Gotta_Fly

My Feedback: (2)

Hey Fellows

How it going, Listen here's the deal, I'm a giant scale 3D pilot and have been for the past 1 1/2 years and I must say I'm having a blast, but here in the past 4 or 5 months I couldn't figure out to save my life what I was missing in my flying ability's I mean I'm very blessed when it comes to my job I get to work when I want to and I fly about 2 to 3 hours a day, And please I'm not trying to blow smoke up my on butt but I have several well done 4 minute routines that I have, and my free style work is very good, But there is still something missing. I have my friends video tape me for hours and when I look back to critic myself I go out of my way to show no Mercy because I don't think judges are in the mercy business but anyway I break everything down piece by piece and everything to me is just very sloppy well I don't know if I would use the word sloppy lets just say my transactions are not smooth but when its at normal speed it looks fine or if someone who hasn't been flying long it looks fine to them, but to a judge or any other good pilot they would just eat me alive with technicality's.
The planes Iv been flying are my H9 33% Sukhoi, My Extra 330s, My 35% Carden and my sweet flying H9 Cap, I would say 75% of my flying is with the Carden, But one of my goals in the near near future is to compete in as many IMAC and any other 3D event as I can, My Job has worked out well with me and I'm able to fly as much as I want to but until I figure out what the hell I'm doing wrong I want get anywhere, Now don't get me wrong what I mean is I have a lot of practice time and I spend a lot of time going over just about every maneuver I do in great detail and even though I have some very nice tricks I'm always trying to improve on my entry's and exit's because lets face it if your doing a routine and your starting your entry in the trick/maneuver or what ever you were going to perform and you mess up a little chances are your exit will reflect how your entry started out unless your really concentrating and can get you sh_t back together.
But to get to my point I spent a lot of time in the past 5 months going to over 11 fly inns all over, and my point was not to take my planes and fly at these places but to watch and ask questions, and after writing down so much information from all these great pilots all over the place the one thing that I noticed when I got home after setting down and going over all this information and notes I had written down , what popped out and slapped me across the face was 85% to 90% of those incredible ALL AROUND pilots I had been talking to all had a PATTERN FLYING background, and now that I think about it, it makes so much since to me I mean just imagine being a great over all 3d pilot and on top of that being a great Pattern pilot, If I thought kicking myself in the butt awhile ago would help I would but I guess its never to late to learn, Now I wish I could find a very good one, and knowing me knowing what Iv already been missing I'll find one. But I'll be honest with you at first I really couldn't care abit about pattern flying, But now I have a whole new found respect for these guys.
But anyway about 2 months ago I went out and bought a basic cheap Pattern plane which was a SKYLARK at Hobby-Lobby and put a saito 72 in it, and it flew fine but all it did was make me long for a real pattern plane, So I went ahead and bought a YS DZ 140 engine, and 7, 5945 Hitec servos, and I cant make up my mind which pattern plane would be the best, So all you pattern fliers, please I'm open for all your suggestion and knowledge, But before I go I must say the 3 little months I have been flying my small Pattern plane and just working on my lines and timed 360 degree turns and just your basic stuff, My 3D flying looks more like I'm flying it opposed to 6 people flying the same plane if you know what I mean.
And last my apologizes go out to all the pattern fliers, I remember saying Hundred's of times that this is the dumbest flying I have ever scene in my life why do you guys waste your time, Well I was a fool who happens to love it now, So anyway all your help and info would be great, Take care and I look forward in hearing from you guys...

Randy
p.s I hope you guys don't ask me you need to check around your area for a pattern flier, I have done that and I didn't have any luck at all, in-fact when I started getting into the giant scale birds I had to travel the South Eastern US to find help from so many people

Divesplat

My Feedback: (7)

Have to give you credit for your post. I have flown both IMAC(3rd in the Nats in Advanced) and Pattern(Masters) and can only echo, but differently, what you mentioned above. See my thing at the bottom.

The best IMAC pilots, because the plane should be judged the entire time in the box(including straight and level between manuevers) fly as though they are pattern pilots. They fly big, slow and smooth during the sequence. I had my AW37% Extra set up the same as my Pattern planes with very little throw, just enough to do the snaps with a mid rate switch, and low for everything else, nothing hurky jerky for IMAC and this is what wins.

After going to a number of TOC's and watching the big dog frees, it also is not about snappy stuff. In fact, most of the frees were extremely smooth. CPLR falling leaf, totally in control, Caglias 6" knife edge totally in control, Chips 16 pt rolls straight as an arrow and on line, QQ's blender ending at 5 feet straight into a waterfall at 11 feet with a 9 foot tall plane still in total control, Frazer's high alpha fast rolling circle with a diameter of about 40' in total control. Guess you can see the common thread with all these and also, not to leave anyone out, they all knew exactly where the plane was going to come out and then smoothly move to the next item. Synchronization with the music also means in total control otherwise the synchrony goes out the window.

If you are going with a DZ, the next question is can you build or would you pay to have something built? A 2 meter plane will fly sooo much better than something smaller, but the plane you have now is good to get started.
Aeroslave has several planes, the Aries or the Symphony. I should test fly my Symphony next week.
Russ Honea at Pattern Proz(I think) tulsa OK has a number of options and is trying to get a PL order ready for late fall and the Lazulite or Partner are good planes(Little pricy but good) Think he has an add here abouts somewhere.
PAC has the Panacea and Titan for sale. These are relatively new and current designs.
Piedmont has the focus 2 which is totally arf, and also QQ new design is in the works(can see the description at the website)

Believe all of these can be found at:
[link=http://www.NSRCA.org]www.NSRCA.org[/link]
There is a menu on the left, go to the bottom one and click on the bottom option.

Good luck and hope this helps and encourages you either way. It all is fun and we all are actually trying to fly with control, just different plane, different manuevers and different goals.

ed

flyintexan

My Feedback: (1)

Good luck with your new found love of flying. As for 2M planes, if you don't like building you may want to consider the Impact.

majortom-RCU

My Feedback: (40)

You seem to fly with intense concentration, seem to be motivated and disciplined in your effort to improve. All that's lacking is a little knowledge, experience, being pointed in the right direction. Your best bet is to go to the Sept. 25 pattern district championships--Petersburg, KY--Comair Club field--CD: Bob Pannell--Home Phone: 859-384-7473--Web Site: www.geocities.com/nsrcad4

Walk around the pits, talk to the guys, look at the planes on the ground, watch the planes in the air, keep talking and asking questions. Pattern flyers love to share their knowledge, and they're generally excellent human beings. Nothing beats being there in the midst of the best pattern flyers in your district. Whatever you want to know, they can tell you and show you. You'll probably find someone who lives not far from you who'll be happy to fly with you somewhere. Go to NSRCA.org and download the schedules of maneuvers so you'll know what you're looking at. Check out their links. Subscribe to their e-mail discussion list.

Gotta_Fly

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks so much guys for the great information, I will definitely go to that meeting in Petersburg, KY, it shouldn't be that far away from me, I live in Nashville, TN,,, Thanks again guys


Randy

PepsiMike

Also on the [link]http://nsrca.org[/link] website menu is a list of nsrca districts. I believe Nashville is in district 3 (a big one) and you can get some more info on what is happening in your area - also as suggested above, you can attend contests outside your district as well - especially if they are closer to you.

My airplane suggestion would be the [link]http://piedmontmodels.com[/link] Focus II, it is resonably priced (for pattern) and an excellent flying airplane.

Enjoy the journey!

PepsiMike

Update - the Focus II ARC and ARF appear to be on sale. Worth a look.

Cursor

My Feedback: (17)

Hey, Randy --

You've gotten some very good answers to your post, and I can only echo most of them. I put a couple of decades into Pattern, and wrote the Pattern column for several different mags, including MA, covered a whole bunch of TOCs, and I wouldn't trade that long, sweet trip for anything. For what it's worth, here are a few observations:

People think Pattern is about maneuvers, but it really isn't; it's about LINES. Think straight up, straight down, and especially straight across. The straight and level pass parallel to the flight line is the hardest maneuver in the book. If you don't think so, just ask most pilots to perform one... All lines in Pattern (or IMAC) have an exactly prescribed angle, be it 0, 45, 60, or 90 degrees. Those precise angles and the smooth transitions from one to the other are what seperate the good pilots from the great ones.

You are on the right track with worries about entries and exits. Good manevers come from good entries, and good entries come from good lines. And a good exit line from one maneuver is the good entry line to the next. If you want to know where the judges will really bust your chops, look right there.

All the maneuvers in every sequence (excepting snaps and spins) are assembled from lines (see above) and loops or partial loops. Straight lines, and smooth, equal radii are the ticket. Next to the straight pass, an absolutely smooth, perfectly circular loop is the hardest maneuver to do.

Your airplane doesn't need to be the latest and greatest, but it should be large enough to be smooth and capable (but you know that...). Whatever you get, spend the time and ask the questions to get a proper set up on it. That will reduce your pilot workload, and allow you the "think" time needed in the sequence. You'll never fly your best if you're always in a reactive mode, and just fighting the equipment to stay right side (or bottom side, or side side) up.

Last, if you think 3D stuff is exciting to fly, wait until you put in your first "burner" in front of the judges. You can reach a "zone" in Pattern that is very comparable to what top athletes experience and talk about -- an absolute "in the moment" experience.

If you can't do it in front of the judges, you really haven't learned it yet. That's why contests are important. A weekend at a contest is worth many hours of practice time, because it absolutely forces you to focus.

Pattern is sort of a correspondence course in how to fly properly; the classes are graduated, and each one contains the lessons needed for the next. You get your grades at every contest. Enjoy your time going up the competition ladder; it's an absolute blast.

Good luck!

Rick Allison