Get ready for flight competition

Model Airplane News, Mar 1999 by Wolanski, Dan

Precision acrobatic comPetition is a sport like no other. Whether it is IMAC (International Miniature Aerobatic Club) or AMA pattern, guiding your plane through a predetermined set of aerobatic maneuvers is one of the most gratifying experiences in modeling. Some pilots may contend that aerobatics is not for them, but let's face it: when you first began to learn how to fly, what did you ask your instructor over and over? I'll lay odds it was, "Can I do a loop now?" or "How do I do a roll?" Then, after you cut the trainer cord, did you just continue to fly around the sky in a racetrack pattern executing nice level turns? Once again, I'd bet a handful of Vegas chips that you started toying with rolls, loops, spins and snaps. This, my fellow pilots, is the grassroots of aerobatic competition. What you do from this point on will determine whether you are destined to compete.

When you watch someone else fly, do you find yourself saying, "I can do that," or "That looks easy"? When that person leaves, have you ever found yourself trying some of the maneuvers you saw him/her perform? If so, you'll recognize the reality that we are all born to compete. If you choose to ignore your primal instinct, so be it. If you want to learn how to harness your zest for competition, read on.

EARLY SEASON

When winter breaks its stranglehold on the land, it's finally time for early season flying-the toughest time in the entire season. Your reflexes and flying skills have diminished during the long hiatus, and if you fly IMAC, you are faced with a fresh set of maneuvers that you may never have attempted. To make the most of this season, start by just flying straight and level for the first few flights. Warm your thumbs up to the feel of flying out about 100 yards in front of you, straight and level. Keep your plane parallel to the runway at all times, and retrace your path with a turn-around maneuver. (If you've read any of my previous articles, you're probably saying to yourself, "Here he goes again on that straight and level thing." Sorry, folks, but the fundamental of every aerobatic maneuver is straight and level flight, and it cannot be stressed enough.) When you are comfortable flying straight and level, you may want to try a few of your favorite maneuvers from last year. This will help to build your confidence, which is key during this time. As your confidence grows, try a few maneuvers from the new sequence, but don't try to fly the entire sequence. Your pilot skills and concentration are at an all-time low, and you will quickly become frustrated. Pick out an easy section in the new sequence and try to fly it "in the box." Then string on more maneuvers until your confidence or concentration becomes strained. This "strain" is analogous to the bum bodybuilders feel. If you don't push yourself, you will never develop your brain to concentrate for an entire sequence, but don't overdo it! Flying slightly strained is good; flying totally strained will surely lead to re-kitting.

By now you will have gone to the field a few times and you may want to attempt the entire new sequence. But before you do, practice the difficult maneuvers; you don't want your brain to freeze up when you get to those parts in the sequence. Take a day or two and fly nothing but difficult maneuvers. When you practice a difficult maneuver, be sure to fly the maneuver that precedes it, and continue with the next maneuver in the sequence in case you need to adjust your elevation or heading. When you can do the difficult maneuvers, it's time to attempt the entire sequence. Go ahead and give it your best shot. Remember to throttle back between maneuvers to give your brain time to think about the next one. Concentrate on straight and level flight, and don't be afraid to break sequence if you can't quite get it yet. After you go through the sequence once, you will find yourself saying, "I can do it!" Now you're ready for the next step.

REFINEMENT

As a kid, you learned "Practice makes perfect," but practicing a mistake over and over does nothing but teach you how to consistently mess up. Let's rework that saying to read "Perfect practice makes perfect." Practicing with perfection requires you to formulate a practice plana goal or set of goals in your mind-before you head out to the field.

The human brain is like any other organ or muscle: it is strong after resting and tires with use. This means that you are sharpest during your first flight or two, and then your eye/hand coordination deteriorates and your reaction time slows. Your ability to detect minor heading changes or flaws decreases, and flying becomes more difficult. The practice plan you develop must revolve around your ability to concentrate, so you should perform the most difficult maneuvers first. For this reason, I suggest you fly the entire sequence on your first flight of the day. Fly it exactly as you would at a contest. Resist the temptation to mess around or go back to redo a bad maneuver. If you screw up a maneuver or part of the sequence, do not stop; press yourself through the entire flight. This is exactly how you will feel on your first flight in a contest: fresh off the bench and into the air, you need to teach yourself to calm down quickly for the first sequence of the day. Also, your brain is at its most responsive during your first flight, and you should use this time effectively. Have your caller watch for areas that need improvement, and after the flight, sit down with him or her to review any flaws and agree on how you should attempt to fix them.