Northeast competitions

volvo164

volvo164

Laszlo
Joined
Nov 18, 2019
Messages
187
Is anyone planning to attend the competition in Virginia in June?
AIRPORT :KHWY, Warrenton-Fauquier Airport
Midland, VA
CONTEST DATES:
2022-06-18 to 2022-06-19

I'm contemplating attending, to do Primary in my 7ECA - this would be my first contest. I haven't attended any training sessions yet, so a bit apprehensive, since who knows how my loops / verticals, etc. look from the ground. Anyway, checking to see if anyone else is considering attending with Citabria/Decathlons.
Laszlo
 
One way to do it is to go in expecting to rank last, and just have a good time. I did that in 1976 - I had been practicing in a 7KCAB, and it broke just before my turn came up. They gave me the Decathlon, said to set the prop at 2500 and fly it like the 7 - I got third place! There must have been some truly bad contestants in that competition!
 
Laszlo,

Which IAC chapter do you belong to? IAC 52 is having a practice day at the end of April. Our dues are a modest $35 which would allow you to attend. Would be nice to have another 7ECA there!

If I have the days off I would consider flying down with you but June is hectic with our son graduating high school and our daughter starting a month of study abroad.
 
Haven't really joined a chapter yet - was planning to join IAC 35 in Nashua NH, but happy to join 52 as well if a practice session lines up schedule wise. I won't be able to make end April, as that's when I'm getting the annual done, but hopefully more sessions come up.
 
There is an outside chance I will go, but more likely not, just because it is a long haul from Florida and I have 2 closer contests. However, I think there is some kind of regional points award that I need 3 contests to be eligible for, so I won't rule it out if my competitive juices are flowing after the first 2.

I would strongly urge you to attend and compete. It will be a very positive experience. Your first contest is not about how your figures appear. Your first contest is about learning contest procedures and getting comfortable flying in the box. Until you try it, you will be nervous about screwing it up, so get that out of the way on the first contest when you don't care about the score.

Also, most contests will have up to a week of practice days. Take advantage of that to get a few practice flights in the box prior to the contest flights. You will get more comfortable, get some good critiques, and most importantly you will learn to orient yourself in the box by the ground features. If you do not do that, you are likely to look down at the ground, not recognize what you see, and turn 90 degrees off heading, tanking your score and preventing you from your first win. Ask me how I know.
 
This one's going to have just 1 day of practice, or 1 afternoon. Was hoping to attend a practice day somewhere prior to a competition. I went up today and did a handful of practice primary runs. Just about everything needs a lot more work. I finally found a practice area that resembles being above a runway - however I'm finding it hard to manage my position above it - since it's directly below - so just realized I should have positioned it off on 1 side ...
 
volvo164 said:
This one's going to have just 1 day of practice, or 1 afternoon. Was hoping to attend a practice day somewhere prior to a competition. I went up today and did a handful of practice primary runs. Just about everything needs a lot more work. I finally found a practice area that resembles being above a runway - however I'm finding it hard to manage my position above it - since it's directly below - so just realized I should have positioned it off on 1 side ...
Click to expand...

Yup, that's all part of the learning process, and why it's so valuable to attend that first contest.

Also why practice flight prior to the contest is so valuable if you are not familiar with the box at that location, even for an experienced pilot. It can be challenging to avoid going out of the box at first, especially on the downwind side. The box will be marked, but the markings are small and hard to see when you are maneuvering. Practice flights will allow you to select obvious natural landmarks for the upwind and downwind boundaries, and also for center box where the judges are sitting. In fact, the most experienced pilots will be the ones pushing hardest for a practice session at an unfamiliar box.

Box positioning is the hardest skill to learn in contest flying. The only way to learn it is to do it. Enter the contest and you will have plenty of help. That IAC chapter has some very experienced pilots, among them Adam Cope who is one of the top 2 or 3 aerobatic experts in our aircraft type in the US. They will be very glad to give you advice on flying in the box, and and will also happily fly as safety pilot with you. Safety pilot is a bit misnamed; I would call it "aerial contest advisor", since what they are really doing is talking you through your first few times in the box. If you get there for the practice flight and get a safety pilot, they will give you a really good orientation on the box and you will feel confident to fly alone during the contest.

Don't put off your first contest because you want to "do well." Doing well in the first contest is defined simply as learning to fly in the box. Working on pretty figures comes later.

Just do it. Trust me ... you will be very glad you did.
 
volvo164 said:
This one's going to have just 1 day of practice, or 1 afternoon. Was hoping to attend a practice day somewhere prior to a competition. I went up today and did a handful of practice primary runs. Just about everything needs a lot more work. I finally found a practice area that resembles being above a runway - however I'm finding it hard to manage my position above it - since it's directly below - so just realized I should have positioned it off on 1 side ...
Click to expand...

For the folks that know all this stuff, ignore the following.
Remember the Primary Sequence does not require the competitor to respect the lateral Box boundaries. Use this to your advantage to place your key figures right in front of the judges. Make your 1/2 Cuban and Competition 180 Turn at the limit or just outside the lateral limit of the box to set up your Loop and your Roll right in front of the judges for the best score.
1649291708880.webp
The critical boundary is the Box's deck which will earn you a Low or Low-Low. This situation will most likely occur after the 1/2 Roll finishing the 1/2 Cuban so only hold your 45 down line before and after the 1/2 Roll for a second or you will be screaming fast. Today I was easily at 180mph in the Super-D at that point. You can top the 1/2 Cuban with a good, slow float to create a little extra space for yourself.

Like Big Ed said. Just do it.

1649291693138.webp
 
1500 ft AGL feels pretty frickin' low when you're used to practicing the basics at three or four thousand feet usually!

Thanks for the reminder that the lateral limits aren't enforced for Primary. (y)
 
Bartman said:
1500 ft AGL feels pretty frickin' low when you're used to practicing the basics at three or four thousand feet usually!

Thanks for the reminder that the lateral limits aren't enforced for Primary. (y)
Click to expand...

Our type aircraft will get lows several hundred feet above 1500 because we look larger than other types. Kinda frustrating to be such an arbitrary process.
 
It is something you get comfortable with over time. I use a floor of 3000' for new maneuvers and flight with a passenger. I lower my floor to 2000' when I start working on my sportsman sequence, because you want the same visual picture and angle to the judging area as in an actual contest. I try to keep my sequence between 2K and 3K, but sometimes I fly sloppy and finish a few hundred feet lower. I sometimes do slow rolls at 1500' on my way back from the practice area.
 
I haven't done the sequence at the competition altitudes yet either. Planning to start practicing it. There's only one area up here where I wouldn't be over houses / farms so I've been very reluctant to lower my practice altitude to avoid having angry residents call me in.
Anyway: I was planning to start with the spin at the very top of the box, which should have me finish at 2000'. My calculations are that I should start the 45 up line in the center of the box, puts the spin 3/4 down the box, which should then position the cuban 1/4 way down the box, the loop 3/4 down, steep turn at the edge, accelerate level across the box to finish the slow roll 1/4 down. I've not had issues coming out fast from the cuban - actually the opposite. To avoid quitting the engine, I start the roll 1 second after inverted 45, but find that I have to keep diving and diving afterwards to get back to 140. With that said, I've found that loops feel perfectly fine at 120 - although no idea how those look from the ground. The only time a loop felt strange, is when I forgot to put power back in after the spin, and did it at idle power ...
 
Well, here's a somewhat lousy video of my Primary practice attempt. Lousy because I tried to see how 2x speed would work (I then slowed the acro portion 1/2 to normal speed) and failed to properly align the gopro with the plane's horizontal. Anyway, the sequence is missing the initial 45 upline, which I've been skipping to simplify practice. One thing that surprised me is how quick things happen - they feel much slower in the plane. So I guess I don't have to keep diving that long after the Cuban. Lots of things to fix: longer transition between the maneuvers, look out to ensure 45 downline after the Cuban's roll, crisper / decisive transitions. Hard to tell from the camera angle, but I think the 100mph slow roll looks OK.
 
Sorry to resurrect an old thread.

Did you end up doing Warrenton last year? I was a member of IAC 11 until last year when I moved to CT. Adam, Krysta, and crew put on an awesome contest. I've always had a blast. Good food, good peeps, cool airplanes, what's not to love. I'm planning on going this year after missing last year.

Chris
 
No I didn't - just didn't have the time. Hoping to do Green Mountain as my first contest this year (July 14th weekend). Problem is I got distracted by buying a Cessna 170 - and restoring (more like sprucing up and improving) it since October.
 
volvo164 said:
No I didn't - just didn't have the time. Hoping to do Green Mountain as my first contest this year (July 14th weekend). Problem is I got distracted by buying a Cessna 170 - and restoring (more like sprucing up and improving) it since October.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty good reason! I'm planning on doing Green Mountain as well. Hope to see you there.
 
Anyone else going to the Keene Classic (sportsman competition) tomorrow in Keene NH?
Hopefully the cloud deck will be high enough. I'll see how it goes - it will be my first competition. A few days ago, I went up after not flying for a while, and knocked out about 6 sportsmans, that I thought were passable. But then I went up yesterday, and couldn't even finish 1.
 
Finally got to my first competition at Keene NH today. It was a Sportsman known only competition - why mess around with primary anyway. Everyone flew once, no practice. Here's how mine turned out. Not pretty - but I got through it. Note that I took a break after the immelman. I lose 2500' for the whole routine in my 7ECA, no matter what I tried, so a break was necessary. For reference, the Super D loses 1000'. Since I kept practicing primary at the club's practice events, this was the first time I got feedback on Sportsman (a lot of it). It was a fun competition, Greg Dinning winning it in his Super D. His routine looked perfect to me. I keep struggling with the hammer after the 45 upline. Just not enough time in my plane to get a feel for the vertical, and hard to time it right. You can see that I was positive going up. Disappointed that I messed up the roll (dished out and had to correct back). However, this was the first figure after the break, and since it took so long for me to climb back up, 2 of the 3 judges fell asleep :-o
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1366943934030801
 
Glad it worked out for you finally! I really admire your courage to go fly sportsman the first time out with your ECA. What's next?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top