Radio Control Aerobatics — Eric Henderson [[email protected]]
Life for a Pattern pilot at a local club
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 other 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 degrees. I find that a lot of times they will land. You might have to break off sometime. The sport flyers seem to like it. Turnarounds are positioning maneuvers. Collisions may be more likely, but I have heard of those with two 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.
"I was on a downwind leg, straight and level, and someone came over and hit me. This has happened twice at the same spot. The first time they took off my tail wheel and caused 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 downwind 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 four-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 Pattern schedules are designed. A racetrack flight pattern is composed of:
- an upwind leg (closest to the RC pilot),
- a crosswind leg (away from the RC pilot),
- a downwind leg, and
- 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 into-wind 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 and therefore numerous diverse interests. Those who are interested in Pattern do not have a simple bridge that lets them move 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, would not disturb the local pilots, and would give fledgling aerobatic pilots a chance to practice.
My thanks to Sam Roman for his letter and for the personal journey outside the box that was triggered by his observations.
Question of the Month
On the topic of schedules, I have a related Question of the Month: Why does the 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 learned the current FAI world schedule and then showed up to compete. In many countries this is still the case.
In the U.S., a design was put in place in which there is a range of classes. Their names have changed over time and are currently listed in AMA’s Competition Regulations. They are:
- Sportsman (401)
- Intermediate (402)
- Advanced (403)
- Masters (404)
- 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:
- Develop routines that were not as difficult as those in FAI to encourage new entrants.
- Design routines 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 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. 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 so you accumulated points as you won and placed in a certain class until you maxed out and were moved up.
The advancement system does not apply to movement between the Masters and FAI classes. Once you reach Masters, the points are no longer counted; you are allowed to stay there indefinitely. 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?
The Masters schedule changes every two or three years, so it's a fantastic place to be. The F3A class contains high-end aerobatics that only a few 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.
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 schedule design keep moving the goalposts and inadvertently raise the bar.
The idea of spicing up the schedules was born to keep interest levels up and improve skills to match FAI classes that change every two years. The FAI keeps ramping up their schedules' 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: 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 somewhat undermines the advancement scheme. 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 at whether the points system really addresses the problems. It is probably the right time to take a fresh look at the whole system.
We should take into account current class results, contestant attendance, and pilot behavior. Address the needs of the size and aging of the Masters class. Examine the purpose of 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 they are adult enough to choose which class they would like to fly in. I suggest that a pilot be allowed to 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?
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
