with two IMAC contest within 70 miles this summer I was thinking about flying at them for the first time this year,

1- doese it matter what way you roll in the basic ? to the left or right?

2- what should I expect at my first contest? I am running a 3W 140 , out of the box. will I have a good time or will it me a head eak with tons of rulles that I am not ready for ? I love to fly btu really dont have the plane tweaked out with all the High tec mufflers and stuff like that. thats why I am goign to try basic to get my feet wet and see what its like . any help would be great ,

thank you

jason

Hey Jason.

1) The roll direction in Basic doesn't matter.

2) Recommend going to the IMAC website and looking at the rules so you aren't surprised. This is a competition and as such, knowing the rules only adds to your benefit. It also helps to show up on Fri to get used to the field (if you aren't already) but also to watch the other guys, ask questions and ask someone to watch your flight to comment. It is very easy to perfect mistakes not realizing they are there until someone else points them out.

All the fancy stuff isn't required. Fly that pretty yellow plane. Concentrate on wings level at all times, flying straight regardless of wind and the symmetry of the manuevers. Watch the other pilots.

Lastly, have fun. Don't expect to win or even place highly in the first couple contests. If you do great, but have fun more than anything else!!!! Meet the other pilots and make friends also!!!!

Ed

Try not to get too comfortable rolling one direction. As you move up in classes or even in Basic when the wind is strong.........you will need to be able to roll both directions. It all depends.

But bottom line is have fun

We are having a Introduction to IMAC Seminar in Danville, IN on Saturday, March 29th. Mike McConnville, Wayne Geffon, Will Berninger and others will be there to answer all questions about getting started in IMAC. We are concentrating on new guys and the Basic Class. Go to the IMAC website for details and a flyer(www.mini-iac.com). Bring your airplane. Weather permitting we will have Mike, Wayne and others help with learning how to fly the Basic Sequence.

Jason
I competed in my first conterst last weekend, here are my thoughts...

1. try to take a caller with you who you know and will call exactly as you agree. the volunteer caller that I used tried to tell me how to do every thing and all the talking just screwed me up. I really appreciate that everyone is willing to help, but you need to concentrate on what you are doing not trying to listen to what someone is telling you about every little thing you probably know anyway. I just wanted him to say one word, what the next manuver is. Sorry, I rambled...

2. I thought my knees would be knocking, that didn't happen, once my plane left the groung everything else just faded away.

3. Make sure you take a comfortable chair with you, you do a lot of waiting in those two days.

4. volunteer to scribe, you can watch how smooth some guys are and you can learn a lot from that.

5. Pay close attention to the wind, I never practiced in a crosswind, and it blew me off track several times. If there is a crosswind hold in a little rudder while the plane is upright to hold the line. Inverted rudder is too confusing until you can practice using it.

6. flirt a little with the lady cooking lunch, she has a nice smile.

6. Above all, you will get to know some really nice people, and have fun.

Even if you come in last the experience you will gain and the people you will meet will be well worth getting involved.

Glad to hear you are going to give IMAC a try. I have been flying for over 30 yrs and learned more about my aircraft, flying, trimming etc in the last 2yrs since i started flying IMAC. You will meet people willing to help you at every turn. When you get a chance make the effort to attend a flying & judgeing seminar, its invaluable information. The thing to rember at your first event is to relax and have fun, nobody is expecting anything more. Dont worry about trying to rember the complete sequence, just know how to fly each one the best you can, your caller will call the sequence out to you in the correct order. I usually end up with several different callers at an event due to scheduleing. Someone will call for you. Have fun and good luck.......Gene

One thing to keep in mind is that when you ask a question, and sometimes when you don't ask, you will get lots of different opinions. Be careful who you listen to. I've never had the pleasure of so much bad advice, wrong answers and inconsistent thoughts in my whole life until I started flying IMAC.

Jason,

Welcome to the North Central!!!

You've received some excellent advice here.

Before you go:
Burn as much gas as you can flying....learn your airplane inside and out. Practice flying SMOOTH!! Fly straight lines...horizontal, vertical (up AND down!), 45 degree lines (it's steeper than you think!). Try to fly at a constant speed.
Fly as much as you can in cross winds and in wind in general. It will usually take quite a bit of wind to make most of the guys decide not to fly!!
Get used to flying with another plane in the air....you will have two flight lines going at once 99% of the time.
practice, practice, PRACTICE! (I should talk!! sheesh!)

What you should expect when you get there:
Expect to sit around alot waiting to fly depending on the turnout for the contest. Use this time to get to know some of the folks from around the region. You aren't gonna find a better group! Ask alot of questions. Check out the various setups.
Try to arrive early so you have time to go over your equipment. You won't be able to make a test flight once the comp. flying starts, so have everything ready to go. When it's almost your turn to fly, have your plane, radio, frequency pin, etc with you at the flight line. (Don't forget your caller!) When you are ready to start....take your time, relax....remember to breath. If you've never flown in front of judges it can be a bit daunting at first.
After you land, if the judges have time, ask them where you need the most work. Usually they are happy to give pointers.

Don't be in too much of a rush to leave on Saturday afternoon. There are usually guys who stay around and fly and have a good time late into the evening. Others make dinner plans at one of the local restaraunts.
On Sunday...you'll normally get in one or two more rounds and then call it a weekend!

Above all.....HAVE FUN!! It is still a hobby!

If you can, try to make it over to Danville, IN next weekend.....It looks like a good portion of the North Central guys are gonna be there.

Hope to see ya around the NC this season!

Gary H.
Rantoul, Il
NCFR!!

Of course the same could be said for the internet in general.


My thoughts......never take advice from someone you are consistently beating.

Jason, Where is McLeansboro? How for from Monticello or Champaign?

it is about 30 miles east of Mt Vernon Il . 64 & 57 meet .

Gotcha, pretty far south of here. If you'll be at Toledo stop by and sa hi. If not, we can touch base afterward. Maybe you can come up and fly with us.

Sam, I agree with that. I have also tried to offer advice to people at my field, about various things , not just IMAC stuff, but I wait until they ask or I notice they are struggling. What is a real turn off is when someone asks for my advice and doesn't heed it. I can understand if they don't agree with how I suggest to do a hammerhead, or other maneuver (understandably, as this is my first year ever venturing into any kind of precision aerobatic competition). But if I see they have left thrust instead of right thrust, or elevator halves that have noticeably different throws (you know - basic stuff that we all know is not right), or their plane won't roll axially to save it's own life - and I point it out and suggest that they fix that before worrying about doing the perfect loop and they come back the next weekend and haven't done it, then offering any advice to them about flying that plane straight is a complete waste of my time, you know?

Interesting post Bodywerks...

I'm hoping to fly some contest in IMAC this year in NC. A few years back at my local field I was asked about why this guys plane doesn't fly straight. A friend of mine and I started to look it over. He had left and up thrust to start off with. As soon as we started talking about it this guy got pretty pissed and said, I'm not QQ and trimming a plane isn't necessary if you know how to fly it. We kinda stopped there...

A couple of weeks later I was at the field with my 2M pattern plane. I offered to let him fly it. I took off and handed him the transmitter, he was in awe. I didn't pay attention to time and finally told him I should probably land it. Well as soon as he handed me the transmitter it ran out of fuel. No problem, needed the dead stick practice anyway.

His plane was fixed the next time we were at the field and we could see him spending time trimming his plane. Was a bit frusterating at first, but letting him have stick time on a well trimmed plane gave him a new appreciation for trimming and flying...

FWIW...I'm not a top flyer, my goal at a contest is to finish in the top 5 out of 5...LOL

LLD