The opening line is, “What % of a good stunt pattern is the plane and how much is the pilot?”
I have thought about this many times over the years and watched many people work their way up through the various stages of control line stunt. I would like to weigh in on it here.
There is a fine balance between plane and pilot as to how much is one or the other. I remember learning the pattern on a stock SIG Twister and a fox 35. It was not a pretty sight that is for sure. One of the major keys to success was being able to reliably start the motor and get nearly the same run each time. By that I mean a few flips and “generally” the same speed. I am not talking stunt run here just generally the same expected run flight to flight.
With today’s options the goal of the beginning flier should be to acquire equipment that will be somewhat reliable. By this I mean fuel tank and motor. OS products, for example, are great because the always start and typically run the same flight to flight. If you have local fliers you can tag along with it would make sense to run what they run or something very similar that way they can help out of needed. But typically experienced fliers running any kind of IC will be able to help get things going in the right direction. Going it alone and picking motors and tanks based on no experience can often lead to less than desired results. (Note to experienced fliers helping out the new guy: Don’t overload a new flier with information about what you “have to have” and the perfect stunt run etc. Keep them going with what they have with small guidance here and there. That is how a few locals at the beginning treated me and it was very helpful to get me going. Unless it’s safety related)
For an electric setup, copy one that is working. You want a simple timer as well. Nothing fancy at this point we are just looking for repeatable flight after flight runs.
I touched on the topic above first because these items need to be, for the most part, squared away before you can actually know if your skills have surpassed the plane you are flying. Once the somewhat repeatable engine run/electric run have been achieved it is time to evaluate what you are flying and how well is it serving you. A new twister with minimal flights and only a few dings on it is a good candidate to keep using. A blasted twister with three complete fuse rebuilds and the tail glued in several times maybe hindering you more than it is helping. During the early stages of development it can go pretty quick from solo/level flight to loops and onto the beginner pattern. This really depends on how often you get to fly. I would think often would be a couple of flight sessions a week. Some may feel fairly often is once a month. At once a month the skills will progress very slowly. At a couple of times a week for 3-4 flights at a time you could get through the early stages pretty quick.
You will need to be building something as well all the time as you will progress past the models ability pretty quickly. Your building skills will be progressing along with your flying skills and if they aren’t or you are stumped on how to do something reach out for help, chances are that bridge has been crossed before. This is where you see guys asking the plane to do more than it can. They are ready for a more competitive design but don’t have one so they press the one they have and the results are not as desired. The model falters in places and does not perform. Once you can perform the pattern with some level of consistency and crashing is not part of your game anymore it is time to move on to a full bodied plane. I am not knocking the profile at all just simply stating a simple straight forward 35/46 sized full bodied stunter can really help a flier move. Something simple like the Allen Brickhaus designed Buccaneer 740 and an LA46 can be competitive all the way through expert. Plus it’s easy to fit in your car. The design is such that standard trim procedures will get you a good flying plane in just a few flight sessions. It is also a great tool for learning to trim. Fighting twisted profile that has been crashed many times will only lead to frustration because trim changes won’t be consistent flight to flight. A simple straight forward design will have a pretty wide trim range you don’t have to get it so exact before it will perform at a high level. Your flying and trimming skill will still be progress rapidly once you have a very solid straight stunt plane to work with. You may surpass the models ability pretty quickly. But somewhere along the way the experiences from the profile will help you figure out how much you can ask of the new model before it falters. Those days of “milking” the bashed up twister through some pretty rough looking patterns helps you learn to “fly” the model as opposed to “point and pull” on an over powered pipe rig.
I feel it is very important for the beginning flier to be flying beginning models. Since this is a model aviation event ones skills will progress across the whole “process” as opposed to just one area, flying. If you start out with a very well built competitive stunt model that is ahead of your skill set you will have missed out on the very important foundation that is learned with the beat-up profile. As you proceed through your stunt like your skills will improve across the whole spectrum, flying, building, and trimming, at the same time. One area may progress faster than the other but that is normal. I could fly well long before I could build a really good high end stunt plane. I also feel it is beneficial for the experienced fliers to fly other models as opposed to their top rig all the time. It helps keep the reflexes sharp, keeps the feeling of “flying” the plane at hand and can open your eyes to possible trim errors on the “nats” plane once you get back to it.
I hear it pretty often Paul Walker could beat us all with a Ringmaster, maybe that is true but only because he learned really “fly” the plane somewhere along the way.
The early days of learning the pattern and flying in every condition possible, especially the ones uou should not be flying in, is what really teaches us how to “fly” the plane. The middle level of our stunt careers teaches us how to build and trim competitive models. The top end of our careers becomes a quest for the best setup for all situations. That is found in the tiny details from the very first piece of wood that is cut. That mirror shine that is found after hours and hours of sanding and buffing, yes I like my stunt planes shiny. Along with the hours and hours in the flying circle learning to run motors, trim the planes, and pull on the handle. The humbling experience of that second place finish that tells you more has to be done to get to the top. And that “never give up” attitude that it takes to really nail down a good stunt pattern tells me that without a doubt it is the pilot, or contestant I should say since we really are more than just the pilot in this event, that makes a really good stunt pattern.
Topic: How Much is Plane (Read 4834 times)
