Radio Control Aerobatics - 2008/01

102 MODEL AVIATION
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Aerobatics Eric Henderson
Also included in this column:
• A “club class” would attract
more pilots
• A look at the ladder system
Life for a Pattern pilot at a local club
The Pennsylvania Avenue RC Society
(PARCS) flightline at Floyd Bennett Field.
Flying Pattern up and down the field at a
contest does not use the same circuit as
on a regular club day.
Sport models such as the exceptional World Models T-34 can be a club or Pattern
airplane that could easily handle racetrack aerobatics.
I HAVE WRITTEN several columns about
how to improve your RC Aerobatics (Pattern)
flying. Some have covered how to weave
Pattern flying into a club environment. In
some columns I attempted to explain why
Pattern is declining and why it has become
invisible at most clubs.
The following letter from Sam Roman
encapsulates life for a Pattern pilot at a local
club. It got me thinking about another way to
expand the practice and the sport. He wrote:
“Pattern practice might be done by
using the sport flyers’ favorite theory, the
race track. It does not fit them at all, but
they think it is great.
“Fly pattern on the inside groove. Use a
Top Hat or enter and finish at 45 deg. I
find that a lot of times they will land. You
might have to break off sometime. The
sport flyers seem to like it. Turn around
are positioning maneuvers. Collisions may
be more likely, but I have heard of those
with 2 lines at a contest. Don’t ever get
lined up. Dive. Don’t assume you will
miss.
“After 10 years at my club they finally
had a club pattern contest. I thought with
the interest that I could practice way out
where we fly and let the sport flyers fly
over the runway where they like to fly.
“I was on a down wind leg straight and
level and someone came over and hit me.
This has happened twice at the same spot.
First time they took off my tail wheel and
a small tear in their leading edge. Three
weeks ago they took off a tip of my aileron
and a small nick in the same place as on
the other plane.
“Now I was flying the down wind leg
of the race track and they were not. They
said it was because I was flying pattern.
So, this week I flew race track and they
said I flew great. Of course they are going
to bore themselves and some will forget or
not be able to fly race track.
“Don’t talk aerobatics. Don’t say
you’re flying Pattern. They don’t
understand. Being the only flyer doing
slow and 4 point rolls, I would be glad to
teach someone to do it. But they don’t
want to hear it. Pattern forever!”
Sam is clearly an enthusiast with a
passion for Pattern. His flying
environment is tough for a pilot who needs
to fly aerobatic maneuvers in both
directions. The need to fly upwind and
downwind comes from the way the Pattern
schedules are designed.
A racetrack flight pattern is composed
of an upwind leg, which is closest to the
RC pilot; a crosswind leg away from the
RC pilot; a downwind leg; and then a base
leg back toward the original start of the
upwind leg.
A radical idea that Sam’s letter
stimulates is flying aerobatic maneuvers
only into the wind. At first this might seem
like sacrilege, but it could be a great place
to start if the intent is to get people to
perform and enjoy aerobatic maneuvers.
A starter class could be formed for intowind
maneuvers, only with a racetrack
return to the upwind position. This could
easily be a formula to make a Club Class
for Pattern. Moreover, it would be a much
better fit for the everyday flying at a busy
club.
A big club has many members, hence
numerous diverse interests. Those who are
interested in Pattern do not have a bridge
that lets them cross into flying a schedule
without going the “wrong” way, especially
when more than one airplane is in the air.
A Club Class would fit into any club day
and would not disturb the local pilots
while giving fledgling Aerobatic pilots a
chance to practice.
01sig4.QXD 11/20/07 8:56 AM Page 102
January 2008 103
PARCS pilots who just completed, in many cases, their first contest. Would their
experiences of mandatory moving up change those smiles?
The Groovy is another airplane that can do it all, depending on
the pilot. It is prone to unexpected acts of aerobatics.
The advancement system produced AMA Junior champions.
The young kid in the middle is Andrew Jesky, who is now on the
2007 US FAI F3A team.
It is daunting for a club pilot to see a
Pattern model coming directly at his or
her airplane the “wrong way” when going
around in the “racetrack club pattern.” It
is usually a club law when more than one
model is flying. You may well be at
different distances from the flightline, but
the sport pilot is not going to see that as a
good thing!
From a competition point of view, the
next-level-up schedule could encompass
downwind flight maneuvers and then
perhaps include turnaround management.
This might be a better philosophy for skill
building and could attract more
competition pilots.
My thanks to Sam Roman for his letter
and for the personal journey outside the
box that was triggered by his
observations.
On the topic of schedules, I have a
related Question of the Month. Why does
AMA force me to move up if I gain too
many points in my class?
This is a really good question. It has
been a thorn in competition
participation’s side for a long time. It may
well be a good time for AMA to take
another look at this “ladder” system.
In the old days—long before my
time—if you wanted to fly Pattern, you
practiced the current FAI world schedule
and then showed up to compete. In many
countries this is still the case.
In the US, a design was put in place in
which there was a range of classes. Their
names have changed in time and are
currently listed in AMA’s Competition
Regulations. They are Sportsman (401),
Intermediate (402), Advanced (403),
Masters (404), and FAI F3A (406).
The number designates the AMA code
for that type of competition. The rule
book is available from AMA upon
request.
The primary intent was to create
Pattern schedules that would achieve two
basic results, the first of which was to
create routines that were not as difficult
as those in FAI and encourage new
entrants. Second, the routines were
designed so pilots would gradually build
and develop skills.
An intent that almost seems to have
been forgotten is to build highly
competent FAI pilots who would lead us
to win the world FAI F3A World
Championships. That’s not a bad goal,
and in many cases it has worked.
However, there was an unanticipated
side effect. Pilots would initially enter the
class or level of their choice and move up
as their flying improved. Then some
pilots reached the top of a specific class
and stayed there; they were winning and
enjoying themselves. It was hard to
voluntarily move up and be in the
basement of a class after being the top
dog of the one below.
It is, of course, a much more
complicated issue than I have related.
Lest we judge too quickly, not everyone
could practice or spend the money to
sustain a higher level of Pattern flying.
When some pilots kept winning in their
class of choice, the other participants
became disgruntled or, even worse,
walked away from the sport.
So a points system was implemented to
prevent pilots from staying too long in a
class. This is why a mandatory
advancement-points-accumulated system
was designed. It was collectively felt that
these “sandbaggers,” as they were called,
were ruining a class in their regions. The
rule was created that you accumulated
points as you won and placed in a certain
class until you maxed out and moved up.
The advancement system does not apply
to the movement between the Masters and
FAI classes. Once you reach Masters, the
points are no longer counted; you are
allowed to stay there forever. You can move
freely between F3A and Masters in either
direction at any time in a season.
This has created a large Masters class at
local contests. There are typically only one or
two F3A pilots. Many see Masters as a
“destination class.” In F3A you have to learn
two schedules, and the maneuvers are
difficult. Why fly F3A when you have a
bunch of longtime comrades to fly with in
Masters?
01sig4.QXD 11/20/07 8:56 AM Page 103
The Masters schedule changes every
two or three years, so it’s a fantastic
place to be. The F3A class contains highend
aerobatics that only a few of us can
do well. A Rolling Circle or a Rolling
Loop is difficult at best, but then try one
in the wind. A Half Loop turnaround
with a full Roll from the top—exit
inverted—will make you hold your
breath. Trust me.
To see the issue in more light, we
need to add to the mix the current
practice of regularly changing the Pattern
schedules. There was a time when you
could count on the 401-404 schedules
being the same year after year. These
days the few who care about the
schedule designs keep moving the
goalposts and inadvertently raising the
bar.
The idea of spicing up the schedules
was born to keep the interest levels up
and improve skills to match the FAI
classes that change every two years. The
FAI keeps ramping up their schedules’
degrees of difficulty, and inevitably there
is an osmotic effect that moves this
increased difficulty into Masters and
below.
Some of the same pressure to retain
and attract Pattern pilots drove the need
to change the schedules. Unfortunately
changing the schedules also makes it
attractive to stay in a specific class.
Think about it for a moment. When the
schedules are changed, you get new
maneuvers to fly without having to move
into a class with more difficult
maneuvers and maybe better pilots.
Changing the schedules sort of flies
in the face of the advancement
schedules. You could almost make the
case that regularly changing the Masters
schedule is necessary to ease the
boredom of the pilot who is never going
to fly F3A.
Now would be a wonderful time to
step back and take a good look to see if
the points system really addresses any
problems. It is probably the right time to
take a fresh look at the whole system.
We should take into account the
current class results, contestant
attendance, and pilot behavior. Address
the needs of the size and aging of the
Masters class. Examine the purpose of
the skill levels versus participation. The
goal of advancement regulations should
take today’s economics and participation
numbers into account.
A big factor to consider is
advancement goals versus the fun people
should have for their time and money
spent. Mandatory advancement seems a
bit outdated and borders on being back
at high school. Many pilots feel that they
are adult enough to choose which class
they would like to fly in. I suggest that
the pilot stay in the chosen class for at
least one season.
Here is the kicker: AMA does not
monitor the accumulation of points! I would
wager that the only people keeping track are
the opponents of the pilot who keeps
winning. In the end it is, and really always
was, an honor system. Isn’t that what good
sportsmanship is all about? MA