
I started by doing loops towards me and saw that they didn't track well. I learned how to adjust my elevator and manager throttle so that the plane would not roll out and then track straight. Once I could do it cross box, I then tried it in the center box. Looked like an egg on end. SO then I had to practice that as well. With my new engine, I have more power to pull through my mistakes. With my other engine, I had to conserve energy to make sure it was right the first time.

Maybe I am out of line here an correct me if I am wrong but do I understand that you have become profecient on flying a trainer or have you flown anyother type airplanes other than a trainer at this point!

If this is where you are proficient at flying a trainer then I would suggest your starting point to be learning the next step up from a trainer and gain the skills to master the next several phases then seek someone that flys in the arena that you are interested in going.

What type of competition are you interested in learning?

Are their flyers in your area that fly the type of competition that you are interested in?

Moving up to the next level plane is good, but for me I have had a student with an Avistar and a Superstar (with a flat wing) and I had them practice what I stated above until they were proficient. My last student has purchased a new plane and is trying to make the next step, but if you can do loops and 1/2 cubans with a modified trainer, the other planes should be better if not easier to master.
JMHO

go to a contest,better, joint the contest,you'll find your weak and strong points real fast

Thanks for all the input guys. The web links are great and with the help of some other guys I am getting an idea of where I want to go with this.
So far as what I have flown right now I'm just working with a telemaster however. I flew back in the eighties with the SIG products (komander kougar). I was just a kid back then and flying meant just burning around aimlessly really fast and impulsively trying our different manouvers. Of course that resulted in a pile of wood.

I think the advise will get me started in actually learning how to fly well and eventually compete. I think I'll start just fun fly local see how I like it then keep moving up as far as I can.

Thanks again for all the great advice.
B

You have some great IMAC guys in your area.
You may want to go to www.mscprops.com
and send Mike an email. He is one of the goto guys in Canada.