I thought this might be a neat ideas for people to share there hints or tricks that they do when flying the sequence. There are lots of guys that practice very well but when they get up in front of judges they start to rush there sequences and in turn get lower scores. So what do you do to keep yourself calm and your flight looking good.

Some of my personal tricks I have picked up from other pilots when calling for them and have tried to use them when I fly.

Personally I have always followed the counting technique (1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi...) on up and downlines to keep them the same length when they need to be.

Some center box maneuvers I will start just before or after center to keep the maneuver looking correctly.

For those doing rolling circles I have found that you don't always want to do them on the deck. By doing them low judges can now use the ground to judge any variation in altitude.

Don't always rely on rudder to correct your mistakes and adjust your line. If you can use aileron at times, especially if you are making a radius when you need to adjust. Sometimes rudder is more obvious. Also this works well when you either under rotate or over rotate a manuever, follow the line until you get to your next radius and make your adjustment then instead of having the obvious correction right after the maneuver.

Again these are just my ideas, it certainly does not mean they are correct.

So lets here yours!

Good tips Kevin, now I know what to look for when I'm judging you !!!! Just kidding I already knew to look for that stuff.

yeah Mark, I like the ones that try to sneak one over on me. Especially on the exit line and doesn't correct before initiating the next manuver!!!!

Good tips Kevin, Thanks

Posted By Kurtis Waites on 18 Jan 2009 21:35
yeah Mark, I like the ones that try to sneak one over on me. Especially on the exit line and doesn't correct before initiating the next manuver!!!!

my point is to try to correct it in the least obvious way. That way judges have to second guess themselves on what they saw and what they did not see. If you over rotate 5 degrees out of a snap and can correct it in a radius in a way that is not as obvious then you have a good chance they are not going to knock you those points. On the other hand if you did that snap and again over rotated 5 degrees but quickly gave it aileron correction on the line you will get nailed every time for the over rotation. Obviously this only works with slight over rotations and depends on the positioning of the airplane.

Another example is a basic loop. When many people start to come in or go out with there loops they automatically go to rudder but aileron is applied in the correct spots you can clean up your loop and score more points then you would have.

I have seen it done with every level of pilot and there definately is an art to doing it correctly.

Again I am not saying what I do is exactly the right way to do it but for many it may atleast make them think of other ways of cleaning up there sequence flying.

Even if it is things you do in practice to help you learn the sequence let share them to help others learn. There are many people on here that have been exposed to different techniques for doing maneuvers. For those of you that have been to contests in different regions just look how things like snaps are scored in differently around the country. For example those of you that flew in both Clover Creek and the Shootout, judges looked for different things.

Hey Kevin - good thread to start!

I have not been competing long (3rd year.) I did RC cars competitively for 18years before I started flying. I tend to fly better in competition than practice which is a good thing! In practice I concentrate on individual manuvers and I tend to be too hard on myself. But beating up on myself in practice seems to help me not beat up on myself at contests.

Things that have worked for me:
#1 Just like with RC cars you have to train yourself to look ahead of the airplane. I struggle with this still. In RC cars I would be looking 2 corners ahead trying to draw the line in my mind. I did not even think about the controller - my fingers just automatically did what they did to put the car on the line. My best sequences have been when I had the manuver drawn in my mind and flew the plane to that. I get the line spacing better than counting when I can see the line in my head. The problem with counting is the plane doesn't fly a constant speed going up or down... BUT counting is better than not counting if you can't see the line in your mind.

#2 Don't concentrate too hard... when I really zone in on the plane, get tunnel vision and try to psych myself up - I fly badly. When I just relax like it is any other practice flight it generally goes better. When I feel like I am "flying lazy" its a good flight.

#3 Smile! Actually have fun! The benefit of being hard on myself in practice is that the contest actually is fun. I feel more relaxed. I figure I put in all those hours, I beat up on myself and I really prepared... so now just let the chips fall where they may. Socialize, have fun, encourage others and then just fly - and make it one of those "man I love this hobby" flights.

Things that have not worked for me:
#1 Busting your main plane during practice right before the contest is not really recoverable... so have fun because you probaby won't like your flying or your backup plane much after this (ask me how I know LOL.)

#2 Trying to be "serious" is a bad idea.

Posted By Chris Hammond on 19 Jan 2009 11:20
Hey Kevin - good thread to start!

I have not been competing long (3rd year.) I did RC cars competitively for 18years before I started flying. I tend to fly better in competition than practice which is a good thing! In practice I concentrate on individual manuvers and I tend to be too hard on myself. But beating up on myself in practice seems to help me not beat up on myself at contests.

Things that have worked for me:
#1 Just like with RC cars you have to train yourself to look ahead of the airplane. I struggle with this still. In RC cars I would be looking 2 corners ahead trying to draw the line in my mind. I did not even think about the controller - my fingers just automatically did what they did to put the car on the line. My best sequences have been when I had the manuver drawn in my mind and flew the plane to that. I get the line spacing better than counting when I can see the line in my head. The problem with counting is the plane doesn't fly a constant speed going up or down... BUT counting is better than not counting if you can't see the line in your mind.

#2 Don't concentrate too hard... when I really zone in on the plane, get tunnel vision and try to psych myself up - I fly badly. When I just relax like it is any other practice flight it generally goes better. When I feel like I am "flying lazy" its a good flight.

#3 Smile! Actually have fun! The benefit of being hard on myself in practice is that the contest actually is fun. I feel more relaxed. I figure I put in all those hours, I beat up on myself and I really prepared... so now just let the chips fall where they may. Socialize, have fun, encourage others and then just fly - and make it one of those "man I love this hobby" flights.

Things that have not worked for me:
#1 Busting your main plane during practice right before the contest is not really recoverable... so have fun because you probaby won't like your flying or your backup plane much after this (ask me how I know LOL.)

#2 Trying to be "serious" is a bad idea.

Good ones Chris!!!! Especially #3

I accidentally came across a method that worked very well for me last season. May not work for all, but here goes:

About mid season, I was at a meet and could not come up with a "trained" caller, so just grabbed a warm body, figuring I could remember the sequence. I asked my helper to just watch the plane and the other guy to avoid possible mid-airs.

Focusing on the flying, and not having to listen/process what a caller would have been saying allowed me to not only concentrate better on the aircraft, but I was able to relax quite a bit as well. With the focus entirely on the aircraft, I was able to finally get the "finesse" that was missing on most other flights up until this point.

I tried this at two more meets, and the results were the same!
Just make sure you REALLY know the maneuvers!!

Good flying!

Actually I agree Joe. Last season I took advice from a few guys to memorize not only the knowns - but the unkown. I trained myself to memorize the unknown, fly thorugh it many, many times with the stick plane and really take it in. It made a huge difference.

I use my caller to remind me the name of the manuver but not talk me through it. It is also good to know that the caller is looking out for other traffic and safety stuff - that helps me to relax more.