What is pattern flying? And how are the planes designed differently for it?

"Pattern" flying is one particular type of aerobatic flying. It was originally named that because the competitions were set up so that the flyers in different skill levels all flew the same pattern of maneuvers for their skill level. Originally, the classes were A, B, and C, and eventually D. Classes C and D had novice and expert divisions. Class C was the top level, and D was the FAI or international pattern.

Over the years, the maneuvers have changed greatly, and the classes have been renamed. Of course, the design of the aircraft has also changed, as the types of maneuvers flown and the overall pattern has changed. When you have a competition with fixed parameters, you can expect the designs of the models to change so that the models are best-suited to perform well in that particular type of competition.

You can find more by going to the Pattern forum here on RCU.

Mbilar
Pattern Flying is precision aerobatics. The pilot flies a sequence of predetermined manuevers (determined by the sanctiioning body)
The plane is confined to a box 60 degrees from center to the left and right of the pilot and 60 degrees from ground to ceiling. All maneuvers must be performed inside the box. The farther away you fly the larger the box is. The judging in pattern competition
is done by judging each maneuver seperately with a possible score from 1-10 for each maneuver, takeoff and landing are also judged.
The flight in pattern is always in a straight line with loops rolls and more advanced maneuvers, but never deviates to the left or right.

PLANES
Any plane weighing up to 11lbs fuel or electric. Max wingspan is is 2meters, max fuse length is 2 meters. I don't believe there is an engine limit.

Classes
Sportsman: entry level class judged mostly on plane control and subtle mistakes are expected. almost any plane including a
trainer can complete the sportsman pattern.
Intermediate: Step up from sportsman a few harder maneuvers plane will need more vertical climb, pilot will need aerobatic
type plane.
Advanced: Getting trickier, maeuvers are getting harder and the sequence is longer. now the pilot will most likely want a
pattern plane with unlimited vertical climb.
Masters: Difficulty is increased by 200 above sporstman. almost entirely flown inverted.
FAI: world championship class. The best flying I have seen IMO. incredible control and awesome maneuvers.

For more info on pattern flying please visit this website. http://www.nsrca.org/
included is a picture of a typical pattern plane

So am I to understand it's all about competion? That's cool. Do the maneuvers also include what I've come to understatand as "3D", knife edge, hovering, etc.? The pattern planes seem to look more like my U-control planes from my youth, though I never got much beyond just flying around the circle and the occasional "wingover".

Pattern competition doesn't include a whole lot of "3-D" stuff like hovering, harriers etc. Think big loops that aren't pinched and exit at the exact same altitude that they started at with a roll at the top. Square loops with a half roll on each side and stuff like that. Snap rolls, slow rolls that don't change altitude or veer off course and are perfectly centered and stuff like that. Cuban eights, reverse cuban eights, diamond loops, round loops with a snap roll on top, and much more.
It's sort of like figure skating with RC airplanes and judges rating your flying. You might think of it as the RC version of CL stunt.

Pattern planes are smooth flying go exactly where you point them planes that are designed to make flying the pattern as easy as possible. They are also excellent sport planes by the way and that's what most people use them for.

Knife edge flight is part of pattern. Hovering, flat spins and other high G maneuvers are 3D.

It seems if looking at all the pattern planes they all look alike but it is the sublte differences that make them unique. they are designed to track straight and true in any attitude, upright or inverted, the control surface movements are very small compared to 3d
planes.

Pattern isn't all about competition there are many pilots who use pattern as away to hone their skills without competing. As pattern is a precision form of aerobatics every manuever must be executed perfectly and when done well it is an awe inspiring type of flying to watch. Boring from what some people tell me.

Others have already described pattern flying and pointed you to some good resources like the NSRCA website, so I'll comment on pattern ships in very general terms.

Pattern planes typically feature longer fuselages in proportion to their wingspan than sport or 3D aircraft. They are designed to fly straight in a "hands off, go where you point them" kind of way, and to fly inverted as easily as they fly right side up.

Most pattern planes need to be landed faster than a typical 3D or Sport airframe, but they don't generally exhibit the same same tip stall characteristics that scale aerobatic aircraft or scale warbirds normally do.

Knife edge flight is normally very good with modern pattern airframes, and there are some pattern/3D hybrid airframes available that try to do both kinds of flying well.

The general contradiction between these two flying styles, 3D and pattern, is in the execution of the manuvers. Pattern planes are normally not set up with much throw on the control surfaces. Pattern pilots want nice, smooth, easily controlled manuevering. 3D flying, on the other hand, requires a lot of control throw. 3D pilots need a lot of throw to keep the plane pointed up while hovering, and a lot of the nose-up (high-alpha) manuvers that are done in 3D flying are done at slower speeds.

Basically, if you take a hybrid 3D and pattern airframe and fly it, it will fly pattern well but not 3D if the throws are gentle. If you set the throws up with greater range of movement, then the plane will fly 3D well but probably not pattern, it would become fairly "twitchy" and too easy to overcontrol and fly smoothly.

There is a misconception that pattern style flying is only done competitively, and that you need an expensive, 2-meter composite airframe to do it. General pattern flying is done by a lot of sport pilots who simply want to learn aerobatics and improve the skill and smoothness of their flying. A lot of very popular ARFs and kits make good "pattern trainers":

Goldberg Tiger 2/Tiger 60 ARF or Kit
Tower Hobbies Kaos .40 ARF
Great Planes Venus .40/ Venus II ARF
Phoenix Models SeaBee
World Models Zen/Groovy/Tai Jai/Aeropet/Intruder ARFs in various sizes
CMPro Magpie/Quest/Leo/Swallow ARFs in various sizes
Black Horse Models Bravo 303 MkII/Home Run ARFs
Thunder Tiger Imagine 50 ARF
Sig Kobra/Kougar MKII/King Kobra kits

...and many more.

Pattern flying is more about disciplined, precise, smooth flying than having a particular airplane. It's very graceful and enjoyable to watch.

Some of the 3D/Pattern style airframes that will fly either well depending on overall power/throw setups are:

Great Planes Reactor .50 ARF
Lanier Razor 3D ARF
Model Tech Twister 3D ARF
Hangar 9 Funtana 50/100 ARFs

A few of the scale aerobatic planes can be flown as pattern planes:

Extra 300S (take your pick)
Staudacher 300
Giles 202

Again, the general characteristics are simple smooth, stable flying and throws set in a way that will give good manuverability without a tendancy to snap roll too easily. There's no reason why you couldn't fly pattern with a Bipelane that happens to feature a longer than typical fuselage, the Great Planes Super Skybolt ARF (for example) could be set up to fly the Sportsman's Pattern schedule smoothly and easily.

Hope this explanes a little better just what the heck a "pattern plane" is. Hopefully we'll get some additional thoughts and feedback from others on this topic.

The other type of aerobatic competition is IMAC. This requires planes that are scale models of actual full scale aerobatic planes. A dummy pilot in the cockpit is required by the rules and there is no size limit other than the AMA 50 pound limit for giant scale airplanes. Most pattern planes can not be used in IMAC competition because they are not scale models of full scale aircraft and most IMAC planes are over the pattern 11 pound weight limit.
IMAC planes don't have to be big to be elegable but good luck winning with a .40 size Extra 300.

I own two pattern type aircraft: The Excellerion 90 w/ OS 1.20 AX and the Venus II w/ OS 1.20 AX. Both are set up as pattern (minimum throw to accomplish all maneuvers without radical moves). I have them set up with very low throw angles purposefully. Both planes have the large control surfaces (it seems that a person cannot get a true 90 size pattern plane any more.. they are coming out as capable of both pattern and 3D and there are some of us that want... WANT... a plane that is NOT a 3D plane but a pattern plane).

Aaaaanyway... I'm off my soap box now... ha[sm=wink_smile.gif]

I had originally thought I would fly in the Sportsman category at competition, but time seems to prove as my nemesis. I just don't have the time to practice to become competitive. But, as already said, these planes do fly very well, and very straight. They make an average pilot look good.

And, again, as someone already said, they do land a tad hot, but you get used to that, and just adjust your landing approach accordingly.

I am building a Sig Something Extra now, as a fun-fly plane. I had a Venus 40 (40 size pattern plane) but destroyed that in an accident at the field and upgraded that to the Venus II.

There are specific rules concerning weight and noise. Chris (Overbored) mentioned some of the restrictions, but one biggie is the noise factor. They will dis-allow/disqualify a plane that does not meet the noise limits (at matches, contests, or comptition whatever you care to call them).

Most real serious pilots choose the 2 meter pattern planes because, in pattern, big is good. Visibility as well as the inherent stability in a larger airframe is there. Both of mine are slightly smaller than the 2 meter variety and weigh in at about 9 or so pounds each, and burn about 12 ounces of fuel in a 10 - 12 minute flight, and both will do vertical very nicely.

Hope all this helps.

Oh, one more thing, the NSRCA web site has the flight pattern schedule for all classes. If you've never done Pattern, (which is what this string sounds like), you will start out in the Sportsman category. Get that maneuver schedule and take a close look at it. Each maneuver follows the last (obvoiusly) but for a reason. The previous manuever sets up the one that follows and so on so that all maneuvers follow a 'pattern' and are in a logical sequence. All are doable for a 'beginner' in pattern, but do require the pilot to be proficient in basic flight.

One of the hardest maneuvers, believe it or not, is the straight line, that is, flying from end to end of 'the box' in a straight line without varying speed, altitude, or attitude, and direction. It's tough. Try it. All the other stuff depends on that straight line so you can set up the entry for the whole pattern sequence.

Take-off as well as landing counts for score. So, you have to have a pattern-ish take off as well as a pattern-ish landing that ends up with the plane stopping right smack in front of you.

Yep, it's tough, but the sense of accomplishment and pride comes out when you can complete a near flawless pattern sequence. And, it looks very nice. What I hear most of all, though, is that pattern pilots become better pilots because they become very disciplined. Not that 3D, IMAC, and so on are not, it's just that the discipline required is not that of free-style, but of a specific set of flight maneuvers that must be done in a specific way. It's tough, but very rewarding.

DS.

What a wealth of information! Thanks to all. I'm just a beginner still trying to get basic flying skills on a trainer but I find it all very interesting. As I said it does remind me of CL stunt from my youth.

Here is your .90 size pattern ship:

http://www.piedmontmodels.com/News.html (scroll down to 1/24/2007, they are taking preorders for delivery in april)

01.24.2007 >> Introducing the Focus Sport

Piedmont Models is proud to introduce the new Focus Sport, the latest in our line of pattern aircraft. The Focus Sport is a totally new design that draws its heritage from the Focus I and II designs that have enjoyed a proven record of success at all levels of competition.

The Focus Sport is a .90-1.10 size aircraft; designed to provide an entry level competition aircraft that has the flight capabilities of a true precision aerobatic aircraft with the benefit of simple to understand and maintain airframe. It is designed to use any .90-1.10 size two or four stroke engine with a muffler. The two-piece wing with wing adjusters provides the same adjustability as its larger siblings, making it a great learning tool for new pattern flyers learning the art of aircraft trimming.

The Focus Sport uses tried and true construction techniques that yields a light, yet rugged structure designed to withstand the rigors of many hours of flying and the occasional mishap. The fuselage is constructed from balsa and plywood and the wings, stab, fin and rudder are of sheeted foam construction. The ARF version is covered with an attractive scheme comprising of four colors of Ultracote® film and the fiberglass cowl, canopy hatch, and wheel pants are pre painted to match. The large canopy hatch provides easy access to the tank and radio installation and features a one-piece molded fiberglass bubble with a pre-mounted lite ply frame. The cowl is also of fiberglass construction and features a preinstalled lite ply ring for mounting.
Included in the kit are landing gear, wheel pants, wheels, tail wheel assembly, wing tube, wing adjusters, and assorted hardware. In addition, spare parts are also available.

Specifications

Wing span - 66 in.

Wing area - 780 sq in.

Fuse length - 72 in
Weight - 7¾-8½ lbs

Engine -

75 - 100 2stroke,
91 - 110 4stroke

I am a newbie as well and am somewhat interested in pattern. The following statement is one made to me by a friend and made a lot of sense to me.

PATTERN FLYING IS..."FLYING WITH A PURPOSE"

He said it is not reacting to what the plane is doing but having the plane do what YOU want it to do.

This is advise that I appreciated and will use in my process of learning.

Best of luck

Del