can be used as trainer. Pull the engine fully forward and maybe add 1⁄4–1⁄2 ounce of weight to the nose to make it fairly stable. Make sure it can do nice loops and lazy eights and has no warps. With brand new flyers who can ride a bicycle easily, it should only take a couple flights to get them up and flying level. Make sure they hold their arm out straight but relaxed with the handle up- right. Let them fly level as many flights as it takes to get comfortable and to practice landing.
The next step is climbs and dives. Unless the wind is high (over 10 mph) have them climb and dive as they go around. First up high, then back down to level. Then have them try to climb a quarter lap and dive a quarter lap so they make two climbs and two dives in one lap. Make sure they follow the plane with their hand and keep the arm relaxed and out straight, following the plane.
The next step is a loop. Try having them
start a climb, but keep adding up while fol- lowing the plane with their arm. The plane will automatically do a fairly tight loop. The most common mistake is the new pilot stops following the plane, holds their arm up and bends the wrist down, flying the plane straight into the ground. It is best to short circuit this reaction by holding their hand for the first couple loops. Doing the first loop is usually a thrilling step for new pilots. Give them some real congratulations. The next step is starting figure eights. If they are eager, let them try it alone, with just some coaching. Start the loop. After the plane goes inverted and starts down lean your hand to the left (thumb left) and give down elevator. Be smooth and follow the plane with the arm, trying to keep it re- laxed. If new flyers have trouble, don’t hes- itate to hold their hand and show them ex- actly what to do. It speeds their training a lot.
Once they can do a reasonable figure eight
it is time to start multiple maneuvers. Have them do two loops and level out. Then start an eight and do two outside loops and recov- er. Then they should start stretching the eight out into inverted flight. The goal here is to be able to fly a full tank of fuel with the plane flying upside down, including eights, loops, and landing. All along emphasize placing the maneuvers in specific locations, flying smoothly, and making maneuvers of different sizes.
At this point you have a competent pilot
on your hands and it is time to go to two up flying and advanced maneuvering, maybe next month.
My thanks to Igor Trifonov, a three-time World Champion, for sharing his experience across the globe. I always said it takes at least 50 matches to start becoming a compe- tent Combat pilot. Learning all the basics right away, instead of by trial and error, gets a new pilot out and flying much faster and better.
Proof that Combat is a fast-paced sport of skill. In this sequence of photos, Dan Banjock runs from Brad LaPointe (above left), Brad catches up (above
right), gets the cut (below left), dumps Dan into the dirt (below right), and hits the ground himself about 50 feet ahead.
FLYING MODELS
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