what got ya through it ?

[scott bolton]

 Hi all, Just givin some thought to this flying season as it's sort of coming to an end. We have been able to do quite a bit of flying this year. I was able with some work and great coaching to learn the pampa stunt pattern this summer. I learned the pattern with a profile smoothie that had alot of bandaids.Thank God for CA !!! Also was just wandering what some of the forum folks learned the pattern with ? If you would please dig into the mental archieves and share some of this with us please. Thanks Ahead !! Scott in PA.

[Matt Colan]

I learned the pattern with three airplanes, not because I crashed them but because it took me from 2006-2008 to learn the FULL pattern.  First plane was an ARF Smoothie, that I still got and has been flown this year.  Another one is my Profile Fw-190 that is kind of a test bed now and am still fiddling around with plastic tanks and trying to make them work on a profile (somewhat successful so far).  The third one was an ARC Smoothie that I still have and fly on a very regular basis, use it to fly in OTS and after contest season ended, flew that until the end of the year (stopped flying the Ares because it is a pain to start in cold weather).

[Bill Ervin]

Hi Scott,  I got back into CL "seriously" about 20 years ago and built a Ringmaster/Fox 35.  As a kid my flying buddies and I fooled around with 1/2a so I'll refer to that as "not serious".  Anyway I wanted to learn all the pattern maneuvers but there was no one within 300 miles of Las Vegas who flew stunt.  So I had to teach myself...from a book!  Eventually performed all the pattern maneuvers with the Ringmaster, but not in one flight.  Tank was too small.

My next plane was designed to solve the problems of the Ringmaster.  Designed into the new bird was a longer nose, longer tail, taller gear, bigger wing etc.  This plane flew really good!  Much better than my RM.  First complete pattern (in the same flight!) performed at the ballfield behind the Silverbowl around 1990.  I still remember that day and thanks for taking me back there!

ps  My flying buddies, who were there for the "event", were nonplussed as I recall...  

[Michael Duffy]

I learned the complete PAMPA pattern with two borrowed smoothies. One was yellow with checkerboards and the other was a red/white/blue scheme. Both of these were ARF's and to my surprise are still flyable today.

[W.D. Roland]

Still learning........
Ask again in 5-10 years.....................................


David

[Jim Thomerson]

Kit Magician with Fox 35 in 1977-78.  I had flown enough sport flying that I could (theoretically) fly all the maneuvers.  I learned by myself and had to overcome various trim and tank problems.  My first stunt contest was one of the Dekalb contests put on by Bill Allen in 1978.  I got second in Beginner. At that time Beginner was the full pattern.  Later Bill Zimmer told me I was entering the overhead 8's wrong.  I entered them from the side, as in the OTS pattern.  Guess I missed that in reading the rule book. 

[Paul Taylor]

Zuriel Armstrong sold me his old Tutor II. That was the first plane I did the FULL pattern with. This year.

[Bill Heher]

I'm still at the beginner pattern level, but made good progress this year with a couple of used ( not abused) Orientals I got from Sunshine Richard of the Portland Fireballs. One was a profile, the other a Brodak ARF. Both were great flying planes with OS 35 FP power, alas they could not stand the repeated mistakes I made with inverted flight and outside loops.

I will say that flying a plane you have seen do the pattern sure helps the confidence when you try it. It also forces you to accept the mistakes as your errors and not a problem with the hardware!

[Chris McMillin]

Two Midwest Magician's and their 48 inch ME-109 and King Cobra profiles, with Fox 35's.
Chris...

[Eric Viglione]

Thinking back, I had everything except the RWO, outside squares, hourglass, sq8 & clover on old time planes, profiles etc. I finally learned the those on a hand me down Sig Magnum w/ ST60. It was a little porky at 71 ounces, but felt like a thoroughbred to me at the time, and got the job done. Mission accomplished. Been trying to make the pattern pretty ever since.

EricV

[Jim Oliver]

In central Alabama we can fly all year; it took a bit over a year for me to be able to fly all the maneuvers so that they could be recognized, well, sorta.

I used up a Tutor II and at least one Cardinal ARF.  There were bumps along the way with an Oriental ARF also, but it survived the journey........looking back, I wonder what all the fuss was about

Just like the guy told me, its at the bottom of one of those gallon fuel jugs or cans---just not sure which one.

Cheers,
Jim

[john e. holliday]

Thru the years I could do all the loops and reverse wingover.  But, never did a full pattern until I had my Midwest P-63 with McCoy Redhead .40.  David Adelman asked me I didn't do the pattern.  I was still confused about the clover and doubted the hour glass.  He put the plane thru the pattern.  That McCoy just loved the pattern.  The first trophy was won at the airbase in Omaha with the Mustunt I.  I have been playing ever since, because when I start getting serious I tear something up.  Also when I get real serious I leave something out of the pattern.  Just ask Jim Lee how many times I have messed up a good pattern.

[Randy Powell]

I learned to fly inverted with a PDQ Flying Clown boasting an Enya 19 that I still have in the drawer.

I learned the full pattern with a Coyote with and Enya 35.

[Will Hinton]

In the thread about Riley Wooten's designs I mentioned building a bunch of Whatzits - that's what I learned the pattern on.  Used to do two full patterns in one flight with a 3 oz tank while stationed at the Millington, TN   
NATC Memphis as a member of the old Navy Memphis tailhooks club.
Then I built a   (Hmmmmmmmmmmm...dare I tell this?) 52 oz Ruffy as my first "full stunter".  That poor old Fox 35 did a really noble job of hauling the beast through the complete pattern!
Blessings,
Will

[John Miller]

I learned the pattern on a Super Ringmaster. Both powered with my only engine, a McCoy .35 RH bought with money from my paper route.

I polished the pattern with a Green Box Nobler, built in 1958.

Those were the days.

[Bill Little]

To learn all the maneuvers, I had a Goldberg Shoestring and a Ringmaster.  My first contest plane was a Tutor and then I scratch built a Profile Impact reduced to 48" WS.  The first plane that was really a full blown Stunt Ship was a design I scratch built called the Parable.  It was based on a set of drawings sent to me by Bob Hunt and used a stretched *Genesis .35* wing.  It was a very capable plane w/a Byron Barker OS 40FP.

Mongo

[minnesotamodeler]

I learned to loop on, believe it or not, a Jim Walker Firebaby.  Most other stuff using a Flite Streak with a Fox .25.  Combat wings took care of everything else. But I've never flown stunt in competition, so I guess there's still beau coup stuff to learn.

[john e. holliday]

Well Ray,  beleive it or not,  my first loops were with the Scientific "American Boy".  I think I wore out several of them with the OK Cub .049A.

[David Shad]

I started back to control line and CLPA three years ago next month...the Brodak ARF Smoothie is still around although the covering is about to fall off...when I was booted to intermediate this past January I switched to
an ARF Nobler that is also still around...both planes have a Fox .35 in them and either one can go out today
and do the pattern decently.  I should have my Dixon Cardinal ready with a B-40 at this coming KOI in Jan 2010.