Is a caller allowed to coach you during a contest?
JLK

Must be OK because everybody does it, me included.

tommy s

Yes.....

Yup

Just make sure that the pilot WANTS to be coached. Some do, some don't. I dont mind subtle comments about getting too close on the box ends and stuff.

AND make sure that you bring the right call sheet with you.
I was calling for Don Ramsey a month or so ago and accidentally brought the advanced call sheet to the line for a Masters pilot. Fortunatly I knew the Masters pattern so I was able to handle it just fine. If you do forget the call sheet and know the sequence do NOT tell the pilot,,,, I told him I had the wrog sheet just as he was completing his takeoff. Needless to say I think it freaked him out a little and although he did what I said to do, he was distracted by concerns about whether or not I really was calling the right sequence. Overall he flew well and it turned out fine. We laughed about it after. One of those memories I will always have to laugh about.

At one time,here in the UK, it was compulsory to have to move up a class if you got two promotion scores (60% of that possible) in a season.
One old boy,very comfortable in your equivalent of advanced, became a past master at just doing not quite well enough'to avoid the promotion he didn't want.
Then,to his horror, due to an inexperienced judge, he accidentally got a second promotion score.
We all watched with interest when he started his first flight at what would now be called FAI, complete with a rather fast model and his usual, long standing caller.

The flight was unusual, erratic, and more exciting than usual to say the least, accompanied by pilot/caller comments such as
"WHAT!" "ARE YOU SURE?", "THAT'S NOT IT", and finally, from the caller, "WELL THAT'S WHAT IT SAYS HERE!"

It turned out that the caller was reading from the FAI schedule of the previous year,and the pilot had practised the new,correct,one.

I'd like a caller that tells me what I want to know

not what I don't need to know

Sounds like you need to brief your caller in advance so that they know what you want.

Just out of curiosity, what is it that you "dont need to know"?[8D]

My problem lies in the fact that at my field, I don't have a dedicated caller, so each time it tends to be someone different.

Now, usually the known sequence, is known, and all I need is a quick breifing to remind me of whats coming next.

Quite often if I've got someone that isn't used to calling they'll start to reel off the entire sequence.

For instance. the next maneuvre is an end maneuvre, and a humpty bump with a quarter roll on the up push over the top and a 3/4 snap on the down, to exit half height. That's what I want to hear, and at the right time too.

So I'd like to hear, "humpty bump with a 1/4 left roll up, and push over the top." *enter maneuvre and get to the top* " 3/4 left snap exit half height" complete maneuvre.

What I usually get is whats on the card.

"Humpty bump with 90Ëš roll on the upline push over the top with 3/4 positive snap on the down line exit upright" by the time they've finished the sentence I'm halfway through the maneuvre and have to remember whats in it.

I like my brain power to be used on executing maneuvres, not thinking about how i'm going to complete the thing becuase I got the info when I didn't need all of it straight away.

Does that make sense?

On the basis that I know the schedule, I tend to tune out the manouver call, unless I need the reminder. I'm far more keen on hearing the count down to centre as I approach it each time, that helps me more (plus warnings if I'm getting nearer the ends).

In terms of coaching I have found you need both a caller and a coach. The caller takes their eye off your plane for significant parts of the flight, and is concentrating on what is happening. The coach is separate from that and can concentrate on the flying. You don't need much of this to get an improvement