What is pattern?

 Pattern is an R/C activity using aircraft primarily designed for precision aerobatic maneuvers.

What types of maneuvers are involved in Pattern?

Generally, maneuvers follow prescribed "schedules" of "classes" which are voted on and incorporated in the AMA and FAI handbooks with their rules cycles.  Many of the maneuvers emulate full-scale aerobatic competition, and some are specific to the event.

What are the "classes" in Pattern?

There are 5 classes, designed with increasing complexity and difficulty of maneuvers

• • Sportsman
  • Intermediate
  • Advanced
  • Masters
  • F3A -- the class used in international World Aerobatic Championships.

How do you move from one class to the next?

Pilots may voluntarily move up in class.  For the full explanation, with rules and exceptions to rules, see the AMA Precision Aerobatics rules.

How are Pattern airplanes different?

Generally, pattern designs are extremely "stable", meaning that they are built with inherent ability to "stay where put".  These airplanes are INHERENTLY designed to have little or no self-induced corrections of attitude.

How are Pattern Competition events run?

Usually, all five classes will be flown, many times on two flight lines in front of two sets of judges.  Scores are given by each judge for each maneuver, based on a 0- 10 scale, with difficulty weights built into the scoring system.  All maneuvers are performed within an aerobatic box, defined as 60 degrees left and right of the pilot's position, and 60 degrees elevation.  Flight line average distance is recommended to be 150 - 175 meters.

How is the winner of an event determined?

Each class usually awards plaques, or prizes, for each of the first three places, depending on turnout, funds, etc. The winner of each place is determined by scores within each round, with the "best" or highest scoring pilot within a class being the "winner" of that round. All other pilots within the same class have their scores comparatively ranked against this "best" pilot of the round using a system called "normalizing".

Are there specialized equipment needs for Pattern?

Each increasing degree of difficulty class places greater competitive demands on pilot skills, equipment reliability, and capability of designs.  Generally, practically ANY kind of reasonably-capable aerobatic design will work well in Sportsman, while in the FAI and Masters classes, designs must be pretty specialized and refined to be capable of the complex figures.

What organization "governs" Pattern?

In the United States, the AMA defines competitive requirements, judging criteria, and contest administration for events.  Other countries have similar governing bodies, but the international class, F3A, is governed by the participating countries who are members of the CIAM or Federation Aeronautique Internationale.

Is there a "SIG" for pattern?

The AMA has designated the National Society for Radio Control Aerobatics to be the "special interest group", responsible for coordination of national events, rules changes, and contest organizing/planning.

How do I get started in Pattern?

See this page for detailed suggestions for an airplane, beginners pattern, practicing, and flying your first contest.

If your local field has no one involved, get the AMA Precision Aerobatics rulebook, read it, and then GO FLY!!!  Practice the maneuvers and pay attention to all the judging criteria to try and fly the perfect "10" on every maneuver in your sequence.  Then practice.  And practice some more. Go to a contest in your area.  You can find out about the contests by clicking on the Calendar on the top bar and selecting NSRCA Events - this will display a list of all the upcoming contests.  You'll be able to filter this list if you'd like to narrow your choices down.  Start making connections with a great bunch of highly-skilled radio control pilots....and enjoy the competitive camaraderie that results....

What district am I in?

• District 1: CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT
• District 2: DC, NC, SC, VA
• District 3: AL, FL, GA, MS, TN
• District 4: IN, KY, MI, OH, WV
• District 5: IA, IL, KS, MN, MO, ND, NE, SD, WI
• District 6: AR, CO, LA, NM, OK, TX
• District 7: CA, AZ, HI, NV, UT
• District 8: AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY
• District 9: Canada

(Or your second or third) So now you want to try out your skills at a contest. Good! But just remember, competition is supposed to be FUN. If your not having fun, then something's wrong. A competitive spirit is good, but don't let it get out of hand. Did you get a good night's rest? Did you take the time to inspect all of your gear, plane, transmitter, batteries? Have you practiced in the last few days? Did you remember your AMA license? Did you use a Check List when you packed up the car for the trip to this contest? You can remove Fun Spoiling Tensions by spending a little time in preparation before the contest. The first thing you should do when you arrive at the contest site is to register with the Contest Director (CD). Don't make the poor fellow chase you around like he has to do for others, as they thoughtlessly get busy setting up their plane and equipment. Start off right and be a gentlemen. It may pay off later when they have to score your flight. When permission is given, fuel up and start your engine. Be sure that the needle valve setting is correct and the engine runs properly in all attitudes. If the CD allows a practice flight, and if there is room on the line, then go ahead and take a short flight. Leave some time for others. Actually, it's too late to squeeze in a day of practice. You should have done that before. The purpose of the short flight is to relieve "Contest Jitters".

If you have a friend at the contest, then you probably have agreed to "Call" for each other. If not, look around and make a friend, someone who can help you and call for you. He may need a helper too, so agree on a procedure that both of you find helpful. Talk about how each of you like your planes handled, where to set the plane down on the runway, where to stand when calling, and give him a "Calling" sheet or card for your sequence so he can use it when he calls for you. You do have a Calling Card, don't you? When the CD calls for a pilots meeting, drop everything and get right to that meeting. Don't stand around talking to others and ignore him, or make him beg you to gather with the rest. Be quiet when he is talking as some of the things he's going to say are important for your success.

If you are not the first up in your class, consider yourself lucky. Have your plane fueled, starter and battery ready and on the starting line. When you are given the signal, you have 3 minutes to get in the air. In the meanwhile, watch the guys that are flying before you. See what mistakes they are making and teach yourself from these observations. Watch which way the wind is coming from and see what the other fellows are doing to correct for it. I've always said that a day at a contest is worth two days of practice, so make the most of it.

Now when your turn comes, start your engine, help your helper/ caller pick it up and then walk (don't run) to the pilots box. Introduce yourself to the judges and hand them your score sheets. Before your helper sets the plane down on the runway, gun the engine briefly to clear the carb, then motion with your head that he can set it down. When the plane is standing still on the runway, announce to the judges that you are going to start your take off. Smoothly accelerate down the runway so that your plane breaks ground right in front of the judges. Lift off at a 10 to 15 deg. angle and maintain the heading until you clear 6 feet. Announce to the judges that the take off is complete. Now for the next 5 or 7 minutes, it's up to you. Concentrate! Concentrate! Concentrate! Ignore all the commotion behind you. FLY the plane. CONTROL the plane. There you stand, back to the judges, naked and exposed before the watching world and God. Now's the time to put those competitive juices to work. When you make a mistake (notice I said "when", not "if") ignore it and continue on to the next maneuver. Don't rush, just keep a rhythm going, one maneuver, then the next. When you finish the last maneuver, let out your breath, relax and announce to the judges that you'll be landing. Now, don't blow it. Make a nice long, smooth approach and let the plane settle down right in front of the judges, and roll out to a stop. your helper/ caller will go pick up your plane. Thank the judges for their fine work and let them know how much you appreciate them. (it doesn't hurt to polish the apple).

Now go check your plane, fuel up, check the batteries, check the switches, etc; then collapse in a bundle of adrenalin filled nerves, open a can of Pepsi and relax. Congratulate yourself on making it through your first flight at your first contest. It was fun, wasn't it? WELCOME to the World of PATTERN competition!

Before you can start any lessons, you must be assured that your plane is properly balanced and trimmed. Elsewhere in this web site is a trimming chart. Copy it, study it and make sure your plane passes all the recommended tests. If your plane is not properly trimmed, no amount of practice will help, other than causing difficulties and frustration. The next thing you need to learn, so that you will be successful in the following tests, is the proper way to turn around and keep your self on a constant track. The best maneuver for practice is the 1/2 Reverse Cuban Eight. Done properly, this maneuver will bring you back on the same line every time, and help eliminate the "hunting around" to get on course. Fly past yourself straight and level. When you are about 50 to 100 yards past your center point, smoothly pull up until your plane is climbing at a 45 deg. angle. Hold that line for 10 to 30 feet, then roll to inverted while maintaining that 45 deg. climb. After you're inverted, hold the same line as you had before the roll for the same distance, then pull up so that the plane will smoothly finish a 5/8ths inside loop to straight and level flight in the opposite direction of your entry. Your altitude should be the same, and your direction will be exactly 180 deg opposite. Now practice this maneuver until you can repeat it correctly every time. You need to practice this lesson both ways. This allows you to stay in the "Box" or maneuvering area all the time. The Half Reverse Cuban 8's will be performed at a 60 deg. mark on either side of the pilot's station.

Perhaps the most important thing to practice when you start out in Pattern Competition is straight and level flight. Even though most experienced sport fliers believe nothing is easier than straight and level flight, when you begin to carefully analyze your flying skills and fly in front of critical observers, you quickly find that you must be flying perfectly straight and level so that you can be properly set up for each maneuver. This is the most important item to learn in the beginning.

Let's begin with a test. The next time you are at the field, try to fly your plane exactly on a line which is parallel to the pilots flight line. Keep the plane between 50 to 100 yards in front of yourself. Small planes will need to be flown closer than large planes. Keep the plane at a constant altitude during each pass in front of the pilots station. Now, look at your wing tips. Does it appear that one wing is lower than the other? You want to know for sure? OK, just make a straight and level flight pass you with the wings level as you can make them and after the plane has passed you, by 50 to 100 yards, smoothly pull up into a 1/4 of a loop until the plane is vertical. Now hold it straight up without any rudder correction. Are the wings level? No? Then you were not level when you flew the level flight past you. If the wings are level as the plane goes up, then you have learned how your wing tips should look as the plane flys level in front of you. Practice this until you can pass this exercise repeatedly.

Next, have a friend go out to one end of your flight path and make several passes up and down the line so that the friend can see the airplane flying toward him and away from him at an altitude of about 100 ft. He will probably tell you that you were not holding the line of the plane at a constant distance and parallel from the pilots line and runway. That means you are flying the plane, either in or out from the line and it will complicate all your maneuvers, until you fix it. Work out some hand signals with the observer so you can tell which way you are drifting in our out. Work at it until you learn how to hold your plane at a constant altitude, and on a constant line , exactly parallel to the flight line both ways repeatedly, with the wings level at all times. If you're flying in a cross wind, you'll need to compensate for any wind drift with the rudder. It is always good to practice this maneuver in a cross wind. If you use the 1/2 Reverse Cuban 8 for a turn around maneuver, your wings should be level through out the entire flight. (Good practice routine)

Now than you have learned how to keep your planes straight and level at a constant distance from the flight line, you are now ready to start individual maneuver practice. For these practice sessions, remember, some maneuvers are completed in the center and some are done on the ends, so the next thing for the student is to stick up some markers on a line in front of the pilot, at about 150 yards out. Then place a marker at the same distance out only 60 deg on either side of the center line. Now this works great for a contest, but at your practice field, you may not be able to place these markers. In that case, find some land marks in the distance and use them to center your maneuvers. Also, use some landmarks or trees to mark the 60 deg lines which are considered the ends of you box. You do not want to perform the turnaround maneuvers past the 60 deg marks.

Now you know what to do, let's get busy and start having fun. We'll be looking forward to seeing you on the contest circuit.

 

The list above is the current "Sportsman" class maneuver schedule. It contains 17 maneuvers including Take off and Landing. These maneuvers must be performed in the sequence in which they are listed. Printable version of the maneuvers.

Failure to perform any maneuver in this sequence results in a zero score for that maneuver. This list can be printed and then cut out so that you can have it as a "Calling Card". A Calling Card is a list of the maneuvers that you give to your helper at a contest or during a practice session. During competition, the flyer becomes nervous and can easily forget those things that he has memorized. That's why he needs a Caller. The Caller or helper will usually help the flyer by taking the plane out to the starting point on the runway, then returning back to stand just behind the pilot. From that position, the helper can read aloud each maneuver before the pilot begins the maneuver and thereby help the pilot remember which comes next.

The symbal (U) that follows the maneuver means that the maneuver is performed "Up Wind" and the symbal (D) means that the maneuver is performed "Down Wind".
The following is a brief description of each maneuver. Study them and be sure you understand each maneuver before you start your practice. Also, get the latest copy of the AMA Competition Regulations and study the rules carefully.

• Take Off. The model must stand still on the ground with the engine running, without being held. The model must then smoothly accelerate to lift off. When the aircraft reaches take off speed, it should gently lift off the ground at the center line and climb at a gradual angle (10 to 15 deg). The airplane should hold a constant angle of climb without any dips or wing rocking, or deviation in direction until it reaches a height of 2 meters.
• Enter the aerobatic box discribed as a flight realm of 60 deg.'s either side of the center line.
• Straight Flight Out. The model must be flown exactly parallel to the flight line, perfectly straight and level, for a distance of about 100 yds, centered on the pilot and judges. There must be no changes in pitch, roll, yaw, or altitude.
• Stall Turn. Model performs a 1/4 loop beginning at the end of the box, following the 2-point roll. The plane then flys straight up, performs a stall turn through 180 deg, dives straight down followed with another 1/4 loop of the same radii and enters straight and level flight in the opposite direction and same altitude in which it entered.
• Straight Flight Back. Immediately after the Half Reverse Cuban Eight, the model shall fly back along the same line as the Straight Flight Out. The same rules apply.
• Half Reverse Cuban Eight. The model smoothly pulls up to a 45 deg climb; hesitates, then does a half roll to inverted, then hesitates the same as before, then executes a 5/8ths loop back to level flight in the exact opposite direction. All radii must be equal. This maneuver must be completed before the model exceeds the 60 deg maneuver boundary.
• Two Inside Loops. At the center, the model pulls up and executes 2 consecutive inside loops, all of the same size and superimposed one on the
• Model exits box. turns around using any maneuver desired and sets up to re-enter box on the same line as it exited.
• Model enters box
• Two Point Roll Model performs a half (1/2) roll inverted, hesitates about 1 second, then performs another half (1/2) roll in the same direction to level, upright flight. The inverted portion of the flight must be centered on the pilot and judges.
• Half Cuban Eight. At the end of the box, model pulls up and executes a five-eights (5/8) inside loop, when at 45 deg on top and inverted, model hesitates, half rolls, hesitates, then pulls a one-eight (1/8) loop back to level flight .
• Cobra without Rolls Model pulls to a 45 deg. climb, performs a quarter outside loop (90deg) at the center line and then does a 45 deg dive back to the same altitude as the entry point then pulls to level flight.
• Immelmann Turn. The maneuver starts near the end of the maneuvering area, flying straight and level, the plane pulls up into a 1/2 inside loop, then rolls 180 deg at top of loop and returns straight and level in the exact opposite direction as entered.
• 45 Degree Down Line (D) From level flight model pushes and executes a one-eighth (1/8) loop to a 45 degree dive, hesitates, then performs a one-eighth (1/8) inside loop to recover in level flight. The center of this maneuver is the midpoint of the 45 degree line.
• Model exits box. turns around using any maneuver desired and sets up to re-enter box on the same line as it exited.
• Model enters box
• Vertical Upline (U) on center From level upright flight model pulls and executes a one-quarter (1/4) inside loop to a vertical flight path, hesitates, then performs a one-quarter (1/4) outside loop to recover in upright flight at a higher altitude. The vertical up-line must be in the center.
• Split "S". Model proceeds in level flight to other end of the box where it performs a half roll followed immediately by a half loop, and returns to level flight at a lower altitude going in the opposite direction, straight and level. This maneuver is considered a turnaround maneuver.
• One Horizontal Roll. Model performs one horizontal roll, centered on the pilot so that the inverted section is in front of the pilot and judges, then finishes straight and level.
• Half Reverse Cuban Eight. The model smoothly pulls up to a 45 deg climb; hesitates, then does a half roll to inverted, then hesitates the same as before, then executes a 5/8ths loop back to level flight in the exact opposite direction. All radii must be equal. This maneuver must be completed before the model exceeds the 60 deg maneuver boundary.
• Double Immelmann w/o Rolls. Model pulls through one-half loop to level , inverted flight, hesitates, then pulls through a second one-half loop to level, upright flight at the same altitude as entry. The horizontal, inverted leg should be equal to the diameter of the half loops.
• Landing. Landing will start from 2 meters above the ground. The model flares smoothly in a nose-high attitude then smoothly touches down within 15 meters of a point in front of the pilot. The airplane should hold a constant angle of glide without any dips, yaw, wing rocking, or deviation in direction until it touches down, with no bounces. Landing is complete after a roll-out of 15 meters.