Districts
District News minimal wind. I decided to get my pattern ship out of storage and re-configure my family-transport van for pattern-plane transport mode (which includes removing two rows of massive, non-folding, very heavy bench-seats), for one of those days. I get to my favorite local flying site … and found the pit area full of sport-flying models, at least 20 at one point in time. The picture below does include my model, hidden way in the back by the cross-whitefence.
D1 |Salvatore Piu spiurc@comcast.net CT•ME•MA•NH•NJ•NY•PA•RI•VT
It’s almost mid-November. Northeast, at least New Jersey, is getting a few days of an Indian-like summer of sunshine and 70ish degrees F weather! Lots of outdoor activity going on, including some flying! Several pattern-related pilots got together in late October for some fun and practice flights at the Pemberton, NJ flying site. Even the full-size planes took turns flying that day!
So, New Jersey, and over-all northeast general area, had several back-toback fantastic weather days of 70+ F temperatures, sunny, minimal clouds, and
Most of the time, when I practice with one of my pattern competition model, there aren’t too many flyers and taking turns flying is relatively easy to do. Not on that weather-perfect day! I want to describe all the influencing factors on attempting to practice in this situation. First, be aware of all the type of models and as many pilots as possible. Plan to be ready to take off after a group of planes flying at the same time land. Observe if other sport flyers are preparing to fly at the same time. Consider the type of model they will be flying. Small foamy models will most likely fly close to the runway and low too, all properties that keep those models away from the general pattern box, so pattern flying may be possible. But that also depends on the pilot’s ability to do so. I know some pilots that still fly high and far out even with little foamies: I generally wait for those pilots to enjoy their full flight before taking off. If the model is scale model, or an aerobatic
sport model, like a giant Extra 300, those models and pilots generally need a lot of airspace, so I wait for them to complete their flight before taking off. There are a few skilled pilots that do sport aerobatics but consistently keep their model close to the runway: this only presents an issue for taking off and landing, but can easily be mitigated by loudly calling takeoff and landing. I have taken off and started my sequence, followed by another model taking off. Flying the pattern sequence is still possible, depending on the type of model and pilot skills of the other model(s) flying, but most definitely not with 100% concentration on my own maneuvers as I am constantly monitoring other flying models at the same time for their location relative to my plane and upcoming maneuver. Sometimes I’ll shift my imaginary-limited flight box to one side, or further back, or higher in order to provide additional clearance to other sport flying models. The plus side of flying at a crowded site: get other pilots interested in aerobatics. Some sport flyers complement me on my flying skills, other complement the model I fly. I also coached another pilot to fly one of the easier class sequences using a model designed for 3D aerobatics. His last flight did show improvement over his first flight, so I deem that effort as a success! I can still get several practice flights done on days like this, and simply need to either allot more time to use up all my precharged batteries, or simply not attempt to get to fly all of my pre-battery-charged flights. Bottom line, a pattern-practicing pilot needs patience and be observant of other models and pilots while flying in a crowded sport-flying-environment. This year, 2020, D1 has decided not hold district championship selection due to Covid-19 creating a year of very limited contest opportunities and few pilots participating in only one or two contest events at most. Hopefully, our situation will vastly improve in 2021! I’m planning to hold a video meeting with known D1 CD’s soon to discuss the potential contest schedule for the 2021 season.
December 2020 K-Factor | 9
