Essential scale flying routines

[Nick Stock 2]

Hello forum,

 

going to shoot this one out here - I’d like to think it’s been answered before so lots of valuable input hoped for and appreciated:

 

I can fly IC warbirds to a somewhat decent standard. A decent understanding of rudder use in directing my aircraft as intended as an example. Don’t consider myself an expert hence my post though I am looking to hone my core skills.

 

I am seeking to become more aware of the names and types of manoeuvres so that I can better plan my circuits.

 

I am asking for suggestions for a sequence for a display of scale aerobatics and any accompanying flying tips that assist good flying practise.

 

This with properly prepared flights in kind as opposed to do what I feel in the moment for a bit of a change from what I’ve become accustomed to.

 

P47, Spitfire, Mosquito .100 fs glow, 180 fs glow and 2 x .82 fs are top of my fleet for reference.

 

many thanks 

[Dale Bradly]

Nick, I'm at the same place as you.

I've been trawling the interwebs trying to find an existing sequence to copy, but haven't found one yet. Ive spent the last year pondering maneovers to use, and looking for guidance on how to string a sequence together, but haven't. What i have found is of course most of this stuff is aimed at aerobatics, and not at warbird display flying. That said, the basics are the same.

I presume you are familiar with the name "Aresti"? e.g. https://iac24.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Aresti-2012-Catelog.pdf

It seems that the system is protected, so perhaps that's why there doesn't seem to be a lot to freely download, however there are plenty of resources on the net about the scheme, and symbology to use. 

Names for such things may be less forthcoming.

One thing i found not very helpful was YT videos: With all the editing typically in the videos, zooming in and out, and usually the ground not being in reference, they provided little help in actually identifying something that i wanted to copy into my sequence.

On the flipside, what was very helpful was attending a large (fullsize) airshow recently, armed with a notepad, and scribbling down notes of display pieces that i liked so i could then incorporate these pieces into my own routine.

What i realized is that: (my opinion only)

• A model display consist largely of: passing left to right while "doing something", turning around at the end, passing right to left while doing something, turning around at the end....
• I need to do this without boredom setting in, so not repetitive
• It needs to be entertaining for an onlooker to watch, e.g. start simply, and build to a climax
• It needs to be able to be reversed relatively simply depending on wind/circuit direction
• it needs to suit warbird models, i.e. i believe snap rolls have no place in this routine. 
• it needs to be universal, so it could be flown in a Tiger Moth or a Sea Fury
• that said, it should be easy to modify, e.g. the Tiger Moth could drop out the high speed pass (!) as that's pointless, but the Sea Fury could easily take another fit another, all depending on the model.

So the most productive time i have spend was just this last weekend where i spent 2 or 3 hours flying a plastic model around my living room, "modelling" the routine i wanted and scribbling notes on a whiteboard, editing as i went, until i had figured out what i would fly, in what order. 

This was quite important, trying to keep the display flowing, and figuring out things like "the last maneuver finished at x height, at y speed, so now that i know that, what is the next thing that suits this starting position", trying to keep it smooth and comfortable.

My sequence starts with takeoff, followed by "horizontal" maneuvers, that is not changing in height, e.g. passes and aileron rolls, then bringing in vertical maneuvers, e.g. loops and cuban eights, before progressing into combinations of the above, where the start and finish are on 45 degree lines, and/or differing heights between start and finish, culminating in a downwind high speed pass to circle and break for landing. 

 

I might publish my sequence when ive confirmed i like it and it works (i'm practicing it on the sim for the near future) but i recommend grabbing a toy plane (even a paper dart) and waving it around your living room and see what flows out of that.

Dale

 

 

Edited April 11 by Dale Bradly
so many spelling mistakes

[RottenRow]

Have a look at this thread from last year.

 

Although not 100% what you are looking for it might give you some ideas.

 

The BMFA scale competitions, which are based upon the FAI (international) rules, use a couple of compulsory manoeuvres and the rest chosen to suit the aircraft type from a list in the Scale Rules book, which can be downloaded from the Scale Technical Committee section of the BMFA website.

 

The idea nowadays is that the entire flight should feature manoeuvres that follow on smoothly from each other. The flight is judged on each manoeuvre, plus the overall realism. Take off and landing are judged for scale accuracy also.

 

For your ‘display’ flying you could feature some of the manoeuvres more than once. You could also watch a full-size display of a similar aircraft and base your flight around that.

 

The idea of a universal flight for either a warbird or a Tiger Moth doesn’t really work, as their flight patterns are so different.

 

Brian.

[Chris Walby]

From what I picked up from my visit to Buckminster scale comp and a few longish conversations with competitors/judges was:

• The competitor researches their model aircraft (they need to document this anyway) and what the fight characteristics and capabilities are.
• The competitor can choose from standard or manoeuvres of their choice, but still needs to be within the known capabilities of the aircraft modelled
• You have to display in front of the judges/flightline with an start & finish points, so no flying at yourself inverted and bunting it out!
• Its not so much about how complex or difficult the manoeuvres are but how well you fly it IMO 

So if you fly a spitfire then everyone is an expert and knows what the full size is capable of, but if you fly something that is either very early (WW1) or so obscure no one apart from you knows what it is capable of then you are the expert (within reason of course).

 

PS Don't pick an aircraft to model/fly that is a known trouble maker or something that's very high workload as once it starts to go wrong it will unravel very quickly.

 

PPS the BMFA B test is good to practice with everything flown in one hit and on one battery (limits faffing around time!).

[Philip Lewis 3]

I think this is what you want, the FAI Scale Sporting Code, this covers all scale competitions so you might want to skip to F4C and F4H which is the scale RC Planes sections, schedules and judging criteria are covered in here. 

sc4_vol_f4_scale_24.pdf

[Nick Stock 2]

Thanks all so much for taking time to reply.

 

I now know that it is pretty much as difficult to achieve as I felt!

 

Saying that, each reply had been delightful to read and highlights practical options for me to consider which answers the post greatly.

 

Best

 

 

 

 

 

 

23 hours ago, Dale Bradly said:

Nick, I'm at the same place as you.

I've been trawling the interwebs trying to find an existing sequence to copy, but haven't found one yet. Ive spent the last year pondering maneovers to use, and looking for guidance on how to string a sequence together, but haven't. What i have found is of course most of this stuff is aimed at aerobatics, and not at warbird display flying. That said, the basics are the same.

I presume you are familiar with the name "Aresti"? e.g. https://iac24.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Aresti-2012-Catelog.pdf

It seems that the system is protected, so perhaps that's why there doesn't seem to be a lot to freely download, however there are plenty of resources on the net about the scheme, and symbology to use. 

Names for such things may be less forthcoming.

One thing i found not very helpful was YT videos: With all the editing typically in the videos, zooming in and out, and usually the ground not being in reference, they provided little help in actually identifying something that i wanted to copy into my sequence.

On the flipside, what was very helpful was attending a large (fullsize) airshow recently, armed with a notepad, and scribbling down notes of display pieces that i liked so i could then incorporate these pieces into my own routine.

What i realized is that: (my opinion only)

• A model display consist largely of: passing left to right while "doing something", turning around at the end, passing right to left while doing something, turning around at the end....
• I need to do this without boredom setting in, so not repetitive
• It needs to be entertaining for an onlooker to watch, e.g. start simply, and build to a climax
• It needs to be able to be reversed relatively simply depending on wind/circuit direction
• it needs to suit warbird models, i.e. i believe snap rolls have no place in this routine. 
• it needs to be universal, so it could be flown in a Tiger Moth or a Sea Fury
• that said, it should be easy to modify, e.g. the Tiger Moth could drop out the high speed pass (!) as that's pointless, but the Sea Fury could easily take another fit another, all depending on the model.

So the most productive time i have spend was just this last weekend where i spent 2 or 3 hours flying a plastic model around my living room, "modelling" the routine i wanted and scribbling notes on a whiteboard, editing as i went, until i had figured out what i would fly, in what order. 

This was quite important, trying to keep the display flowing, and figuring out things like "the last maneuver finished at x height, at y speed, so now that i know that, what is the next thing that suits this starting position", trying to keep it smooth and comfortable.

My sequence starts with takeoff, followed by "horizontal" maneuvers, that is not changing in height, e.g. passes and aileron rolls, then bringing in vertical maneuvers, e.g. loops and cuban eights, before progressing into combinations of the above, where the start and finish are on 45 degree lines, and/or differing heights between start and finish, culminating in a downwind high speed pass to circle and break for landing. 

 

I might publish my sequence when ive confirmed i like it and it works (i'm practicing it on the sim for the near future) but i recommend grabbing a toy plane (even a paper dart) and waving it around your living room and see what flows out of that.

Dale