[scaleguy]

Originally Posted by BMG

Jim:

He had a Spectrum previously and converted to Futaba. That is where the mistake was made (not switching to Futaba but the expo direction of course).

That's what I thought as I experieced somethin similar when I went from Futaba to Spektrum/JR

[LEE]

Adding to this thread. Wind plays a major factor in what we do (duh!) so rather than get intimidated by it, make it your friend.
We try to fly in all kinds of wind when we practice here in Sudbury, and don't worry too much about landing as we are blessed with a large field with all kinds of approaches.
By practicing in crosswinds, different direction winds etc you learn your rudder corrections until they become second nature no matter wether upside down right side up, going out or in etc. Ideally you'll build in muscle memory and after a while not even know you are inputting rudder to maintain track.
Also I noticed a lot of pilots last week running out of room downwind and consequently screwing up the end manoever (especially the hammer in the Intermediate unknown). The trick here was to go a little longer upwind so you could maintain a decent ACS, and to keep the pauses in between manoevers shorter. So much to learn arrgggg!!!L

[Billpilotca]

Originally Posted by LEE

Also I noticed a lot of pilots last week running out of room downwind and consequently screwing up the end manoever (especially the hammer in the Intermediate unknown). The trick here was to go a little longer upwind so you could maintain a decent ACS, and to keep the pauses in between manoevers shorter. So much to learn arrgggg!!!L

Hmmmm, I think he is referring to my attempt to do that end box hammer over downtown Hamilton, unfortunately by the time I was going up and did the full roll I could not figure out which side of the plane I was looking at and "royally screwed it up".

Good point re moving or shifting the other end upwind, Bryan also made that point earlier in the thread. If my brain could just remember all these things while my knees are shaking

[Sandy]

Six or seven years ago, when Marc was trying hard to get IMAC "resurged" in the Maritimes, we had a contest with about 4 new fliers..... the coaching feedback they got, after their first round, from an experienced IMAC flier, was "You guys suck!!"

Verrry helpfull.

[BMG]

Originally Posted by Sandy

Six or seven years ago, when Marc was trying hard to get IMAC "resurged" in the Maritimes, we had a contest with about 4 new fliers..... the coaching feedback they got, after their first round, from an experienced IMAC flier, was "You guys suck!!"

Verrry helpfull.

You obviously had the support of a moron who I would be ashamed to call an IMAC family member. In all my time in IMAC, (5 years or so) I have never heard a negative word.

If you can get a good supportive coach (or two like I did) it makes every flight fun and progressively better than the last.

Good luck

Brendan

[midi0101]

Originally Posted by Sandy

Six or seven years ago, when Marc was trying hard to get IMAC "resurged" in the Maritimes, we had a contest with about 4 new fliers..... the coaching feedback they got, after their first round, from an experienced IMAC flier, was "You guys suck!!"

Verrry helpfull.

Well, maybe that experienced IMAC flyer was one of those who did not have to learn and was an unlimited 1d1ot ahhh, sorry,pilot right after getting his/her wings....
I have been flying IMAC for several years now, and I have never heard any negative criticism.....Most of the higher classes pilots go out of their way to help new pilots...

How is IMAC in the Maritimes theses days....asking, because I am planning to be moving back east in a couple of years...

Michael

[LEE]

On the subject of feedback I got an e mail from a contestant at the Nats who wanted some positive criticism and this is what I wrote;

Quote:

Hey Lee,

I noticed you were one of the intermediate judges a few times this past weekend and was wondering if you have any feedback? I do 90% of my practice on my own without anyone to critique so it’s easy to practice wrong perfect.

If you seen (remember) anything I was doing wrong consistently please lets have it… don’t worry I have thick skin.

Thanks in advance,
Not sure I can remember what you were doing wrong but things that are glaring at the lower levels are heading and track fluctuations between manoevers. You want to complete a manoever then lock into level flight with little or no motion so if you need correction make sure it's very subtle and use rudder to keep wings as level as possible. Also vertical lines must be dead straight without the constant angle corrections people often make.
Also make sure to center things and not have a long or short line before say a roll, then a quick or drawn out line after. This means make things big if you have a down line manoever so you have time to draw an equal line after, but not so big that judges are waiting for the plane to come out of the clouds LOL!
I've learned from flying in the states that it's better to be very methodical in roll rates so you can time when to start and stop them at the right points. Finally rudder correction for everything is key to maintain lines that are straight and bang on.
I saw glaring errors even in Unlimited so nobody's perfect

[LEE]

One thing that really messed me up was on the first day at the Nats, we flew with a direct crosswind in our faces, something we never encounter at our home field. Consequently I was blown in on my opening manoever in Advanced and I corrected poorly almost going over the deadline. This made everything come up in very tight and uncomfortable for the judges to watch and my scores suffered.
Unfortunately in the upper classes you don't have the luxury of starting off poorly then trying to catch up so my chances of getting into the trophies was lost right off the bat
So what to do? Well, luckily at our field it is wide enough that I will switch sides if we ever have crosswind conditions to practice that scenario. Also placement of the plane so that judges have an easy time of it ( meaning out far enough so that there is no crazy upward gazing to keep the plane in sight) should be a priority.
No one said IMAC was easy and it is always most challenging which is what keeps it fresh and fun!

[Kent F]

Great observations as usual Lee No wonder your our favorite coach...Sat breakfast and more practice for Jimmy's contest....Yeah!!!!!!!!!

[BMG]

Mix it up!


We had a great practice session yesterday and another today. Yesterday was just about elements (straight lines, radio tweaking, anything that was a nemisis all season). For me it was my loop with a positive snap on the top. We call it a "Looptyschnap".

I also worked on touch and go's with bits of foam on the field as a target landing spot. What a fun morning and it took away from the sometimes boring routine at this point in the season. Lee worked on some positioning and line work while Kent seems to have figured out an intermittent cross coupling issue (his looptyschnap is greaat). It was a very productive day for the three of us.

I have to add that it was productive for Gaston also as he went home and cut his lawn. :

Today we went back to the routines with what we had worked on yesterday. What a difference the previous day's practice made.

Mix up your practices a bit and make it more fun.

Focus on what you are not doing well for a while and try to improve it.

Two great days of flying and I feel very positive about the results.


Brendan