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).

So, you want to be an aerobatic pilot....,

Over the next few weeks I'll be adding information relevant to aerobatics pilots, judges, and others interested in the sport. The best place to start is usually at the beginning, so off we go!

The Beginning

Like many other beginners, you probably aren’t quite sure how to go about getting involved in competition aerobatics. But, like most sports, the first thing to do is join your local club ( nsw.aerobatics.asn.au ) where you will find many like-minded people who can point you in the right direction.

The first step, if you already have a pilot licence, is to get an aerobatic endorsement. Flying schools that can do this are listed on the contacts page of our website. The syllabus and aircraft type may vary between schools, but as a minimum you will need to be able to fly the basic aerobatic manoeuvres: barrel roll, loop, slow roll, roll of the top and stall turn. You will also need a spinning endorsement, which most schools should include in their aerobatic syllabus.

Some Furphy’s you may hear:

1. ‘You need a parachute to fly aerobatics.’ This furphy arose because in the USA the International Aerobatic Club requires a parachute to be worn in their competitions (IAC also require a secondary lap belt or restraint, which is the source of the double harnesses now commonplace), and the US FAA requires parachutes when doing aerobatics dual. In Australia it is not mandatory to wear a parachute while flying aerobatics. However, some aircraft flight manuals specify that a parachute is mandatory in the aircraft (eg. Extra), so check for your aircraft type. If you want to wear one, that’s fine, but it is a personal choice.

2. ‘You need a Low Level Waiver/Permission to compete.’ No, in the lower grades (up to Sportsman) you can come along and fly above 3000ft AGL without a problem. Once involved in the sport you can then decide if you wish to progress to lower altitudes and higher grades. CASA Delegates able to issue low level aerobatic permissions are listed on our website also.

3. ‘It costs a lot to join the AAC and there aren’t many competitions.’ This was true once, but now you can elect to join only your local State Club and only pay their membership fee ($38 p.a. in NSW). This will allow you to fly in all NSW Club Training Days, Club Competitions and the annual State Championship. Check the calendar on the website, but we have something on every month except Dec/Jan . So you can get value for money and not have to travel interstate.

4. ‘I need a specialist aerobatic aircraft.’ You will need an aircraft that is approved for aerobatics, true, but any aerobatic training aircraft can be flown competitively up to and including Sportsman category. Intermediate category is where basic aerobatic aircraft start to become limiting. You don’t even need inverted fuel and oil systems in the lower grades (Entry, Graduate, Sportsman). Victa, Citabria, Aerobat, Tiger Moth, Tipsy Nipper, Robin/Alpha, Stampe, Skybolt, RV-4/6/7/8, T-18, Cassutt, Corby Starlet, Sonerai – and many more, can get you into the sport at an affordable price.

So give it some thought and make some enquiries. Next time we'll look at the competition categories.

Don't forget our next training weekend is the 8-9th August at Cowra.

Cowra 11-12 July

A good turnout this weekend with ~15 people and 4 aircraft attending. A big thankyou to Colin, Reggae and the others who got the box markers out Friday arvo. Perfect weather saturday for flying and much was achieved. A blazing fire and BBQ under the night sky, and a few quiet ales, made for an equally satisfying evening.

Sunday dawned cooler with some scuddy showers but improved as the morning went on. More flying and positive comment that it was much better to practice overhead an airfield and be able to get immediate feedback. One comment was that it was much easier to concentrate on flying than when scanning for traffic in the Sydney training area - how true.

Thanks again to the aeroclub for opening their doors for us. Our next weekend is the 8-9 August.

Cowra Aero Club 75th Anniversary Open Day

Today I went down to Cowra to support the 75th Anniversary celebrations of the Cowra Aero Club. Weather around Sydney stopped any attendance from that direction, unfortunately.



The crowd was small but all were enjoying a relaxing day out and having a chat, in the country way. BBQ and urn were on max burner throughout keeping all supplied with their needs. The vintage car club had a fine dispolay of unique vehicles on display, as did the local aviators with Yaks, Aero Vodochey, Brumby, Air Tractor, Auster et al parked in a pleasing manner.



Reports of the Anniversary Dinner the night before were good, with about 80 attendees and guest speaker AM John Newham, (Retd), ex-RAAF CAS. AM Newham entertained with stories involving Sabre flights across SE Asia in horrendous thunderstorms!



Don't forget our next traning weekend at Cowra is 11-12th July, and our hosts assure me we will be welcomed warmly. We should have some box markers out then as well. Also, make sure the NSW Aerobatic Championship is in your diary for the first weekend of November at Temora.

NSW Training Weekend at Cowra

Well, here it is, the inaugaural blog! We'll try and give regular updates and keep you informd of what is going on in the (small) world of aerobatics in NSW and Australia.

While we advertised this training weekend at Cowra, in the end only Colin Appleton (club Treasurer) and myself (President) and Scott (student from Red Baron) made it. Colin busied himself with practising Advanced figures in the Extra 300, and exposing Scott and some of the locals to high performance aerobatics. Needles to say, all were amazed at what a specialist aerobatic aircraft can do! I arrived on Sunday morning and took the RV back up for some gentleman aeros as I surveyed potential box positioning. Much different to acro in the Giles, it is incredible what you get used to. Then I gave critique for Colin as he worked on the recalcitrant rolling circle manoeuvre. I think we made good progress. Outside rollers next time Colin.....I also took the Extra up for a run, and struggled through the Advanced Q. Again, it wasn't quite like the Giles - I've been spoilt I fear.

The locals made us very welcome. Glen from the aero club was most helpful, as was Paul Goard. We also met Bernie, the local CFI and still actively instructing at 83!! We look forward to working closely with them in the future.

The next training weekend is scheduled for 11-12 July. That's two months away, due to the Queensland Championships being held over the June long weekend. We intend having some box markers out then and minibus transport available. Check back for more info closer to the date.