What are you thinking?!?!?

[Paul Taylor]

I just read PT Granderson’s article in MA about control systems. I think he is onto something about the control starts with our brains. When I think about it, it is like someone swinging a base ball bat. The bat becomes an extension of the arm. Same as our planes.
( Well for most of you guys, I am still struggling with the connection.)
It might help me and others if someone would let us know what goes through your mind as you fly. Maybe talk about setting up for a maneuver and then take us through the thought process as you execute it???
Not sure it is possible but thought I would ask.
 
 

[Ken Deboy]

OH and sometimes I talk out loud, I don't look forward to the silence of electric stunt 

Ty,
I think the motor timers for electrics are controlled by a CPU, for not too much weight you could add sound capability:) Programmable, too!!! Judges are traditional? Make it sound like an ST 46. A scale plane? Make it sound like the real one.

cheers,
Ken

[rob biddle]

  Hey Ty, I often "talk" out loud too.... After which I look around hoping that no women and children were within earshot.

 Cheers, Rob.

[Ron King]

OH and sometimes I talk out loud, I don't look forward to the silence of electric stunt 

Sometimes? I ALWAYS talk out loud, which is why the judges suggested I fly glow engines again. 

For Paul - Just before I wave for release, I take a deep breath and just tell myself to do what I did in practice. A contest is not the place to try something new, IMHO. If you have practiced well, the mental aspects and muscle memory are already there.

I had a music teacher tell me more than once, "Practice does NOT make perfect. PERFECT practice makes perfect." 

I talk out loud while I'm in the circle. I count laps out loud. I also remind myself which maneuver is coming up next and what I should do to make it perfect. This helps me stay focused on the flight and not dwell on the last maneuver I messed up.

Hope this helps,

Ron

[Steve Moore]

Beard,
I myself have struggled with this, especially @ contests.  A good trimmed plane and good Engine run is your first hurdle. I stared practicing with cards, piecing the pattern as I go. forget your bottoms work on placing the maneuvers and felling the wind. The hardest thing is to let the plane fly through the maneuvers, try to keep shapes big and then putting them on top of each other.

Sequence will come with time (and practice) if I find myself thinking about what maneuver to do next, I'm already to late and frustration sets in. after you are comfortable with you set-up, practice in the wind, I have had many sweet practice flights only to fall flat on my face when the wind picks up in a contest, and there is aways wind...

[Richard Grogan]

I just read PT Granderson’s article in MA about control systems. I think he is onto something about the control starts with our brains. When I think about it, it is like someone swinging a base ball bat. The bat becomes an extension of the arm. Same as our planes.

You can print the pattern and notes out on a laminated card, and wear it on the inside of your(unused) lower arm like an NFL quaterback. Use it until you wean yourself off of it (programmed) learning the sequence.

[Garf]

You can print the pattern and notes out on a laminated card, and wear it on the inside of your(unused) lower arm like an NFL quaterback. Use it until you wean yourself off of it (programmed) learning the sequence.

Then I would have to wear my bifocals when I fly.

[Richard Grogan]

Then I would have to wear my bifocals when I fly.

Oh well,I guess you do what ya gotta do!

[David Hoover]

What am I thinking?  Don't hit the ground!  Don't hit the ground!

[Bill Little]

Geez....... am I supposed to THINK??

 

That question is like asking a golfer just as he's setting up for a shot, "Do you breath in or out on your backswing?"  Guaranteed to make him miss that shot in 99.9% of the cases, especially if he's an amateur!

It has to come automatic.... I "look' for things when I'm flying a pattern... landmarks for maneuvers or intersections, wind direction, etc., but I can't "think" about what I'm going to do.  Maybe that's why I ain't been flying too good lately, no practice for it "to come automatically"!

Bill <><

[frank carlisle]

Thinking is highly overrated and has always gotten me into trouble.
If you're going to think at all it should be done in selecting the engine/tank set up.
If at any point during the build you have thoughts along the line of-- "Oh, that won't matter" or "I'm not going to the Nats so this is good enough." Then you're using your noodle to defeat yourself.
If you do the job right during the build and put together a model that puts out solid runs and demonstrates consistent flight characteristics then when you get to the circle all you have to do is steer the airplane through the pattern.
Now if you're out there just free style flying then you should set up for whatever stunt you're going to do next and fly the plane through that stunt--DON"T CHANGE YOUR MIND IN THE MIDDLE OF A MANEUVER!!

There are things to be aware of but not to be thought about. I "feel" for the wind. I pay attention to the hairs on the back of my head, the breeze in my face, the wind sock and to which part of the circle the plane speeds up or pulls harder. All these are indicators of wind direction.
The human mind is an amazing thing. When you're flying it puts together a lot of information. Like how fast the plane is going, it's attitude and altitude, wind direction and wind speed, the pretty girl over there.

O.k. that's enough I'm rambling and probably haven't put light to anything.

Don't think. Just run lots of flights.

[Keith Spriggs]

O.k. that's enough I'm rambling and probably haven't put light to anything.

Yes you did. Very well said. Everything you said can be put to good use whether you are a casual flyer or a national competitor.

[Jim Thomerson]

A world-class figure skater once gave the advice to "skate stupid."  By this he meant that you should just do it and not think about what you were doing.  A lot of what we do in stunt is what is called muscle memory.  It is a matter of educating nerve pathways so that impulses flow as they should without conscious intervention by your brain. 

If you are interested in competition, or just flying better, I suggest you read 'Winning, The Psychology of Competition" by Stuart H. Walker.  1980, W.W. Norton & Co.  Walker is a child psychologist by profession and a world-class sail boat racer.  he has written a number of books on racing sailboats. 

[rob biddle]

  Hi Paul,
 I found when I was learning the pattern I would concentrate on flying the best plane I had.
 
 For the first few flights of the day I would use the best plane to develop the "muscle memory" thing and then move over to the fun flyers after I noticed I wasn't concentrating consistantly. Usually after 4-5 flights.

 I found that the first flight would be a warm-up, then hit the next 2-3 flights as if I were flying in a contest. It took about 6 months of weekly flying like this to peice together a half decent pattern.

 This is what worked for me, trouble is I wore out my best flyer. Now I'm real rusty.
Should have a new one going soon though.

 Cheers, Rob.

[frank carlisle]

   trouble is I wore out my best flyer.

 Cheers, Rob.

Oh Yeah.............there should always be a next plane coming along. What I mean is a fellow ought to have a new plane in the works as soon as he starts flying the one he just finished.

And also and most important is that since we don't have to build model planes for any survival reason we should really try to make each one better than the last. Since we choose freely to build 'em they are an expression of our inner selves so you gotta do it heart and soul.

[rob biddle]

  Hi Frank,
 The next plane was coming along alright. 
 
 Ended up with a tank problem and got put aside for a rainy day. (we're in a drought).
 
 As usual I was being greedy, trying to build 3 at once and none were finished in time.

 Typical case of too many fingers in too many pies

 Cheers, Rob.

[frank carlisle]

I know what you meanabout all the fingers in the pie. Around here there are usually 2 or 3 projects in the works.

[bob branch]

Jim Tomerson

Gee, don't send the stunt community down the Stuart Walker road!!!! Everyone will get as screwed up as we are in sailing trying to figure him out! Stuart does way to much thinking. My head hurt for years after figuring him out.

My old coach (golly that was you Frank!) always told me to fly the pattern and don't deviate. In my beginning years when I did deviate I put the plane in the ground every time. Since I didn't like building as much as flying I decided to follow his advice and quit crashing and learning the pattern. Having come back to it this last year after 20 years away, my most uncomfortable flights were the first ones when I was trying to get the first plane trimmed out. I couldn't fly the whole pattern and I knew what that ment. Yup, killed one before I even got to the whole pattern. I finally got over that again (a good reason not to quit flying stunt again!) and just started practicing. On the rare occaision when I practice one or two maneuvers for an entire flight it is very uncomfortable. And oddly, at least in my case, I am not sure it transfers to flying a better pattern. Seems when I practice by flying the entire pattern in proper order I get better with a practice session than when I just work on a few maneuvers in a flight. I think the muscle memory thing is a real big deal.

But so is flying in junky weather, be it wind or dead calm. Same for flying in the sun. I usually practice in the evening on an island where the wind blows from the south west most every night. When I get to a contest the sun is always in my face. Toughest thing for me to deal with since I never see it. I made sure I flew in alot of wind this summer, sometimes practicing in 20 knot winds. Yea, those patterns looked like junk, but the sound of the wind whistling in my ears at a contest doesn't bother me now. True I did kill 2 planes doing it, but it was worth it. That's why there are arf's. Use them, they are a tool.

bob branch