Newbie Formosa flying wanna be pattern flier wonders what the best way to practice is?

Seems like a simple thing to do but I too often find myself just flying around with no apparent purpose.

Thanks

I don't fly pattern yet, but I do fly IMAC... for me practice entails flying the sequence a few times...then practicing various maneuvers.....
ie: go back and forth practicing hammerheads.....

go back and forth practicing point rolls (my weak thing)
etc. etc...

another thing I'll do is just go fly, but fly maneuvers that I know I have had in past unknowns...

I've also written out my own "unknowns" and then go and fly them......

the key...for me... is to mix it up....
I like a challenge and really enjoy improving my flying.... so every time I fly....I'm practicing something

Hey Laggard, welcome to the club. It's possible, but very slow and tough slogging, to try to learn pattern all by yourself. It's a lot more enjoyable if you have any kind of coaching. Ask around whatever your network is for anyone with any pattern experience to spend a few sessions with. If you have to drive an hour or two to meet him at his field, it's time well spent. A coach will be a tremendous help with demonstration flights, advice on setting up your model, and of course coaching your flights. A good set-up on your model (1) and practice (2) are the two most critical elements to making progress in precision aerobatics... far more than which particular model you're flying.

As to what to practice, exeter has the right idea: practice the pattern Sportsman schedule, or the IMAC Basic schedule. The foundation for any variety of precision aerobatics is straight & level, on track, on axis, wind compensation, upright and inverted, verticals that are vertical, 45's that are 45's, loops that are circular, constant radiuses, constant roll rates, throttle management for consistent airspeed up & down verticals and diagonals, upwind and downwind, consistent tracking with in/out corrections for crosswinds or just plain wandering. One of the big stumbling blocks for novices is inverted rudder for correcting deviations from track, and the way over this hurdle is deliberate practice. An exercise that I find very useful for learning inverted rudder is to fly an entire flight doing inverted Immelmanns, fly low track inverted, push to high track and half-roll to inverted, pull to low track and half-roll to inverted, just keep it up from one end of the field to the other, always inverted, study what happens when you touch rudder one way or the other, and get so it always goes the way you want. When you have that down, do square loops on the corner: 45 up, pull 1/4 loop to 45 up in the other direction, pull 45 down, pull 45 down the other direction, and do that for ten minutes. That will give you plenty of rudder correction practice. When you're good at that, do the same square loop on the corner with half-rolls in the middle of each leg. By the time you're able to do that, you'll have won a few contests and probably be flying Intermediate.

Check out the websites for NSRCA and IMAC, and explore the links to related websites. Check the competition calendars and get to a meet as soon as you can. Talk to the guys, introduce yourself and tell them your story, helpful advice will flow like water.

http://troybuiltmodels.com/newsite/awesomepilot.html

Thanks! Hans, your link was invaluable!