CONTROL LINE AEROBATICS
Frank McMillan, 12106 Gunter Grove, San Antonio, TX 78231
For some time I've wanted to do a column on practice, but I wasn't quite sure how I could put it together so it would benefit the broadest spectrum.
While teaching the other day I ran across a video by musician Wynton Marsalis titled Tackling the Monster, wherein he discussed his method for practicing. I was immediately struck with how the methods paralleled those that I have used in Precision Aerobatics over the years. The title in particular was both amusing and right on target. Practice is the monster that must be conquered in order to progress in aerobatics.
Find a coach
In previous columns I've talked about how important it is to find a good coach. Mr. Marsalis places such emphasis on it that he ranks this aspect as most important. If you consider how subjective Control Line Precision Aerobatics is, it's easier to understand this important point. You can only progress so far on your own knowledge and visualization of the pattern. Frequent sessions with a coach produce a framework on which to build.
Make a plan
To achieve your personal best, you have to have a plan so you can set goals and chart your progress. Starting this process is a lot easier than actually laying out a usable plan. Each person will need an individualized plan, but the essential elements comprising each plan will generally be similar.
First, consider the relative newcomer who has learned to fly safely and do a few maneuvers. An appropriate plan for the flier would be to look at the beginner pattern, assess current capability, and chart a course to master the simple patterns before proceeding. The plan might include working with maneuvers on hand. The intent is to improve the things the flier can do, and step toward new parts of the pattern. Each session should chart out new material. The goal should not just be flying the pattern, but flying it well.
The next level would involve looking at the full AMA/F2B aerobatic pattern, with emphasis on the more difficult maneuvers.
Practice productively
When everything is working well, flying Precision Aerobatics is just like any other sport—there is a "zone." Most of the time flying is fun, but when things are right, the zone is an incredible experience—the airplane does exactly what you want. The only way to get to that point is through many repetitions—productive repetitions. You need to collect yourself and really focus on what you are doing. Concentrate!
If you get in a hurry, the chances are you'll be pressing, so take your time when you practice. Be prepared on each flight. Don't rush to fly your next turn if you're not ready for any reason. I know I've done this myself, and upon reflection usually that particular flight didn't prove to be all that productive. Again, this highlights the value of planning—you won't have to make things up as you go along. Even a general plan thought out on the way to the field will prove satisfactory.
I have worked as a strategic planner, and I know that most people abhor planning, especially in written form. However, planning is important; the outcome is the thought process, and the questions developed as a result.
- Practice the hard parts longer. Everyone hates to do what they can't do well. The solution is the very thing we hate—practice, practice with a purpose, practice with a coach.
- Practice with focus. Collect yourself, concentrate on quality rather than quantity.
- Be prepared and don't rush. A thoughtful flight is usually more productive than a hurried one.
Practice the hard maneuvers at the end
We can all visualize hard maneuvers—square eights, hourglass figures, squares, triangles. Certainly maneuvers need to be developed and perfected; they have differentiations. However, my suggestion is to practice them at the end of the complete pattern.
Learn to fly in wind
Another hard thing we usually shy away from is flying in wind. Lots of fliers fly well at their home field under good conditions; very few fliers fly well in strange locations or bad weather. Sounds like contest experience is the way to learn—perform in adverse conditions first-hand. Find out what equipment combinations will work in wind—vary prop, engine and trim. You will find models can be made to fly much better than you thought possible. Soliciting help from an expert will make it a lot easier.
Always try your best in practice
The next point Mr. Marsalis made was: always try your best in practice. A practice session may seem unimportant; you may have the attitude "it's just sport—I'll fly and improve." You must take advantage of every opportunity to fly. A practice flight could determine a national champion. Recently a good friend commented he wasn't going all-out because he didn't have a new airplane—an alibi for working on an old model. A capable airplane certainly flew well.
Learn from mistakes and be optimistic
The slant on the next point, learn from your mistakes, was interesting. Many competitors tend to be hard on themselves. But it's a fact that failure, if properly analyzed and corrected, can be a positive experience. It's difficult to progress without making mistakes, but don't dwell on them. The last item in the list on the video is be optimistic. Pessimism guarantees failure. There are always sessions that don't go the way you want; it's the nature of the beast. But modeling is one of the few closed environments that provides results directly proportional to the input involved.
When I started trying to get more precise with my flying, there were many days when I didn't think I'd ever be able to fly some of the shapes correctly. No matter how much I pushed, it just wouldn't get there. Almost overnight everything seemed to fall into place.
Plateaus and breakthroughs
There is another phenomenon that occurs with fliers who practice a lot. A good pilot can turn in excellent flights for the first 50 flights or so, especially at the beginning of a season. Often at this point the progress will level off, or even turn down. However, if the flier is diligent and works hard for another 200 or so flights over a short period, everything will improve: consistency, shapes, everything.
There is another level of performance which is higher than the best yet achieved. That level then becomes a basis for the next performance. Obviously, there is a price—practice, practice with a purpose, practice with a coach—and the circle is complete!
Robin's View Productions and new video projects
There's something really exciting on the horizon. After many years of success both as competitor and as editor of Flying Models magazine, Bob Hunt has decided to embark on several new private business ventures.
Robin's View Productions is Bob's new video-production company; it will be producing videos dealing with a wide variety of modeling topics. These videos will be produced utilizing state-of-the-art, near-broadcast-quality resolution and editing techniques on a nonlinear digital platform. This will provide the highest-quality videos ever seen in the modeling world.
Several major projects are currently in the works. The first is tied to Bob's lost-foam wing-construction techniques. There will be two tapes:
- A basic tape dealing with wing construction utilizing the lost-foam method.
- An advanced tape demonstrating ballistic-molding techniques, including wing leading edges and fuselage shells.
The second project will be a quarterly video-in-magazine format. There will be regular "how-to" segments, event reports, interviews with famous fliers, contest coverage, vintage segments, etc. Subscriptions will be offered:
- $80 per year
- $24.75 per tape
These first tapes should be available by the time you read this column. Contact Bob at Skytech Innovations, Box 368, Stockertown, PA 18083; (610) 759-8813.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
