Just a general question on how much everybody practices. How often a week, how many flights per session, that sort of thing. Do you spend more time on individual maneuvers and issues with them, or fly the whole routine through more often?

Thanks,
Mark

Well after my last contest, I will practice about once per week and burn about a gallon of fuel for that one day of the week. Come about 1 week before the contest I fly almost everyday up until the first round. I like to fly the whole sequence during my flight, just because thats what im going to be doing in the contest. In my eyes everything is one big manuever and it should all be in one smooth motion. Also this helps keep a balance between the manuevers, you dont what to be good at certain spots of the sequence you want to be great everywhere.


Chris
Team Black Magic
Team Dragon Fire Customs

I usually fly twice a week . . approx 5 flights per session.

Normally I fly the whole sequence, then go back and practice a couple of "roughies" at the end before landing.

I have just been promoted from Expert to F3A and have only three weeks to learn the F3A Schedule before a major competition, so I will be taking a 50 size Electric plane out as often as I can mid week as well as the 2M plane every weekend (as usual).

The F3A P-07 has about 5 maneuovers that vary slightly from the Expert schedule. I plan to practice these in a concentrated fashion to lift the standard to the others, with the full schedule flown in between.

When I was learning a completely new schedule, I would simply fly the whole schedule over and over. When I was happy with a "competition standard" of flying, I would then concentrate on the more difficult and higher 'K' factor maneuovers to help maximise my score.

Either way . . just practice as often as you can. BUT don't practice mistakes (a common problem for many).

Cheers, JB

I wouldn't be practicing P07 if I was you - its P09 this year!

Malcolm

Short answer....... Not enough!!

Hahahah . . yep . . I'm slow ! !

P-09 it is . .

JB

I'll chime in and hopefully this will help. After several years of teaching UAV pilots as well as practicing pattern I have learned a couple of things. Also have had this confirmed by several other pattern pilots. First, DO NOT practice more than 4 flights in a session. We found in the UAV training environment that about 40-45 minutes of flight time per session, split into 10 minute groups and the performance started to drop. Think about it, how many times have you gone out and flown all day, and then at the end of the day you arent flying quite as well, so you keep trying and trying. The only thing this does it hurt the progress you made earlier in the day. If you fly in the morning 4 flights, then take a few hour break to let your brain recover then fly again in the evening, this can help, but usually even then you can only do 2 maybe 3 good flights in the evening session. This is purely a concentration thing with how the brain works. There are very few activities that require 100% concentration for 10 minutes like pattern flying does.

Another thing..always practice how you fly. Perform your safe takeoff routine and everything exactly how you would in a contest. Practice doesnt make perfect...perfect practice makes perfect. Practicing one way and flying another does not help.

When learning new maneuvers, always fly the previous maneuver as well as the maneuver afterwards. Learning a new maneuver only to not do it correctly to be set up for the following maneuver doesnt help.

Another important item is there are going to be days when you just don't have it. There will be days when you go to the field and everything you do will be wonderful, and there will be other days that no matter what you do it will be horrible. It is important to remember that when you are having a bad day. Walk away. Your frustration will only teach you bad habits. If you are up in the middle of a practice flight and it is just going horribly wrong, either land, or even circle a few times, take a deep breathe and try it again. If it still is going horrible, sometimes you just have to land and walk away for a few minutes.

These are just a few observations after 10 years of competitive flying, and several years of instructing in the UAV industry. Although the flying is different, the concept is the same, learning new techniques (maneuvers). Try them and let me know what you discover,

Arch

for me.....3-4 month before a competition I would just fly basic geometry shapes like rectangles, square, loop and triangle.....inclusive of number such as figure 9 or 6 and cuban 8........This form of practice I adopt is because of the fact that the whole scheldule is put together by a series of simple forms of geometrical shapes......only about 2 to 3 weeks for about 6 flight a week I will practice the scheldule together.....in fact one important thing i recommend is not to train hard but train smart.......flying the schedule again and again isn't going to work......so train smart......what do i mean by there ? like for example train rectangles flying......or box flying...which mean flying rectangles within the f3a flight box.......in that manevour you will practice a few important things.....

1. Vision ( how to see the aircraft correctly at all angles....)
2. Throttle management
3. Wing levelness control at all part of the rectangles
4. Handle crosswind situations better...
5. Radius training at the corner of the rectangles...aiming for consistent radius at all corners.....

And i seriously agree with what rcpattern says ........ some days are just your days...some days are really not......so don't push yourself too hard if those days are not your days.....very important !!!!


Just keep in mind a simple term......... CONSISTENCY is the word.......... being consistent is very important than anything else......better than you so happen to manage to keep your flight at 150meters or roll nicely than previous....in an F3A flight all it matters so much is consistency......give you an example....look at the previous results of onda, CPLR and somenzini at the WC 07.......both onda and cplr had some good rounds and not so good rounds....but somenzini kept his scores in consistency......get my drift ? correct me if i am wrong....i am open to all comments......


You don't need to practice lots and hard..but you must practice smart......

I have to agree with Arch (I'm sure he just fell out of his chair). I found practice seemed to work best when I would make a couple flights and then take a break for a while (gave me a chance to help some other people out at the field). I'd fly the sequence and if there was something I I need to really work on I would fly the preceeding and following manuever so it would be set up the same as it would as if I were flying the whole sequence.

If there were days or times I saw my performance going down hill I would just walk away from it for the day. This is supposed to be fun so probably best to stop the session before it becomes a negative.

Before my son came along I would get out probably 3 or 4 times a week.

Back when I was seious about it, (Spelled not married with children) I'd fly 5-6 days a week and 4 flights per day. Do the entire pattern just like a contest round.

Now it's whenever I can get to the field.

Now when I get to the field I make the first flight count as if it were the last round and I needed it to win the contest. In the bigger contests you might get two rounds in a day but they're so far apart time wise it's really one flight per day. Someone has to win the first round, might as well be me. On a new pattern or class I'll fly each maneuover untill comfortable with it then put the whole thing together. This is also when I tend to trim the airplane to fit my needs.

Also you need a coach to help you see the mistakes you make rather than ingrain them into your flying. I never practice alone.

Sounds great Arch. I'll take some of that on board, and it reminded me of a couple of other things.

My first flight of the practice day is always a schedule (that's what usually happens at a comp.! Why not practice that way? IMO ).

I have found (also, my opinion) that when learning NEW maneuvers . . before and after maneuvers certainly helps with positioning and flow, but kind of a waste if you can't nail the vertical snap after the stall turn, or smoothly transition the opposite 2 of 4 point roll . . and sometimes doing the maneuver before CAN compromise the maneuver you are trying to learn (Certainly has happened to me).

The reason I usually fly 5 flights is because we occasionally get 5 rounds done on a competition day (lucky aren't we?). Hate my mind to be telling me "whooaa . . I have only practiced 4 ! !" ).

I have found this sport to be not unlike another two I have been competitive in (R/C 1/8th scale circuit cars and Kart Racing - sponsored driver in both). There is a lot of mental conditioning required followed by preparation (both with equipment and physically), testing (read: trimming), quality equipment, and seat time (read: flying time). We need ALL of those things. The BEST Kart racing drivers do a LOT of laps in testing . . and usually on the same day when conditions are the same. They cut laps often within 0.1 (1/10th) of a second lap after lap, even at the end of a long day? Why is this? Because they are mentally (and physically) fit. The actually racing in competition is only a fraction of the time they spend testing (practicing) on a given day.

I think physical fitness is something that may get overlooked in Pattern Flying. No question that physical fitness improves concentration, reflexes and stamina, and I think these things could come in handy in competition (I am sure I remember Ivan Kristensen talk of this).

There is one thing that can short-cut a lot of this . . TALENT. Some drivers and pilots I have met have "buckets" of it and can make pretty average equipment perform very well, and with not a lot of practice. BUT these individuals are definitely a minority. The rest of us have to work hard at it [].

There are possibly almost as many ways to prepare for a competition as there are individuals competing (did that say "everyone's different? ). I guess it's really a matter of what works for you and what you are comfortable with.

JB (Mr. Controversy )

Jeff...

Yes, there are times here when we might fly 5 as well. However, I'm guessing yours are like here where they would be spread out of an entire day instead of a 2-3 hour trip to the field. Therefore your brain has time to relax and process the previous flights, so even though you are flying 5 times or more, instead of 4, your brain has had time recouperate between flights..

Pete...yes, I almost fell out of my chair...your V 2.2 looks great. I hope you can make it down to Ravenswood on that Saturday for some flying,

Arch

After starting pattern I experimented with practice schedules. I have found that going once or twice a week flying three flights per outing gives me the best results. If I start practicing more I loose some of my focus. It's like the old "sharpen the saw" analogy. I enjoy taking a few swipes with a razor sharp blade more than sawing for an hour with a dull piece of metal.

Practice? We don't need no stinking practice!

Hi Arch . .

I think you're right. Any mid week sessions I fly (after work) are usually 2 or 3 flights. Due to the time constraint and because nobody else is at the field, they are almost one after the other and any more flights serves nothing but burning up resources (as you say) . .

The flights on the weekend are over the course of the day. We have turbines pilots at the field that would cut us in half if flew flight after flight (have you ever tried to practice a schedule while a jet is in the air [:@]).

Oh . . I forgot the main ingredient . . PASSION (goes without saying really). Without that, all the rest doesn't matter (maybe why my front garden doesn't look as good as the neighbors ).

Cheers, Jeff B

For interest . .

I read QQ's "interview" on http://www.spektrumrc.com/Articles/A...ArticleID=1736 . He mentioned this leading up to the World Champs:-

QQ. "For a month I flew four or five flights every day before the competition – it’s a lot of work. The competition consists of both known and unknown portions, so it’s critical to be in tune with the airplane. To prepare properly, I flew no other airplanes during this time."

Cheers, JB

Hi there Jeff

How are you, long time no see... I have to say congradulation for the last Promo pont to F3A...gee that was quick..it is not even 5 months since i left Aus. I have to say rightnow with the amount of work load I got on hand...3 times of practice a month for me will be maximum with 5-7 filghts pre day. The good news is that, I didnt start practice on the p09 yet. So, just wait for me yeah dont go too far...

Patrick S

My practice routine is very simple...Go to a contest, stand in front of the judges and get instant feedback...I'll fly 4 maybe 6 practice rounds a contest weekend then go home.[8D]. I've only been making one or two contest a year for the last few years...

Hope to make more contests this year...

Larry Diamond

Hi Patrick . . good to hear from you. You need to change your information on the left of your post. It''s getting old. It should read "Bangkok. Thailand" ! ! Have a Pad Thai . . and a Tom Yum Goong for me .

I look forward to catching up again . .

All the best . .

Jeff

Not enough!!!

gary