Scale Flight Routines

For a winning combination

By Stan Alexander

As seen in the April 1998 issue of Model Aviation.

(Top left): A slow airplane like Gary Allen’s Tigermoth requires a set of maneuvers flown by the full-scale aircraft. (Bottom right): Preflight preparation is very important. Jerry Caudle and Garland Hamilton double-check everything on Jerry’s BVM F-80.

If you’ve ever been to a Scale meet, watching a champion modeler finesse his aircraft through a flight routine, you realize very soon that the pilot knows his aircraft extremely well. There are no unexpected dives or swerves to the ground or toward the crowd. The entire flight is like a movie in time of the prototype aircraft’s flight characteristics, realistic in every detail, right down to the three-point landing with flaps and landing lights.

To attempt to copy this type of performance is the goal of every competition Scale pilot. They want to impress the judges with knowledge of their aircraft and show everyone in the crowd of fellow modelers and spectators that they “have the right stuff.” Even if you don’t fly Scale competition, this article will help you fly your Scale model more realistically at the local flying field or a Scale fly-in. Who knows, you might try Scale competition and decide that it’s really fun—which it is!

A Cub flies slowly, using lots of rudder. Here, Ken Hadik’s 1/3-scale model makes a picture-perfect takeoff.

What comprises a Scale flight routine for competition? The basic elements are the flight maneuvers as performed by the full-scale aircraft according to the rule book. Couple this with the precision of the maneuvers, placement of the maneuvers, and realism of the maneuvers and you have a complete flight routine—right?

Well, you do have the beginning.

In a complete flight routine, there are many elements. The paragraph above lists the basics. Flight judges are usually trained by the events they judge. This is especially true of the national and international events like the Top Gun Invitational, the AMA Nationals, the US Scale Masters Championships, and the FAI World Championships. Each of these competitions has its own rule book. Many of the rules are similar in some respects, but there are differences you need to know.

Many readers would be surprised to know how many contestants have never cracked a rule book before a contest. I’m sure that several of you reading this have fudged on reading the rule book before a contest.

At local or regional Scale meets, judges usually have meetings before or during the contest to go over the basics with new judges, or hone in on the actual way the rules are written or have changed and how it can relate to competition. Any good Scale judge studies the rule book before a contest and prepares him/herself for the particular type of competition he/she will judge.

A competitor should also go over the rules and continue to practice his competition flight routine to be used during the upcoming contest season. Having a second flight routine or windy day routine is also advisable.

Greg Hahn’s practice airplane starts to climb out on a “fighter break.”

You have decided on the aircraft you want to model, you documented it, and have built your model. Now you should put your test flights in. Time to get rid of the butterflies and start to feel comfortable. Quit boring holes in the sky with your beautiful creation and put together a flight routine for the upcoming Scale competition season.

Time to dig out the rule book (for AMA, Competition Regulations, available at www.modelaircraft.org/events/competition-resources/competition-regulations). Read the “Scale General” section. This pretty much will give you the basics of what a Scale model is, what you can and can’t do, with safety regulations, etc. The different classes of AMA Scale competition are also listed here.

Radio Control Sport Scale competition is described with the general, safety, and model requirements, followed by the proof-of-scale and static-judging requirements. If you just take a little time to go over the rules, they are a piece of cake.

The “Radio Control Scale Flight Judging Guide” starts with the purpose and principles of judging a Scale model in flight. It goes on to the areas of “Precision,” “Presentation,” and “Realism” in flight.

With its main wheels firmly planted on the ground, Gary Fuller’s BT-13 makes an approach.

Precision:

Judges picture how they think the maneuver should look in the air, with the help of the contestant telling them where he will place the maneuver. Sometimes a contestant will offer a diagram of a maneuver not often seen at a Scale meet, such as a Lazy Eight or 360° descending circle (not in the Competition Regulations).

Different types of aircraft approach and perform maneuvers differently, such as a J-3 Cub diving for airspeed going into a wingover. This is expected and desired for optimum scores with this type of two-place light civil aircraft.

Presentation:

Many maneuvers should have their placement directly in front of the judges, while others should be placed off to one side. The differences are listed in the rule book as follows.

Maneuvers with horizontal symmetry should have their midpoint or center immediately in front of the judges. The Cuban Eight, loop, roll, Lazy Eight, 360° descending circle, barrel roll, three-turn spin, and bomb drop are just some examples that should have their midpoint in front of the judges.

Other maneuvers give the judges the best view and are easier to perform off to one side of the judges’ position. Some examples of these maneuvers are a wingover, stall turn, and procedure turn.

On occasion the sun might be directly in front of the judges and low on the horizon; ask the judges if you can offset the above maneuvers (for safety reasons) to a selected side, either left or right of the sun. This will ensure that the judges can see the maneuver; they won’t go blind and you won’t lose a model.

Pilots sometimes try to hide errors by flying too far out from the judging position. Points would be lost for presentation of a maneuver that isn’t centered in the judging area (set by the chief judge before the contest starts).

At different contests you might be asked by the chief judge, line personnel, or contest director to fly out over the back edge of the runway or the centerline of the runway. This, along with any other safety information, should be communicated to everyone involved at the pilots’ meeting: be there—they are for everyone’s benefit and safety.

You might have to request permission to fly certain maneuvers, such as a touch-and-go or overshoot (an aborted landing approach) because of safety considerations where aircraft are on the landing approach.

Make it easy on the judges and yourself by presenting the maneuvers so they can be easily judged. The faster you are able to realistically complete your flight, the less time your model spends being judged. There is a message there! This is just common sense, but we all need to stop and think about it sometimes.

Realism:

What could your full-scale aircraft really do in the way of maneuvers? What was its cruise speed or top speed? What types of rolls did your aircraft perform? Was your aircraft considered aerobatic or non-aerobatic? These are some of the questions you should ask yourself when considering Scale realism before you make out your contest routine. Jane’s Encyclopedia of Aviation is a good source for this type of information, specifications, etc.

The pilot of this Sig Spacewalker has taken off at full throttle. This would constitute a downgrade on the takeoff score.

While a B-17 flying inverted at the Top Gun Invitational half-time show would be spectacular to behold, the real aircraft isn’t capable of this type of maneuver. Bombers generally are not aerobatic.

Different types of aircraft built to the same scale doing the same maneuver can look very different, but each must be done correctly. While a 1/4-scale J-3 Cub will make a loop or other vertical maneuver with a dive for airspeed, a P-51 and most fighter aircraft do not have to dive; they will pull up into the vertical maneuver from level flight.

The maneuvers will not look the same either. The J-3 Cub loop, as it states in the AMA Competition Regulations, will be “smaller in diameter than one performed by a P-51 Mustang if both were modeled to the same scale.” The loop by a Cub will also be more of an egg shape, while the fighter (P-51) loop will be round in shape.

Finally, make a complete flight. So many pilots only fly the maneuvers, and in between the maneuvers they are all over the sky, in every configuration you can imagine. Make a complete flight as if you were the pilot in the aircraft—smooth entry and exits to maneuvers, no sudden jerks to any direction, no unprototypical maneuvers (inverted B-29s, for example). Take your time, set up the maneuvers, and don’t rush into anything. Make the transition from one maneuver to the next as if they should have been put together from the beginning of the flight.

Greg Hahn’s P-47 with main gear just touching down. Hold the tail up until airspeed has bled off then let the tail settle.

An aircraft that is capable of doing maneuvers other than the ones listed in the Competitions Regulations or the FAI rule book should be prepared to prove that the aircraft performed these maneuvers.

One good example of this is Bob Underwood’s IL-2—a Russian attack bomber. These aircraft worked together when attacking German tank columns on the Eastern Front during World War II.

The Russian bombers would circle the tank columns, cutting off the lead and rear tanks. Then they began flying what they called a “Circle of Death,” where the bombers would strafe and drop bombs on the tank column. They kept the column pinned down under constant attack by flying in a 360° circle with the attacking aircraft spread out, with at least one firing on the tank column at all times.

This maneuver isn’t in anyone’s rule book. But Bob flies it when he uses his IL-2 in competition because he has written and published documentation of this maneuver being performed by the aircraft that he flies. (A handwritten note by Joe, the local expert pilot, would not be considered documentation at a National Championship event—the key is written and published documentation).

Dick Hansen’s Proctor Albatros on an overhead flyby. This is one World War I aircraft that has good wind penetration.

Several years ago, one of our top Scale modelers joined the Nats team as the RC Scale event director. Cliff Tacie gave everyone a good education on the basics at any RC Scale Nats that he ran.

I have included a table that was handed out by Cliff at several Nats. It lists four flight routines for different aircraft types at the AMA RC Scale National Championships.

The right wing on an F-80 Shooting Star is much higher than it should be—not a prototypical fighter aircraft landing approach.

Notice that there are optional and mandatory maneuvers. The mandatory maneuvers must be flown by all pilots in the competition. The optional maneuvers are limited only by the prototype’s aerobatic limitations and the pilot’s flight skill.

This table will give you some idea of the types of maneuvers your aircraft can do. The J-3 Cub is listed twice (as light aircraft and aerobatic light aircraft). Note the latter listing is for a clipped-wing Cub. With clipped wings (and sometimes re-engined), the Cub is a capable basic aerobatic aircraft, and many have been modified for this role. Scale kits and documentation abound for this and many other modified type aircraft. (Duane Cole’s clipped-wing Taylorcraft is another example).

A gear problem such as that on Nick Ziroli’s TBM Avenger can cause deductions in realism and retract gear points if used as a mechanical option.

The following is an example of what is considered a good flight plan by a seasoned Scale pilot—not any one particular pilot, but combinations of some of the best pilots I have had the pleasure to judge.

Before the flight, the pilot has learned as much as possible about his aircraft. Using history of this particular aircraft type, he has found out the stall, cruising, and top speeds. (He may have talked to the owner of the original aircraft to obtain the information). This type of information is also available at the library. The pilot has also found out the flight characteristics of his chosen aircraft and any maneuvers that might not be in the AMA rule book, which he can document and use with permission of the contest director.

The pilot/builder has also practiced with his contest aircraft in varying weather conditions, crosswind, etc. to familiarize himself with his aircraft’s oddities in flight, so there won’t be any surprises at the meet. He has written a flight plan and follows it when he practices at the local field, calling his maneuvers as if he was in front of a set of judges.

The pilot has also flown his contest aircraft and practice airplane at other area fields to keep his depth perception at the best level possible with varying types of terrain in the background, at different distances.

The pilot walks up to the judges and announces himself, something like this:

“Good morning, gentlemen. Today I will be flying the de Havilland D.H. 82 Tigermoth with a maximum level speed of 109 mph and cruising speed of 93 mph.

“I will fly the following maneuvers, in this order.” (Using his call sheet, he goes over these in order, with his caller checking the order on the score sheets. This will keep his caller from making mistakes in the order of the routine.)

To the judges, the pilot tells the following (probably in less detail; an asterick denotes required maneuvers):

Takeoff*:

“I will have my aircraft handler walk the aircraft out to the takeoff point, as the prototype is equipped with a tail skid.” (Many of the full-scale aircraft that were so equipped used a wheeled dolly and were towed by a mechanic or aircraft handler to the takeoff point.) Always be sure to obtain clearance for the model handler to cross the runway. This is especially true if there are more than two flightlines operating.

If the model is equipped with a tail wheel or nose gear, you will be expected to taxi out onto the runway, stop and check all of the flying surfaces (deflection), then announce when your takeoff begins.

“The next maneuver will be the Figure Eight.* I will center the crossover point in front of the judges, entering the maneuver from the left of the judges and exiting to the right.

“The third maneuver will be the fly-past,* at 10-20 feet, keeping a consistent heading and altitude during the maneuver.” (The pilot will also keep this heading and altitude before and after the maneuver, with gradual ascent and climb out from the maneuver.)

“Our fourth maneuver today will be the inside loop. I will dive for airspeed and there will be a slight egg shape to the loop, as the aircraft did not have a high airspeed. I will center the loop directly in front of the judges. At the top of the loop I will cut the throttle, proceeding into the last half of the maneuver, where I will fly past at the same altitude I was before starting the maneuver.

“The fifth maneuver will be the Immelmann turn. Again with a slight dive for airspeed. I will pull up into a half loop, and when the aircraft is inverted, perform a half-roll and continue flight in the opposite direction on the same heading at a higher altitude.

“The Split-S will be our sixth maneuver today. From straight-and-level flight I will perform a half-roll and recover on the same heading at a lower altitude in the opposite direction.

“Our seventh maneuver will be the straight-ahead stall. I have had this maneuver cleared with the contest director and have made this diagram for the judges.

“The aircraft will proceed in a normal pass on the field on a line parallel with the zero line on the opposite side of the runway. At a point in front of the judges, I will increase the altitude in a 45° angle. At this point, in front of the judges, I will cut the throttle and stall the aircraft. The wings will remain level as the aircraft falls back to level flight on the same heading and altitude as before the maneuver started.

“The eighth maneuver is the barrel roll. I will start at level flight and dive for airspeed, pull the nose up, continue around the barrel (uses a soft-drink can to illustrate) to an upright position on the same heading and altitude before the maneuver.

“Landing* will be the ninth maneuver. I will do a traffic pattern to landing; after I’m cleared to land, I will line up on the approach and continue to finish the maneuver (hopefully sitting the aircraft down in front of the judges) and continue to roll out. Because of the paved runway, I will do takeoff and landing on the main wheels.” (If the runway had been grass, the pilot might have opted to make a three-point takeoff and landing, with proper wind conditions.). “Again, my aircraft handler will retrieve the model.” (An aircraft with a tail wheel or nose wheel should taxi out and back to the hangar before takeoff and after landing.)

“The last maneuver on the score sheet is flight realism.* As per the rule book, ‘shall be awarded in proportion to how well the model simulates the compete flight, stability, airspeed, takeoff, landing, and taxiing characteristics of the prototype aircraft.’”

The flight realism score is usually conferred on by the team of judges on the flightline after your flight is finished. No judge should dominate the conversation; each judge should share his/her opinion. This is the only score in which conferring takes place, other than a zero score for a maneuver of safety violation.

Some pilots give the judges an oral description of their flight while it is in progress—what the airplane is doing, when, where, and why. Some even tell a little history if they know the aircraft’s owner. A pilot might announce as he brings his aircraft around the patch to do a maneuver, “Okay, judges, I have my heading, I have my altitude; at the beginning of this loop, I will dive for airspeed per the prototype aircraft which has a cruising speed of 97 mph—loop begin now.” The pilot will announce to the judges when he cuts the throttle at the top of the loop. Then he will call, “maneuver complete” when his aircraft resumes straight-and-level flight on the same heading and altitude as before the maneuver started.

Many of the best pilots have this oratorical style. When you see them at a contest, if you have a chance without being in the way, listen to what they are doing. It might surprise you. These pilots know not only where their aircraft is, but exactly where it is going next, and for one reason—practice. Some of the best examples I can think of are Cliff Tacie, Terry Nitsch, Charlie Nelson, Bruce Tharpe, Charlie Chambers, and Mike Barbee. These are just a few, but they relax, have a good time, and enjoy the flight!

The pilots listed are good examples of sportsmen, as are most competition Scale pilots. If they have time, they will gladly help others in the competition.

As seen from above, a Lazy Eight maneuver around a point.

A straight-ahead (power-off) stall.

A 360° descending circle at a constant throttle sitting.

If you aren’t sure about a maneuver or procedure, you can always ask a flight judge or the chief judge; they will be glad to help. Flying Scale models, having a good time, sportsmanship, and fellowship are what Scale RC modeling competition is all about.

Come join us with a winning flight combination.