Pattern "flow" and Bottom Feeders

[Tim Wescott]

I didn't want to mess up Steve's thread here: http://stunthanger.com/smf/index.php?topic=32336.0.  But I had a comment about what I think is helping me to rise up out of the bottom twenty.

I can't say that I'm good enough to see the whole pattern as one maneuver, or to be consistent enough that picking a plan (other than "don't crash") makes sense.

However, even as a bottom-feeder, I think that I do well by considering that I'm judged for the entire time that I'm out there, from the moment that I signal for release until the moment that my plane stops rolling.  So when I exit a maneuver and do my laps, I don't think "whew! that's done for two laps" -- I concentrate on a smooth exit, and smooth level laps (or descent from a "high exit" maneuver, or ascent if the next maneuver is the outside square, the cloverleaf, or the "get ready to land" laps).

I think that this "do it all as if being judged" helps me for three reasons: the general impression it makes on the judges, the impact it has if I should lose count of level laps, and my own concentration during the "real" maneuvers.

The general impression on the judges should be small, if the judges are good -- flying well between maneuvers shouldn't be scored any differently from gyrating all over the sky.  Even so, I feel that it'll keep the judges happier, and make them more inclined to shade things up when they're questioning how kind they need to be given the mangled shape that I just flew, rather than down.  And, of course, it should help if I happen to draw a judge that doesn't confine their judging strictly to the rulebook maneuvers.

What happens if I fail to count on level laps is obvious -- so all my level laps are flown as if judged, even the "two for the writing" (and I try to nudge in a spare lap on each one, unless I'm 100% sure of my count).

Probably the biggest impact that keeping on top of the whole flight, and not just the maneuvers, is that it keeps me concentrating hard -- if you don't relax until you're done, you won't ever go into a maneuver without the best degree of concentration that you can attain.  So I think that flying the whole pattern as if it's being judged helps me do materially better in those parts that are judged, regardless of any other factors.

I suspect that if I ever get up to Expert level, flying the whole thing with this attitude will lend some "flow" to my pattern.

[FLOYD CARTER]

Tim.  You have the right idea.  Each flight should be a serious "practice", pretending you are being judged. Unfortunately for me, everyone here is too "polite" to tell me my mistakes.  However, I know when I've blown a maneuver.

I guess I've progressed from the bottom 20 into the "middle 20".  There's still plenty of room for improvement.

Floyd

[Steve Helmick]

I think Tim has been watching Paul fly...and paying attention.

Floyd needs to change over to TED handles, and have one dedicated set of handle/lines for each plane. I've seen him fly two officials at NW Regionals with a badly adjusted neutral, with level flight diving, diving, diving, and inverted way too high. How's that for polite, Floyd? I'm trying to help you, accept it or not, as you see fit.  Steve 

[Tim Wescott]

I use hard-point handles (sorta Fancherish).  Handles.  One per plane.  Each handle is in a Glad sandwich box with the lines for the same plane, with the line clips on the handle to define the line spacing and trim adjust.  When I string out the lines for a plane, it is set up exactly the way it was the time before, unless I have made an intentional change.

[Steve Helmick]

I use hard-point handles (sorta Fancherish).  Handles.  One per plane.  Each handle is in a Glad sandwich box with the lines for the same plane, with the line clips on the handle to define the line spacing and trim adjust.  When I string out the lines for a plane, it is set up exactly the way it was the time before, unless I have made an intentional change.

Good boy!  Steve

[Mark Scarborough]

now you just need to use a tach,, and you will be big city!! lol

[Tim Wescott]

now you just need to use a tach,, and you will be big city!! lol

I use a tach on my LA-46, and it's great (launch at 9200-9300, and it leans out in the air to perfection, whatever that is).  I have an LA-40 (on the Banshee that Randy Powell gave me).  I found that the "right" speed on the tach on the ground encompasses quite a range of wrong needle settings, both on the lean side and on the rich.  For that engine I have to listen to where it is on the edge between 4-cycle and 2-cycle, and leave the tach in my flight kit.

The story may be different with different tank setups, but that's how it's working for me, on those two planes, and each method works great for the engine I use it on.

[FLOYD CARTER]

Steve: thanks for the reminder.  (I'll bet others have noticed my "unique" flying!)

I actually have a Fancher handle, all ready to go except I don't have the correct size adjusting clips.

A mis-adjusted Fancher handle will also result in the errors you describe.

Floyd C.

[Steve Helmick]

Floyd...Surely, somebody in your group has a Jim Lee clip making fixture and the wire required! If not, you can get both from Jim in the Vendor's Forums below. In my experience, there should be no need to make clips more than +.250" from the nominal length of the Sullivan or Brodak clips. Do not make any shorter than nominal. Use only one custom clip, and leave it on the handle.

It is key to make a handle, for each airplane. Huge improvement, and much less chance of pranging your planes. Get a quart sized ziplock freezer bag for each handle/line set, and mark them for which plane they belong. Put in a spare set of lines, perhaps?  Steve

[Mark Scarborough]

I use a tach on my LA-46, and it's great (launch at 9200-9300, and it leans out in the air to perfection, whatever that is).  I have an LA-40 (on the Banshee that Randy Powell gave me).  I found that the "right" speed on the tach on the ground encompasses quite a range of wrong needle settings, both on the lean side and on the rich.  For that engine I have to listen to where it is on the edge between 4-cycle and 2-cycle, and leave the tach in my flight kit.

The story may be different with different tank setups, but that's how it's working for me, on those two planes, and each method works great for the engine I use it on.

Tim,, just bustin your chops buddy,,

[Bruce Perry]

Read Fanchers article "fly like a champion". Covers this and much more! 

[Steve Helmick]

Bruce, can you tell us what magazine and date of publication? Could somebody please scan and post Ted's article "Fly like a Champion"?  Obviously, I must not have read it....  Steve

[Tim Wescott]

Tim,, just bustin your chops buddy,,

Oh gosh, Mark, I didn't realize that!

Actually, I was pretty surprised about the behavior of that LA 40.  You can twist the needle about 1/4 turn away from where it wants to fly and the RPM varies by less than 100 -- what changes is the sound (from deep 4-stroke to pure, but wet, 2-stroke).  I tune it so that it's running about half and half 4- and 2-stroke, launch, and it does just what I want in the air.

[Steve Helmick]

Oh gosh, Mark, I didn't realize that!

Actually, I was pretty surprised about the behavior of that LA 40.  You can twist the needle about 1/4 turn away from where it wants to fly and the RPM varies by less than 100 -- what changes is the sound (from deep 4-stroke to pure, but wet, 2-stroke).  I tune it so that it's running about half and half 4- and 2-stroke, launch, and it does just what I want in the air.

What's the setup? It sounds like either a crappy NV Assy. or crap in the NV Assy.  Couldn't be one of your homemade units?  Pete Ferguson's ran fine! Ask him the details of his setup this weekend at Scobee Field.  Steve

[Tim Wescott]

What's the setup? It sounds like either a crappy NV Assy. or crap in the NV Assy.  Couldn't be one of your homemade units?  Pete Ferguson's ran fine! Ask him the details of his setup this weekend at Scobee Field.  Steve

It's an ST needle.  And the sound distinctly changes from one end of the run to the other -- it's just that the engine is happily stuck on one RPM.  The rich end definitely sounds rich, the lean end definitely sounds lean (well, leaner), and every step in between is discernible.