How do I enjoy my first contest? (Or your second or third)

 

So now you want to try out your skills at a contest. Good! But just remember, competition is supposed to be FUN. If you’re not having fun, then something's wrong. A competitive spirit is good, but don't let it get out of hand. Think of a contest as the proficiency test to what you have been practicing and a way to compare yourself to others at your level.

 

Did you get a good night's rest? Did you take the time to inspect all of your gear, plane, transmitter, batteries? Have you practiced in the last few days? Did you remember your AMA license? Did you use a Check List when you packed up the car for the trip to this contest? You can remove Fun Spoiling Tensions by spending a little time in preparation before the contest. The first thing you should do when you arrive at the contest site is to register with the Contest Director (CD). Let the CD know this is your first contest and ask about any local rules for example over fly, engine start up or if you can take a warm up flight. The CD is probably in the middle of a hundred things and probably will find someone to help you get oriented.

 

If the CD allows a practice flight, and if there is room on the line, then go ahead and take a short flight. Leave some time for others. Actually, it's too late to squeeze in a day of practice. You should have done that before. The purpose of the short flight is to relieve "Contest Jitters" and get oriented to a new flying site. Pay attention to the box ends and center lines and get settled into the landing approach.

If you have a friend at the contest, then you probably have agreed to "Call" for each other. If not, look around and make a friend, someone who can help you and call for you. He may need a helper too, so agree on a procedure that both of you find helpful. Talk about how each of you like your planes handled, where to set the plane down on the runway, where to stand when calling, and give him a "Calling" sheet or card for your sequence so he can use it when he calls for you. Print extra call sheets before you go because some will undoubtedly be lost during the event. When the CD calls for a pilots meeting, drop everything and get right to that meeting. Don't stand around talking to others and ignore him, or make him beg you to gather with the rest. Be quiet when he is talking as some of the things he's going to say are important for your success. 

Make sure you know when your class is going to fly and make sure to have all of your equipment ready and on the starting line. When you are given the signal, you have 3 minutes to get in the air. In the meanwhile, watch the guys that are flying before you. See what mistakes they are making and teach yourself from these observations. Watch which way the wind is coming from and see what the other fellows are doing to correct for it. Watch their distance and pace and observe how they are flying similarly to you and what is different. Lots of good things to learn so make the most of it. One day at a contest is better than weeks of making the same mistakes on your own.

Now when your turn comes, ready your plane and help your helper/ caller pick it up and then walk (don't run) to the pilots box. Introduce yourself to the judges and get settled in the pilot’s station. Before your helper sets the plane down on the runway, do a surface check and gun the engine briefly to clear the carb, then motion with your head that he can set it down. When the plane is on the runway, announce to the judges that you are going to start your take off. Smoothly accelerate down the runway so that your plane breaks ground right in front of the judges. Lift off at a 10 to 15 deg. angle and maintain the heading until you clear 6 feet. Announce to the judges that the take-off is complete. Now for the next 5 or 7 minutes, it's up to you. Concentrate! Concentrate! Concentrate! Ignore all the commotion behind you. FLY the plane. CONTROL the plane. There you stand, back to the judges, naked and exposed before the watching world. Try to relax and fly the best flight you can. When you make a mistake (notice I said "when", not "if") ignore it and continue on to the next maneuver. Don't rush; just keep a rhythm going, one maneuver, then the next. When you finish the last maneuver, let out your breath, relax and announce to the judges that you'll be landing. Now, don't blow it. Make a nice smooth approach and let the plane settle down right in front of the judges, and roll out to a stop. Your helper/ caller will go pick up your plane. Thank the judges for their fine work and let them know how much you appreciate them. (it doesn't hurt to polish the apple). 

Now go check your plane, fuel up, check the batteries, check the switches, etc.; then collapse in a bundle of adrenalin filled nerves, open a can of Pepsi and relax. Congratulate yourself on making it through your first flight at your first contest. It was fun, wasn't it? WELCOME to the World of PATTERN competition!

How should I practice?

 

Before you can start any lessons, you must be assured that your plane is properly balanced and trimmed. Elsewhere in this web site is a trimming chart. Copy it, study it and make sure your plane passes all the recommended tests. If your plane is not properly trimmed, no amount of practice will help, other than causing difficulties and frustration. The next thing you need to learn, so that you will be successful in the following tests, is the proper way to turn around and keep yourself on a constant track. The best maneuver for practice is the 1/2 Reverse Cuban Eight. Done properly, this maneuver will bring you back on the same line every time, and help eliminate the "hunting around" to get on course. Fly past yourself straight and level. When you are about 50 to 100 yards past your center point, smoothly pull up until your plane is climbing at a 45 deg. angle. Hold that line for 10 to 30 feet, then roll to inverted while maintaining that 45 deg. climb. After you're inverted, hold the same line as you had before the roll for the same distance, then pull up so that the plane will smoothly finish a 5/8ths inside loop to straight and level flight in the opposite direction of your entry. Your altitude should be the same, and your direction will be exactly 180 deg opposite. Now practice this maneuver until you can repeat it correctly every time. You need to practice this lesson both ways. This allows you to stay in the "Box" or maneuvering area all the time. The Half Reverse Cuban 8's will be performed at a 60 deg. mark on either side of the pilot's station.

 

Perhaps the most important thing to practice when you start out in Pattern Competition is straight and level flight. Even though most experienced sport fliers believe nothing is easier than straight and level flight, when you begin to carefully analyze your flying skills and fly in front of critical observers, you quickly find that you must be flying perfectly straight and level so that you can be properly set up for each maneuver. This is the most important item to learn in the beginning.

 

Let's begin with a test. The next time you are at the field, try to fly your plane exactly on a line which is parallel to the pilot’s flight line. Keep the plane between 50 to 100 yards in front of yourself. Small planes will need to be flown closer than large planes. Keep the plane at a constant altitude during each pass in front of the pilot’s station. Now, look at your wing tips. Does it appear that one wing is lower than the other? You want to know for sure? OK, just make a straight and level flight pass you with the wings level as you can make them and after the plane has passed you, by 50 to 100 yards, smoothly pull up into a 1/4 of a loop until the plane is vertical. Now hold it straight up without any rudder correction. Are the wings level? No? Then you were not level when you flew the level flight past you. If the wings are level as the plane goes up, then you have learned how your wing tips should look as the plane flies level in front of you. Pay attention to the outside wing panel. If you can’t see it you are flying with your inside wing low. Practice this until you can pass this exercise repeatedly.

 

Next, have a friend go out to one end of your flight path and make several passes up and down the line so that the friend can see the airplane flying toward him and away from him at an altitude of about 100 ft. He will probably tell you that you were not holding the line of the plane at a constant distance and parallel from the pilot’s line and runway. That means you are flying the plane, either in or out from the line and it will complicate all your maneuvers, until you fix it. Work out some hand signals with the observer so you can tell which way you are drifting in our out. Work at it until you learn how to hold your plane at a constant altitude, and on a constant line, exactly parallel to the flight line both ways repeatedly, with the wings level at all times. If you're flying in a cross wind, you'll need to compensate for any wind drift with the rudder. It is always good to practice this maneuver in a cross wind. If you use the 1/2 Reverse Cuban 8 for a turnaround maneuver, your wings should be level throughout the entire flight. (Good practice routine)

 

Now than you have learned how to keep your planes straight and level at a constant distance from the flight line, you are now ready to start individual maneuver practice. For these practice sessions, remember, some maneuvers are completed in the center and some are done on the ends, so the next thing for the student is to stick up some markers on a line in front of the pilot, at about 150 yards out. Then place a marker at the same distance out only 60 deg on either side of the center line. Now this works great for a contest, but at your practice field, you may not be able to place these markers. In that case, find some land marks in the distance and use them to center your maneuvers. Also, use some landmarks or trees to mark the 60 deg lines which are considered the ends of your box. You do not want to perform the turnaround maneuvers past the 60 deg marks.

 

Now you know what to do, let's get busy and start having fun. We'll be looking forward to seeing you on the contest circuit.

What are the maneuvers to be flown?  Here are the manuevers for the AMA 401 Sportsman class, the typical class for newcomers to aerobatics to start in:

1. Takeoff - Upwind 1

-          Enter box

1. Straight Flight Out - Upwind 1
2. Half Reverse Cuban Eight – Turnaround 2
3. Straight Flight Back – Downwind 1
4. Stall Turn without Rolls – Turnaround 2
5. Double Immelman without Rolls – Upwind 2

-          Free turnaround

1. One Horizontal Roll – Downwind 1
2. Half Reverse Cuban Eight – Turnaround 2
3. Cobra without rolls – Upwind 1
4. Immelman Turn – Turnaround 2
5. 45 Degree Down line – Downwind 1

-          Free turnaround

1. 45 Degree Up line (on center) – Upwind 1
2. Split "S" – Turnaround 2
3. Two Point Roll Roll – Downwind 2
4. Half Cuban Eight – Turnaround 2
5. Two Inside Loops – Upwind 2

-          Exit the box

1. Landing – Upwind 1

Total k-factor             26

The list above is the current "Sportsman" class maneuver schedule for 2015 through 2018. It contains 17 maneuvers including Take-off and Landing. These maneuvers must be performed in the sequence in which they are listed.

-          Click here to display the Sportsman call card

Failure to perform any maneuver in this sequence results in a zero score for that maneuver. This list can be printed and then cut out so that you can have it as a "Calling Card". A Calling Card is a list of the maneuvers that you give to your helper at a contest or during a practice session. Make several copies because they are easy to lose. During competition, the flyer becomes nervous and can easily forget those things that he has memorized. That's why he needs a Caller. The Caller or helper will usually help the flyer by taking the plane out to the starting point on the runway, then returning back to stand just behind the pilot. From that position, the helper can read aloud each maneuver before the pilot begins the maneuver and thereby help the pilot remember which comes next.

The symbol (U) that follows the maneuver means that the maneuver is performed "Up Wind" and the symbol (D) means that the maneuver is performed "Down Wind" the (T) is for turnaround maneuvers to be performed at the ends of the box. There are two free turnarounds were you can exit the box, catch your breath and adjust your position before returning to the maneuvering area. Use these well to your advantage.

The following is a brief description of each maneuver. Study them and be sure you understand each maneuver before you start your practice. All maneuvers are scored by two judges in a range of 0 to 10 in ½ point increments. Also, get the latest copy of the AMA Competition Regulations and study the rules carefully. The NSRCA has a maneuver description guide is more in depth and printable.

-          Click here to get descriptions of the Sportsman maneuvers

Take Off - The model must then smoothly accelerate to lift off. When the aircraft reaches take off speed, it should gently lift off the ground at the center line and climb at a gradual angle (10 to 15 deg). The airplane should hold a constant angle of climb without any dips or wing rocking, or deviation in direction until it reaches a height of 2 meters.

The pilot will turn away from the pits for an unscored trim pass down wind. Then execute a turnaround and enter the aerobatic box. The pilot or caller will announce to the judges each time they enter or exit the box.

Straight Flight Out - The model must be flown exactly parallel to the flight line, perfectly straight and level, for a distance of about 100 meters centered on the pilot and judges. There must be no changes in pitch, roll, yaw, or altitude.

Half Reverse Cuban Eight - Model executes a one-eighth (1/8) inside loop to a 45 degree up line, hesitates, does a one half (½) roll, hesitates, then performs a five eighths (5/8) inside loop back to level flight in the opposite direction as entry. All radii must be equal. This maneuver must be completed before the model exceeds the 60 deg maneuver boundary.

Straight Flight Back - Immediately after the Half Reverse Cuban Eight, the model shall fly back along the same line as the Straight Flight Out. The same rules apply.

Stall Turn - Model executes a one quarter (¼) inside loop to an upward vertical track (up line), hesitates, performs a stall turn through 180 degrees to a downward vertical track (down line), hesitates, then recovers with another one quarter (¼) inside loop to level flight in the opposite direction. Exit altitude of maneuver need not be the same as entry altitude.

Double Immelman w/o Rolls – Model flies past center pulls through one-half loop to level, inverted flight, hesitates, then pulls through a second one-half loop to level, upright flight at the same altitude as entry. The horizontal, inverted leg should be equal to the diameter of the half loops.

Model exits box - turns around using any maneuver desired and sets up to re-enter box. This allows the pilot a mental break and opportunity to correct their positioning. All box exits and entries must be announced to the judges.

Model enters box - resume scoring

One Horizontal Roll - Model performs one horizontal roll, centered on the pilot so that the inverted section is in front of the pilot and judges, then finishes straight and level.

Half Reverse Cuban Eight - Model executes a one-eighth (1/8) inside loop to a 45 degree up line, hesitates, does a one half (½) roll, hesitates, then performs a five eighths (5/8) inside loop back to level flight in the opposite direction as entry. All radii must be equal. This maneuver must be completed before the model exceeds the 60 deg maneuver boundary.

Cobra without Rolls - Model pulls to a 45 deg. climb, performs a quarter outside loop (90deg) at the center line and then does a 45 deg dive back to the same altitude as the entry point then pulls to level flight.

Immelman Turn - The maneuver starts near the end of the maneuvering area, flying straight and level, the plane pulls up into a 1/2 inside loop, then immediately rolls 180 deg at top of loop and returns straight and level in the exact opposite direction as entered.

45 Degree Down Line - From level flight model pushes and executes a one-eighth (1/8) loop to a 45 degree dive, hesitates, then performs a one-eighth (1/8) inside loop to recover in level flight. The center of this maneuver is the midpoint of the 45 degree line.

Model exits box - turns around using any maneuver desired and sets up to re-enter box. This allows the pilot a mental break and opportunity to correct their positioning. All box exits and entries must be announced to the judges.

Model enters box - resume scoring

45 Degree Up Line - From level flight model pulls and executes a one-eighth (1/8) loop to a 45 degree climb, hesitates, then performs a one-eighth (1/8) outside loop to recover in level flight. The center of this maneuver is the midpoint of the 45 degree line.

Split "S" - Model proceeds in level flight to other end of the box where it performs a half roll followed immediately by a half loop, and returns to level flight at a lower altitude going in the opposite direction, straight and level. This maneuver is considered a turnaround maneuver.

Two Point Roll - Model performs a half (1/2) roll inverted, hesitates about 1 second, then performs another half (1/2) roll in the same direction to level, upright flight. The inverted portion of the flight must be centered on the pilot and judges.

Half Cuban Eight - The model executes a 5/8ths to a 45 deg dive; hesitates, then does a half roll to upright, then hesitates the same as before, then back to level flight in the exact opposite direction. All radii must be equal. This maneuver must be completed before the model exceeds the 60 deg maneuver boundary.

Two Loops - Model pulls up and executes two (2) consecutive loops. All loops shall be round and superimposed. Entry and exit altitudes should be the same.

Exit the box – This time the pilot will make a turn to a free downwind pass then turn upwind to prepare to land. Care should be taken to avoid other aircraft.

Landing - Landing will start from 2 meters above the ground. The model flares smoothly in a nose-high attitude then smoothly touches down within 15 meters of a point in front of the pilot. The airplane should hold a constant angle of glide without any dips, yaw, wing rocking, or deviation in direction until it touches down, with no bounces. Landing is complete after a roll-out of 15 meters.

What is a good airplane for beginners?

So you are ready to try Precision Aerobatic Competition (or Pattern as many call it) and you are wondering what you need for an airplane. First, let me say that it's not necessary to buy and build one of those expensive pattern planes to enjoy the thrill of Aerobatic Competition. Most of the potential Sportsman flyers have the misunderstanding that they can't be competitive with anything but a full bore, YS185 powered, full composite, 2 meter plane and they couldn’t be more mistaken. I have seen a good pilot with a sport airplane beat a fully outfitted pilot many times.

The best thing to do is look at what you have right now. You will need a good stable aerobatic plane that you are very comfortable with. Something that is reliable and capable of basic maneuvers. The most taxing maneuvers in the Sportsman sequence are the Immelman and the two loops. Almost any of the popular sport-scale aerobatic models will be capable of these and work well. A .40 size glow model or 4 cell electric is recommended at minimum. They will just be more stable and visible than anything smaller.

All most all of the Edges, Extras, Yaks and the like will work very well. The biggest issue you will run into is most of these are optimized for 3D not precision. Giant control surfaces and 60 degree throws can make it difficult to be smooth and graceful. Some tuning of your setup can go a long way into improving your success. Setting some very mild dual rates and moving the Center of Gravity forward can do quite a bit to tame some of the more wild beasts.

According to the rules anything under two meters (78.75 inches) length and span and less than 5 kilos (11lbs) is allowed. That and a 96 db limit are the only restrictions. At local contest the Contest Director barely has time to think let alone do a tech inspection on every airplane. If you want to fly something larger contact the CD before event and make sure. The majority of times the CD will be so excited to have you come there will be no issue. Many events will even add an exception to the sanction to allow any AMA legal plane so make sure you check.

Once you have started practicing and are interested in a dedicated pattern plane here are some ideas how you may procure your first Pattern ship.

First, go to contest and talk to the pilots! All pilots love new gear so almost everyone will have a well set up plane from last year that they would love to sell. The depreciation on RC equipment is huge so you can get some great bargains and usually a ton of info from the owner.

Join the NSRCA and get the K-Factor Magazine. In there are a lot of adds from some of the model kit manufacturers that may be able to supply you with a nice beginners kit at a reasonable price. You will also find tons of information on how to set up that new plane properly.

Get one of the Sport-scale aerobatic ARF's or kits out there, for a 60 to 120 size. There are also many 50 to 1.20 size pattern plane ARF’s now available. These will range from the Sequence from Hobbico or some of the beautiful models from Seba Art or BJ Craft. Search the magazines and the web because there are plenty more including some very low priced versions. 

Another option is some of the classic patter or senior pattern designs. The XLT, Escape, or Great Escape kit from Bridi Aircraft Designs, a Kaos from Great Planes, or a King Kobra from Sig Manufacturing and the Phoenix 7 from Horizon are all great flying classics. You don't need tuned pipes or retracts on these models and they can fly the beginning routines with ease.

Next, if you like scratch building, go to Insightrc.com and look at some of the free plans and short kits available there. Some great flying planes that are a straight forward build. Also, look for the thread on Jeff Carder’s beautiful Lightening on RCU. A great looking and great flying plane that he will email you the plans for. 

Lots of great options for the aspiring pattern pilot each is unique and will quickly become your favorite airplane.