can happen if you hold the control a bit longer until the plane actually goes invert- ed and then reverse to pull out level and low. If you don’t hold the control long enough the plane only turns 30–45 degrees and then when you give up it is already too low and goes kerflumph into the ground. The next thing to learn is keeping track of
the plane without looking at it all the time. This includes keeping track of your oppo- nent in a match too. One way to start is by doing a lazy eight. Up elevator, as the plane heads towards the ground feed in some down so it goes straight, and the finish the outside back to the start. Do several until you are really comfortable with them. Next, pick a landmark and try to put the
center of the eight on it. Easy stuff to do from practicing the Stunt pattern. Now start stretching the eights out. Make the transi- tions from inside to outside longer, but keep your eyes on the landmark. Eventually it gets to the point where the plane flies out of your field of vision on each side, but then, woweee, it comes back in just where you expected. Do something similar with loops. Start a smallish loop fairly low. Keeping your eyes on the center do another one but let the plane fly higher so it just stays in view at the top. Then let it fly out of view a bit at the top. Start paying attention to the wind. Big
Alex Prokofiev and Cary Minor (above) get ready to fly. Most pilots use a stop watch to keep track of the air time. Some just start a watch at the start engine signal. Others use a watch with a countdown timer which is a little less confusing. Bobby and Robert Wallace (below) fire up Robert’s plane ready for a match against Wayne Foster at Huntersville, NC. Wayne ended up on the short end of the stick, but they both lost out with a midair collision.
wide overhead eights can get very hard to do, especially in a wind. The most critical point is just after the plane heads into the wind. The wind slows it down reducing line pull and making it harder to feel where the plane is. This can really take a toll on a Stunt plane. The pilot has to wait like for- ever for the plane to get up wind and as soon as he gives some more control the wind tends to take over and blow the plane around the loop in the wrong place. A Combat pilot has to keep the wind in
mind too. Starting a turn at the right spot can make the plane turn much tighter than expected. Turning at the wrong spot can let it wander all over as the wind slows the plane down and changes how much control you have. That ought to be enough to get through
the rest of the winter. While you’re thinking about it, do the final part, mental training. Thinking the maneuvers through and doing the actual hand and body actions while you do it helps set the muscle reflexes in place. Much of the Combat action takes place too fast to think about. Your body has to know what it’s supposed to do without going through it step-by-step mentally. When you get the reflexes trained much of
the action can happen almost by itself and your “in the zone”. Then the rest of your mind is kind of along for the ride and can do things like setting up a situation where a fake will work, or taking a close look at where the streamer is when it drags across the plane so you can adjust your position and get a cut.
FLYING MODELS 51
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