Born to Fly
Jim T. Graham | [email protected]
From RC to full-scale aerobatics: a visit with Steve Johnson
You can usually find me preaching to anyone who will listen about how 3-D has changed the RC world. But in this column I’ll write about how RC is changing full-scale aerobatics.
That’s right: full-scale aerobatics pilots are taking lessons from the RC crowd! My flying buddy Steve Johnson talked to me about how his little foamie 3-D models are changing the way he, and others, are flying full-scale aerobatics.
A Navy pilot’s son, Steve has been in love with flying since he was a child. If it has wings or can move through the air, he has probably tried to fly it.
One of his earliest recollections is tying a set of old model airplane wings to his tricycle and riding off a small hill to see what would happen. The flight wasn’t long, but fortunately the sand below was soft. Later Steve began flying model airplanes and gradually moved up through Free Flight (FF) and Control Line (CL) to large RC models.
Steve flew his first hang glider in high school and was a professional skydiver during and after college. He has made more than 450 jumps from airplanes, helicopters, and balloons.
Steve earned his private pilot’s license in 1985 and has since logged more than 1,800 hours in a variety of aircraft. He is an ultralight pilot with more than 180 logged hours of experience and is an instructor.
Steve put his model-building experience to good use when he and his wife Alice built their first airplane from a kit in their garage.
His mother (who hates flying, by the way) bought him an aerobatic airplane ride for his birthday in 1987, and he was hooked. Six years later Steve bought his first aerobatic airplane and entered his first competition one month later, taking third place overall and winning the Best First-Time Sportsman award.
In 1998 Steve ranked ninth in the nation in the intermediate aerobatics category. He transitioned to the Pitts aircraft in May 1999, and in 2003 he finished fifth in the nation in the advanced level of competition.
When he’s not in his full-scale airplane, Steve can usually be found at the field with his foamie, brushing up on his 3-D skills. I recently had the chance to interview him, and he said the following.
“My father was interested in model airplanes as a kid, and that interest ultimately led him to becoming a Navy pilot. He started off with old Heathkit radios and built his own escapement radios prior to that.
“He grew with the hobby as it progressed from Free Flight models to what we consider RC today. Pattern (aerobatics) was his real RC passion, though.
“After joining the Navy my father spent a lot of time on aircraft carriers, building RC radios and airplanes on long cruises as a hobby. When he came home, we would get to see the fruits of his labor and I grew up flying his hand-me-down RC airplanes. That led me to try everything I could that had to do with aviation.
“In college I was able to get my full-scale pilot’s license. RC flying sparked my interest in all forms of aviation. I have tried my hand at Free Flight, Control Line, hang gliding, ultralights, and skydiving. One year for my birthday I got a ride in an aerobatic airplane and I was hooked.
“RC and full scale have overlapped a lot in my flying career. I started to really understand what my full-scale figure patterns should look like after flying Pattern RC airplanes.
“A loop in RC or full scale has to be round, and it is hard to tell if you are making a round loop while sitting in the cockpit. I started to understand from flying RC that a loop that felt nice in the air was not necessarily a nice-looking loop. If I sit in a cockpit and fly what feels like a round loop, it actually is not round.
“RC taught me that just holding the stick in one place does not create a perfect loop. I learned what stick movements were required to get a round loop while watching my model in the air. I also learned things like how to hold a line in a crosswind from flying my RC airplanes and how to crab into the wind to pull to a vertical line.
“All of these things directly translate from RC flying to full-scale aerobatic flying. The size of the RC airplane and being outside of the cockpit really allows me to see what different inputs do, and that ultimately makes me a better full-scale aerobatic pilot.
“I have been flying aerobatics for many years now, but being on the U.S. national team and competing at the Advanced World Aerobatic Championship held in Poland has been the pinnacle of my flying experience. It was too expensive to bring my airplane to Poland so I found a person with an S-2B Pitts like mine in Slovenia and I flew to Slovenia to pick it up.
“I practiced two routines in Slovenia, and the next morning I flew the Pitts one hop to Austria, then to Kraków, Poland, and then to the contest. In this part of Eastern Europe there were lots of small villages, towns, little farms, and beautiful countryside.
“Contests in the USA are five-category contests and we see all levels of piloting skills. At the world level, the pilots’ skills are jaw-dropping. These pilots are so good it is just amazing to me.
“We were worried about our flying in front of mostly European judges, but the judging was equally as good as the piloting skills of those present. This was my first world-level contest so I was really anxious.
“Not everyone spoke English, but we all spoke aviation and we all really enjoyed each other’s company. It is absolutely the highlight of my career.
“The airplane I fly is a Pitts S-2B. The S stands for Special (all Pitts airplanes are Pitts Specials). The 2 means it’s a two-seat variant, and the B indicates it’s a B model. There are older A models and brand-new C models.
“Curtis Pitts designed the first Pitts Special as a single-seat open-cockpit biplane with an 85-horsepower engine. This S-2B is a long way from that original Curtis Pitts design.
“It’s a factory-built airplane, which means it is fully certified by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). There are non-factory Pitts Specials available that are built from kits or plans.
“Pitts designed the first Pitts in the late 1940s, and it is still a highly competitive airplane. It weighs about 1,200 pounds empty and has a 260-horsepower engine with a constant-speed propeller. When I take off I leave the throttle wide open unless I am in a spin or ready to land.
“When electric RC airplanes became popular I went down to Hobby Lobby and bought a 3-D foamie. The Judge is a 6mm foamy with an AXi 2212/25 outrunner and a three-cell 1300 mAh battery. It lives in the trunk of my car and I fly it anytime, anywhere.
“I also have a pair of electric helicopters that I play around with. I went back to my roots with a Carl Goldberg quarter-scale Cub with an AXi outrunner.
“RC is very relaxing for me. I love aviation, so if I can’t be flying full scale, RC is the next best thing. Electric airplanes are so great for me because I travel for a living and I can have an airplane with me anywhere I go. I have built lots of kits in my time, but I would rather be out flying!
“The whole hobby is just evolving so fast in so many different areas. It is amazing that we have 3-D-capable helicopters and turbine-power jets that are available and affordable!”
When I visited Steve in his hangar it was great to see a full-scale Pitts on one side and an RC workbench on the other. The two really do overlap for him in a big way. To many of us Steve has the dream setup: he can fly RC when he is on the road and jump into his full-scale Pitts on the weekend.
I thank Steve for letting me stop by. He has always been open and friendly, and he wows the locals at our yearly RC event because he likes to get the Pitts out and do his thing. I asked Steve if there was anything he wanted to add to sum it all up.
“Fly airplanes; there is something in aviation for everybody,” he said. Steve uses the following quote to end his e-mails:
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ‘woo hoo, what a ride!’”
To see a video of this interview, a tour of Steve’s Pitts, and him performing one of his routines, go to www.rcgroups.com. You can visit Steve’s website at www.stuntplane.com.
RC Necessities
I have a new piece of RC equipment I’m in love with and want to share with everyone. I have been in pursuit of the ultimate field box since I started in RC. When I saw the new Slimline Nitro Powerstation, I knew I had to try it.
I carry a model and field box in my truck at all times, and the Powerstation allows me to have everything I need in a compact, easy-to-carry unit. It holds all you need to get your airplane into the air, and it does so with style.
The molded plastic, balanced field box has a digital control center, glow-plug/igniter docking station, integrated fuel pump, starter compartment with built-in jacks, and, to top it all off, it is easy to clean!
If you’re looking for the ultimate flight box, be sure to check this one out. You can read my review of the Slimline Nitro Powerstation at RCgroups.com. It is available from Slimline Products:
- Slimline Products, Box 3295, Scottsdale, AZ 85271
- Tel: (480) 967-5053
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.slimlineproducts.com
—MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
