CONTROL LINE AEROBATICS
Curt Contrata 6783 Nightwind Cir., Orlando FL 32818 E-mail: [email protected]
"WE ARE WHAT we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit." —Aristotle (384–322 B.C.)
The purpose of practice
The purpose of practicing is to create good habits on the mental and physical level. These habits help establish consistency, which is the Holy Grail among top fliers. If you want to improve your flying, you will have to practice.
Why you practice is every bit as important as how and what you practice. Think back to when you were learning to fly or drive: there were so many things to remember, but now many actions are habit. While driving, we confidently turn corners while eating a burger and answering a ringing cell phone. Driving has become automatic for most of us, which lets us concentrate on what is different that day or during a particular trip.
Imagine flying well in the same automatic way, leaving you free to notice what’s different that day or that flight. Muscle memory—established during practice—is required for consistency, much as in repetitive sports such as bowling, archery, or golf.
The start of a contest season or breaking in a new model are perfect opportunities to review what we have been consistently doing wrong: our bad habits. We all have them and should be aware of them, either through videotapes of our flights or our coaches’ observations. These are the things we should concentrate on during practice and spend less time celebrating the parts that already look good.
Creating good habits: concentrate, exaggerate, repeat
There are three things a person needs to develop a habit quickly:
- Concentrate
- Exaggerate
- Repeat
#### Concentration
To have a productive, focused practice session, total concentration is the key. Decide what you are working on and identify the individual parts of that particular skill. Learn to focus on that single detail without thinking of anything else. This is easier said than done and can be difficult at first.
Before each flight, take a moment to review what you need to do. While flying, prepare for each maneuver during the two level laps preceding it by concentrating on the specific problem you are trying to correct. This will prepare you for what you need to do and force you to forget about what is in the past and cannot be changed.
Realize that your mind can only fully focus on one thing at a time and only a few points each flight. If you try to practice everything at once, you will progress more slowly. The mind and body will only get portions of the information needed to develop proper muscle memory.
#### Exaggeration and slow motion
Exaggerate the motion or mental process you are trying to achieve by thinking yourself through it in slow motion. I find it helpful to remind myself by speaking out loud while flying—saying "Think round" and reciting the word "Easy" on every corner on a cool morning. The problem component is often body position and where the model is told to go in relation to the body.
Pretend you are flying while standing where there are spherical references. Screened enclosures work great; rooms with drop ceilings are also useful. Position yourself so that there is a reference where you need it for the practice. Close your eyes and fly the entire pattern from habit, then open your eyes and check where your hands, feet, and shoulders are in relation to where you feel the model should be flying.
I had a long-running problem with my Reverse Wingover track. With muscle memory I was able to recreate what I was doing at the field and learned what I had been doing wrong. With my wife’s help I practiced in the kitchen and discovered that what I thought was proper form was not. Over and over I executed the same footwork that caused the wrong flight path; it was repeatable and predictable.
Then I concentrated in slow motion and exaggerated good form, aligning myself with a seam in the floor, overhead lighting tiles, and two vertical references on opposite sides of the room. For days I practiced, and that weekend my Wingover finally had a straight track.
Break down the action you are learning into steps, and exaggerate each step slowly and individually. This forces the mind and body to focus more fully on what is being done and helps build muscle memory more quickly.
#### Repetition
Exaggeration and concentration alone won’t make the new motion permanent. Repeat the exact motions until they become habitual and you no longer have to focus on the details. Until then, you must concentrate on correct form.
When learning a new technique, it takes time for it to sink in and become automatic. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that once you correct a problem on one flight it is forever corrected; continue to practice good form and concentrate. When you relax, or start thinking about how good your model looks in the air, old bad habits will resurface.
Practice routine and consistency
Your practice routine should be complete and done the same way every time. This includes how and when you run out and wipe your lines, how you fuel the model, and even the way you set your handle down and arrange your safety thong. Do all of these things the same way each time.
You are practicing your entire routine; each step is part of your program. If you follow this, you will not wonder if you ran out your lines or fueled your tank. Before each official flight Randy Smith tells us to "Go out there and fly your program." That means do exactly what you have practiced.
It’s been written many times that you should perform each practice flight as if you were flying for a national championship. This puts you in the proper mindset when you are in front of judges. Nothing should change in your program, whether practice or competition.
"Ignore the judges and fly your program." This is not difficult if you have been practicing total concentration on every flight all year. A winner has to deal with pressure; you must train yourself to deal with it. If you pay attention to these guidelines, you’ll get more out of your practice sessions and improve faster.
Desire, hard work, and talent are required to succeed. Desire can work wonders, but it can fail if not backed by hard work. Talent is helpful, but you must spend time developing it. I have seen people who were less talented than others but who were better because they practiced with concentration and formed good habits. Decide how much you want to achieve and then work toward it.
There is also the phenomenon of "trying too hard"—when performance falls off because of the desperate need to succeed. When this happens, recognize it, calm down, and be confident. Fly your program.
Video and training aids
Videotapes are extremely useful for revealing bad habits. Bill Rich has used video for years; a major part of his success is attributed to including videotapes as part of his program. He gave me a few helpful hints, including using dry-erase markers on the television screen to denote intersections and sizes.
Camera placement suggestions:
- From the judges’ point of view: This position shows shapes, angles, intersections, tracking, and whether sizes are consistent. Playing back at different speeds can help; faster speeds often reveal shapes better.
- From the side at a 90° angle to the judges: This shows line elevations (45° and 90°) and is great for inspecting Overhead Figure Eights. If they are not flown over your head or are skewed, this angle makes it obvious.
- Framed to see only the model from the side, in line with the downwind side of the circle: This reveals wing leveling and whether the outboard tip drops in hard corners—useful as a trimming aid.
Other useful training tools:
- Orange cones for sizes: Set cones at 45° intervals around the circle, with one directly upwind and one directly downwind. They help get a feel for correct sizes; 45° is much smaller horizontally than you might think.
- PVC pipe markers for heights: Use 8-foot-tall pieces of white PVC pipe with 24-inch bright-orange marks indicating level flight. These are great for practicing and judging heights.
Setting goals and evaluating progress
Set specific goals for each practice session. Don’t just "go out and fly." Choose three or four things to practice and measure your progress. After the flight, evaluate yourself honestly and set your next goals.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to all the people who have helped me over the years, especially my wife for her patience and help with practice, and to the many friends and coaches who have given me valuable advice.
Curt Contrata
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
