Patrick and Steve have brought up a very important point and I think it should become a separate topic.

This problem affects a lot of us and I personally spend a lot of time trying to get my various planes to feel the same at the handle, even if they don't all fly the same.

I would be interested to hear what others do to prepare your planes and yourself.

Thanks,

Ron the Moderator

For a long, long time, I have advocated that *most* people have a contest plane that they can fly in the most classes.  Especially *Classic* and *PAMPA* at their local meets.  I have said this for exactly the reasons Stevie Boy suggests.  If you are Advanced or "Local" Expert, especially, you can fly pretty precisely.  Changing planes is going to take an adjustment no matter how similar they fly.  The longer you fly (Werwage: 50 years of contests) the easier it is to transition.  I cannot do as Billy has done (over 2000 flights on several planes and who knows how many total!) so I need a plane that I can get very familiar with.  Of course, I love the PLANES so much that I just have to build a lot of them!    Retirement might change the way I approach the whole *Competition* aspect of my flying.  As it is, I know that I cannot fly much right now, and I have to have one plane to do it if I hope to do decent in contests.

Bill <><

The biggest problem I have is I typically do better in Classic than I do in Pampa(!)  Part of the problem here is typical contest format, where you have a short time from the conclusion of classic to the Pampa rounds the next day.  At home I never fly my classic plane, yet when I pick up the handle of my little Nobler I am always able to fly it decently.  But then when I go to the Pampa plane I always feel like my timing is off for a bunch of flights.  Its weird.

Steve not much of a mystery to it. It all goes back to what I have said all along. The classic plane are generally 40 ounces. The late model planes are large barges. Fly and flop. Its not the same game at all. The lighter plane will be more constant than the heaver ones as you are really flying it instead of it flying you.

Two of my columns discussed the first Excalibur and how it was to be a Profile Stunt, P-40 Stunt, Classic and Expert model.  I flew it at Polk City Iowa, the Ice-O-Lated in St. Louis, multiple events at New Albany Indiana and the VSC of 2006.  My Excalibur found a home with a young flyer who is the nephew of Michael Scmitt.  I have published often in FM that multiple models helps a newbie flyer by allowing more flights on one bird with less change of fuel, handle, prop, tach setting, lap time, turning radius and full flight time.  Thus, a new or even an experienced flyer can take on model to a contest and fly at least one warm up flight and possibly six to eight officials in one day/two days with the same weapon.  Paint the Excalibur, but not changing shapes, to resemble a favorite single engine fighter of your choice and you can extend the flight day to eight to ten for putting the model in Fun Scale.  My February and March columns for FM will discuss another of my favorite multiple event models and its preparation for the 2007 VSC.

Allen Brickhaus