I just checked and found a definition on GettingAirborne.com of what Pattern Flying is:

"Pattern" is a type of precision aerobatics where a pilot flies his plane through a series of pre-determined maneuvers. The maneuvers must be performed to exacting standards and the plane must stay within an imaginary "box" over the field.

Can anyone send me a link to a webpage that shows a pattern so I can try and practice it (on my sim for now, on a real plane when I get it and am good enough).

Thanks.

Cappaj,

Its great that you are interested in pattern flying!

That however is a ways down the road for you. Pattern planes designed differently than other models to accommodate precision aerobatics. There are several types of pattern being flown today. The AMA Pattern, Senior Pattern, Ballistic Pattern, and IMAC pattern with semi scale aircraft representing the full scale version flying the same maneuvers. It takes a great deal of practice and dedication to be an accomplished pattern flier.

Heres a link to the senior pattern site- www.seniorpattern.com

It will have the information on the maneuvers, their description and the sequences flown. The main difference in AMA and Senior pattern is that the turn around maneuvers are not graded at each end of the sequence.

Senior pattern has aircraft restrictions being airplanes designed and flown before 1976 with stock engines and mufflers. Ballistic pattern includes airplanes from before 1996 with tune pipes and supercharging allowed.

Have fun I hope that you decide to fly pattern once your ready it will make you a better pilot. Someone said this can be compared to ice skating............ "The sport and 3-D fliers are hockey players and the pattern fliers are the figure skaters."

Hope that helps some

Take a look at the Pattern forum here on RCU it has a great deal of information.

NSRCA has the other pattern sequences. No matter what you choose, Senior or NSRCA, start out at the beginning level (Sportsman for NSRCA) and learn each maneuver one at a time, and starting at the beginning.. if it calls to start out with a straight line flight, learn to do that correctly. It's tougher than you think. Then go to the next one.. it used to be a Reverse 1/2 Cuban 8. If so, do it and do it, and do it. Over and over again. Practice it. Then string them together.. straight line into a Reverse 1/2 Cuban 8, and practice that. Then move to the next maneuver, as I said, used to be a Split S. Practice.. and so on.. string it in the first two, practice....

Burn fuel, learn them in sequence. Once you are done, and you've been able to string all maneuvers together, then practice with someone behind you calling out each maneuver as you do them.

If you wish to compete, don't sweat it. Once you learn all maneuvers, go ahead and go to a meet with your plane. You'll be surprized at how well you do if you practice... burn fuel!!! I'm still hearing my instructor/mentor saying to me.. "Ya wanna learn Pattern? Burn fuel!!!"

CGr.

I may be stating the obvious, but here goes...

Also, don't confuse this with "learning to fly the pattern". That refers to the race track like pattern flown around a runway typically before landing. upwind, crosswind, downwind, base

What are a few good planes in G4 to practice pattern flying with?

There is only one in the G3.5 that I know of, but I don't know about the newer version. Expansion pack II has the Great Planes Venus II, which is an outstanding mid level pattern plane. That is, it is not a full 2 meter ship, but an intermediate size. Mine has an OS 1.20 AX on board and flys like it's on rails.

CGr.

Darn, don't have that one. How about a YAK or Extra?

They say the hardest thing about pattern flying is a STRAIGHT line !!! I don't fly pattern but I do play around with it and I can see what they mean, especially when I'm working with someone new at flying. The statement " Burn fuel " is a good one because you never get it just right so you have to just keep trying. Good Luck !!! ENJOY !!! RED

Here's a link to a guy flying pattern and explaining things on a sim:

http://www.nsrca.org/d7/practice.htm

It's true what was said above about flying in a straight line - it's probably the hardest part, and if your lines are not straight and your plane is not level, your maneuvers will look like manures.

To start practicing for pattern, you should start practicing flying in a straight line, a set distance (100m) in front of you, and fly parallel to the landing strip. Do a simple move, like a 1/2 cuban 8, and fly back at the same altitude, the same distance, and just as level.

Thanks for the info and links, Guys,

I don't want to learn pattern for competition, only to be aware of the different patterns at this time- so I can try them on the simulator.

If you can find a Giles, they are an aerobatic plane similar to a pattern ship (i.e. long tail moment, not terribly huge control surfaces). Also an Extra is a good aerobat.

I have no Giles but I do have Extras - 330L, 300S, 330 3D. I looked through the descriptions on the planes in G4 and found one, the Ultra Sport, that says it has exceptional pattern flight characteristics.

Never mind on the Ultra Sport - it flies too sluggishly to me. Oh well, I'm sure it's me, but the 300S seems to be alot better at trying some of the manuevers.

Work with fixed reference points, like bridges, power lines, open soccer goals, light poles, etc. Practice doing consecutive loops and figure 8s, over, through and around this stuff and you will become a Ginzu-Masta Pattern Dude. Don't forget to wear white pants and white loafers, with a "Team XXX" hat on, [it seems to help] .

hey, do you know how to download planes from the swap pages?
I'm sure they have some good pattern planes in there.

There's a pretty good two meter for Realflight 3.5 for free at knifeedge.com

Yes, the Oxai Pinnacle and Chip Hyde Genesis on pages 17 and 18 respectively. [link=http://knifeedge.com/forums/downloads.php?do=cat&id=125&sort=date&desc=1&produ ctfilter=&letter=&page=18]Here[/link]

The Ultrasport that is included with the Basic G3/G3.5 package will make a great model for pattern practice on the Sim as well.

Yeah I'm not sure how accurate the sims are with respect to plane characteristics, but the Ultra Sport is recommended for people who want to experiment with pattern but are not ready for an actual pattern ship.

Might be a nice build for me (kit) this winter! Of course that's if I don't break down and buy a Venus

They're not perfect, but give a fair idea of how things are.

I downloaded the Chip Hyde Genesis F3A Ship From the Knifedge swap pages. It is for G3.5 but it works fine on G4. Alot of the G3.5 planes work fine on G4. Here is the Link for the Genesis:

http://www.knifeedge.com/forums/down...do=file&id=602

Cappa, The Yak, or the extra (not the 3d versions) on low rates will be good for learning the Pattern maneuvers.
The planes should react gently to controls not fast and twitchy. In pattern flying loops and anlges are done very gently
with precision. As CGretired said one of the hardest things to master is the straight line. it requires you to learn to fly
a "wings level" line. starting any maneuver without the wings level will make the plane veer off to the left or right
as soon as elevator is applied. I would reccomend learning to fly a nice straight "wings level" line then build on that
by learning the Half, and half reverse cuban eight. next step is learning to do round loops. then you will learn vertical lines.
after these maneuvers become instinctive and the geometry is easy to reproduce on command, you will be able to fly a
great many pattern maneuvers with ease.

The genesis and pinnacle on G3.5 behave very much like a 2 meter pattern ship, although the low rates on the genesis
should be a little more. but not quite as extreme as the high rates. The pinnacle flys the sportsman and intermediate
sequences well on low rates.

I down loaded these planes for G4...

They fly pretty true to a pattern plane. The better pilots can tell the difference, but for me flying NSRCA Pattern Intermediate Class I'll make the same mistakes with these that I did with my 2M Focus and the same result is represented on the G4 Sim...

LLD

I never got the hang of using SIMs ... they are great for orientation but it never felt the same to me. I am starting out on flying pattern now and I must say its humbling. Flying straight is not easy! Its frustrating. Thanks for the links ... its most useful.

Yep, If I had to attach one word to pattern that would be it... Humbling for sure. When you start it almost feels like you don't even know how to fly. You'll get the hang quick though.

That's how I feel right now, like I don't even know how to fly! Certainly is humbling.