Where to Begin Part IV - Advanced

Advanced

The steps between grades do not get any smaller. Advanced is a big step and should not be taken lightly. A lot of preparation can and should be done while still competing at Intermediate level. This will help your Intermediate flying immensely, and lessen the (di)stress when you do decide to enter your first Advanced competition.

New figures you will need to master are: vertical down positive full and partial flicks, partial positive flicks on level and +/-45 degree lines, rolling circles (upright, inverted, inwards and outwards), inverted spins (both clockwise and counterclockwise, as viewed from above) and opposite rolls on all lines.

Oh, and a lot more pushing. Lots and lots. And then some more. A good thing to do at this stage is to fly some simple inverted stalls and reinforce in your brain exactly where the inverted stall stick position is. When you find yourself pushing out of a figure a little below your comfort altitude, you don’t want to be wondering where the inverted stall stick position is. The last thing your confidence needs at this stage is a high-speed negative flick on a down-line at low altitude. We’re not up to that part yet.

You will need to get comfortable pushing around and out of figures, and this takes time to adjust to. Talk to people, do some research, and make a plan on how you are going to approach it. Self-assess your physiological condition after negative g practice and pace your work-up based on how you feel and the signs your body gives you. When you find yourself wanting a better g meter that goes past negative 5, you’re making progress!

CIVA Section 6 will be mandatory reading – but you won’t mind (how weird are you?) and you will find an extensive list of permitted Unknown figures, and their combinations, to practice. You’ll find it hard to make petty conversation at dinner parties, and will be prone to start rap-miming pull-push-push humpties with ¾ snap down onto the b-axis while standing in queues.

Your Box-Craft and ability to handle wind in the box will need to be first-class in Advanced. Wind correction and positioning should start to become second-nature and all brain cells will need to be on duty to keep orientation, presentation and figures tidy while pushing lots of g.

Good luck! And keep smiling.

Where to Begin Part III - Intermediate

Intermediate

Life starts to become a lot more interesting in Intermediate. You will need a more capable aircraft than what you may have learnt in, unless you really like to punish your mount or are already suitably equipped! You will also need to get a Low Level Permission to 1000ft AGL as the lower level for Intermediate is 1200ft.

Intermediate is a big step and should be approached methodically considering all the changes: possible new aircraft, new lower limit, new figures and coping with an Unknown sequence as well! You don’t want to max yourself out to the point safety is compromised.

Specific new figures you will have to fly are positive flicks on horizontal and +/-45 degree lines, and sustained inverted flight including inverted steep turns, and even a rolling turn on occasion. Your training sessions will have to include the Known (as it is scored in competiton, unlike in Advanced and Unlimited) and your Free sequence, as well as the permitted Unknown figures in Appendix 3 of the AAC Rule book. This is a high workload after the relative ease of Sportsman.

Once you have your head, hands and feet around most of the Intermediate stuff, it is a good time to get some extra aerobatic tuition and get signed up for inverted spinning, if you haven't already. This will give you more confidence inverted and allow you to safely start practice on some Advanced manoeuvres, lessening the step when/if you decide to move up a grade. About now you also want to start playing around with those dastardly rolling turns....

Advanced next week.

Cowra 9th August.

Beautiful weather, again, at Cowra. The aeroclub had a flying day on as well, so there were aircraft coming and going all day. Colin and I both got good training flights in, with Reggae on the radio. Some more locals also had joyflights with Colin. The BBQ was on max burner for lunch with some excellent egg and bacon rolls served up. One chap thought they were so good he had a second chew on one in the front of Colin's Extra.....

The flight home was memorable with smooth air and the low sun casting our shadows onto the wing, which Langdon used to advantage by making a dog, chicken and waterhorse silhouettes!! Excellent.

Our next weekend is the 12-13th September. We'll be having a judging seminar Saturday evening over pizza and beer (or wine, your choice).

Where to Begin Part II - Categories

Once you have a spinning and aerobatic endorsements, you are able to come along to club events and fly. But which grade?

‘Entry’ Category

This category is designed for beginners with a new aerobatic endorsement. The aerobatic sequence is comprised of basic aerobatic figures you should have just been instructed in (www.aerobaticsaustralia.com.au and click 'sequences'). Any aerobatic aircraft will be able to fly the sequence, so you should practice until you are comfortable flying the sequence right through while maintaining your position over a ground feature. Coming along to Club training days are invaluable at this stage, or at any stage, to get useful feedback and tips on how to refine your flying.

After your first competition, or a few of training days, and once getting confident in handling the aircraft down to 3000ft AGL, you may want to organise getting a 1500ft AGL Low Level Permission. See the 'Links' page (on nsw.aerobatcs.asn.au) for people who can do this for you, and have a read of CAAP-155 ('Documents' page!) so you know what is required.

Graduate Category

If you have more aerobatic experience and are comfortable with aerobatics, you can kick-off in Graduate if you wish – or any level if you want to! The difficulty of the individual figures isn’t much different to Entry, just more figures in the sequence to get through.

Sportsman

Again, at first glance not much of a step from Graduate, just more figures in the sequence to practice. The big change-up is the option to fly a Free of your own design rather than the Known sequence twice in competition. The Free must be of similar standard as the Known, and have the same total ‘K’ or difficulty. This adds another facet to the sport, as now you must practice and be proficient at two sequences. And, you must design your own sequence! This is a whole new learning experience, and is a vital skill for higher grades. I'll post some thoughts on Free design later on.

Aerobatics is peculiar in that the grade you fly is not determined by the type or capability of the aircraft you have, but by the pilot. You can fly your megabuck wondership with the flame paintjob in Entry if you want to! The key thing is to fly the grade you are comfortable with and have practised, while grinning the whole time (most important). It won’t be long, with critique and competition exposure, that you will be moving up the grades and making much better use of the machine belted to your butt.

Check back for Intermediate, Advanced and Unlimited Categories next week .