Radio Control Aerobatics
Reflections from a first-year competitor
Mike Riggs [[email protected]]
It was late morning when I pointed my truck down the highway toward home. Rain had allowed my early departure from the National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics (NSRCA) District 8 Championship in Richland, Washington.
Not that my wife and kids relish attending RC Aerobatics (Pattern) contests. School had begun in Boise, Idaho, several weeks earlier; homework trumps Pattern contests, and my family had not accompanied me.
The long 300-mile drive home provided me with a lot of time to reflect on my first season flying Pattern. Emotions had run from extreme frustration to ultimate gratification. At this point I was reflecting on how I had become the NSRCA District 8 Sportsman Champion of 2010.
Several years ago I had become bored with the RC hobby and hadn't flown for a couple of years. Two years ago I decided to try Pattern in an effort to revive my lifelong hobby.
Pylon racing had dried up in my area years ago; since then I had tried a variety of disciplines. Nothing seemed to give me the rush of competition.
My Pattern career began with a cheap 2-meter Sword ARF that I had converted to electric power. As I drove I remembered all of my struggles the year before to get my model into the air, only to prang it the weekend before what I had planned to be my first contest.
Waiting another year to enter my first contest was brutal. Thank goodness I met NSRCA District 8 Vice President Rex Lesher through the Internet. Besides being a great guy, he was primarily responsible for bringing a Pattern contest (with contestants) to my home field; I am a member of the Boise Area Radio Kontrol Society (BARKS).
Dubbing it the "Treasure Valley Pattern Contest," we scheduled the event for mid-May. Before seeing NSRCA District 8 pilots practice the Friday before our competition, I had never seen a modern 2-meter Pattern airplane fly in person. Sure, I had practiced flying the Sportsman sequence prior to their arrival, but my mouth hung open as I watched in awe of experienced pilots flying with such grace and precision.
Three fellow club members and I had a hoot flying in our first Pattern contest the next day. Five rounds later we were veterans. We had been given almost every downgrade in the rule book and then some, but we all survived, models intact, with smiles on our faces and years' worth of tall tales in our heads.
Two weeks after finishing second at that event, it was time to hit the road to Wenatchee, Washington, for my second contest. Weather had prohibited any useful practice in the meantime. Nonetheless, we rolled northwest with travel trailer in tow, kids in the backseat, and our poodle riding up front on my wife's lap.
The Wenatchee Red Apple Flyers' facilities are immaculate. They reminded me more of a country club than a model airplane flying field, including RV hookups, observation deck, and showers among the many amenities.
On Saturday, battling nerves and 20+ mph winds, I flew horribly. That night I wondered if I could do this Pattern thing. Then on Sunday morning I put up a couple of decent flights in light winds and managed to finish three out of four.
As I've told many people, the reason to pursue Pattern is that it forces you to do things you wouldn't normally do. Before this competition those windy conditions would have meant no flying for me. During this contest I focused on learning to hold a line 150 yards out in a strong quartering wind.
After Wenatchee I had a few weeks to practice, and I flew back and forth across the sky with a turnaround on each end.
I performed Stall Turns, Half Reverse Cuban Eights, Split "S," Immelmann Turns, and Half Cuban Eights. I never did put anything in the middle; I just flew end to end, over and over. Try it; it's surprising how hard it is.
My next contest was in Redmond, Oregon, which is conveniently located roughly 100 miles north of Crater Lake National Park. The family plan was to rent a cabin on Diamond Lake and spend a few days after the event exploring the Crater Lake area.
Because the sun was in the box, contest flying didn't start until 10:30 a.m. I was the third up in the sacrificial order of three Sportsman pilots.
During my first-round flight my body decided to get nervous for some reason. With shaking hands and butterflies in my stomach, I managed a fairly good flight.
After the first round I was only a point or two behind my friend Wayne. Rex called for me during the third round. He coached me in the use of rudder the entire flight. His instruction taught me a number of things.
- If you're discombobulated, with no idea how to straighten things out, level the wings and try right rudder.
- If the nose isn't pointed slightly to the right of the flight path after a pull, add right rudder and put it there.
- Severe downgrades will be levied if your model is right-side-up after the loop segment of the Half Cuban Eight. I thought bonus points were deserved for performing a half rolling loop, but the judges didn't see it that way and zeroed the maneuver, costing me the round.
Sunday was more of the same. I finished a close second. The only person to beat me at Redmond was me. Maybe I would practice the centered maneuvers. More important, after three contests I had gained enough confidence to say to myself, "I can do this."
The Redmond event was the first one I thoroughly enjoyed. Competitions had been a bit of a chore up to that point, but I enjoyed that entire weekend.
Shortly after the Treasure Valley Pattern Contest in May, BARKS membership had voted to hold a more relaxed contest in August that would allow club members to fly the Sportsman sequence in a (monthly) fun-fly format. With eight entrants, the Fun Pattern Fly was a great success.
Unfortunately my Sword had crashed the week before, and I did not enter.
However, as CD, scorekeeper, and chief bottle washer for three rounds, I came away with an appreciation of how much work it takes to run a contest. This was a great way to show club pilots that you don't need a Pattern airplane to fly Sportsman.
The Tri-City Radio Control Modelers has held the Fun in the Sun Pattern contest at its field, just west of Richland, Washington, for the last 33 years. The 2010 edition was also the District 8 Championship.
The flying site is acreage of green grass in the middle of what we out West call "high desert." It's a great facility surrounded by wide-open spaces.
The District 8 Championship was bittersweet. Several weeks earlier my Sword did the "ashes to ashes" thing and was no more. I took the Insight that I had built the previous winter to this event. The bittersweet part was that I had only four flights on it, but I loved the way it flew.
I get nervous when I arrive at a new—to me—flying field. A quick flight usually calms me. But this time my anxiety led to my hitting the metal flight-line fence post with the elevator, leaving a nice souvenir gash in my airplane.
After determining that it was still airworthy, my Insight promptly nosed over while attempting to take off. I had mounted the wheels too far up in the wheel pants to fly off of the short grass. I guess I thought everyone flew from asphalt.
For the first flight my friend Tim held the tail while I revved up the engine, leading to an uneventful practice flight. After that the wheel pants came off, and then I got another practice flight with "Right Rudder" Rex yelling in my ear.
For the first round Saturday morning I was well down in the sacrificial order of seven Sportsman pilots. My first flight went well; I even managed to pay attention long enough to nail the landing. There's a first time for everything.
Getting to know a new aircraft is a bit tedious. Will it do this? Will it do that?
I really like my Insight. From the first takeoff, there's something special about flying a model you have built. Mark Hunt deserves a lot of credit for designing a good-flying Pattern airplane that a novice such as myself can build and fly successfully.
My second-round attempt was one of the best, most enjoyable flights I had made all year. My caller Nathan's voice faded into the background as the aircraft flowed through the pattern. It was a fairy tale until the landing.
Many times I have heard Gordon say, "You cannot blip the throttle on an electric; it will torque roll because of the big propeller." In an effort to touchdown on box center, I forgot his wise words and tickled the throttle to stretch the approach a few feet. While adding power and slight back pressure, the Insight snapped out of the air.
There was no harm—it was only a couple inches off of the ground—but both judges gave me 6s for a botched landing. It was the lowest scores of any maneuver in the flight. I learned that when you have a good round going, don't do something stupid and lose points.
Looking at the scoresheet after the second round made me feel good about my flying and my new airplane—a bit too good.
My third round was a gut check, showing how humbling Pattern can be. I had better flights at my first contest in May.
After flopping the Stall Turn, I was glad that I had gotten the bad maneuver for the flight out of the way. Then I continued to fly terribly, ending with a very low score. Lesson learned: If you get cocky, you will be humbled.
I scored well in the fourth round—so well that I won my first round of the season. I had come close before, but this was the first time that there was a "1,000" beside my name on the scoresheet.
Saturday night at our traditional District 8 dinner at the flying field we feasted on salmon, steak, baked potatoes, salads, and desserts. Thanks to Steve, Linda, and all of their helpers for a delicious feast.
Sunday morning I awoke with great anticipation of flying rounds five and six. After all, I was in the hunt for first place at the district championship.
As I looked out the hotel window at the pouring rain, my heart sank and I knew that my rookie Pattern season was finished. I wouldn't get my chance to challenge Garett for first place; he was ahead of me by only a little.
Jim had once talked about flying Pattern as "fixing things"—about repairing maneuvers after making a mistake. I wished there was a fix for rainy weather.
All of this brings me back to the long ride home. Life is about choices, generally, but model airplanes haven't entered too much into my life's decisions.
I will probably never be able to devote the time and resources required to become a world-class Pattern pilot, assuming that I have the talent to become one in the first place. During the summer months, between swim meets, camping trips, and other family activities, I'm lucky to get out to the flying field twice a week.
Where does that leave me with Pattern flying and contests?
I had started my first season with two goals: fly better and have fun. My scoresheets show I am flying better; a bonus is that I have had a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed flying with, laughing with, and meeting friends. This makes my Pattern expectations elementary.
I will continue to devote time and resources to pursuing Pattern as family allows, with the goal of having fun, meeting people, and becoming a better pilot. Watch out, Intermediate; here I come!
Flight complete. MR
Sources
- National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics
- Boise Area Radio Kontrol Society
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
