30.04.2008, 02:00
Correct, i should have mentioned im doing mainly solos. I do this the classical way: figure out a demo of roughly 5mins, write it down and start training. While training i do final adjustments it, then start finetuning the whole thing until i'm able to fly it in ONE single sequence. Basically, the altitude at which i fly drops, maneuvers get cleaner, transitions are better.
When designing the demo i have 4 things in mind:
1) Flying skills - it has to be challenging
2) Own maneuvers: i always include maneuvers never seen on the net.
3) Planetype: it has to fit the plane i fly, e.g. a Fw190 prog involves lots of speed, rolls and vertical maneuvers.
4) Most important: NOT BORING lol.
When I'm satisfied with the demo i fly it once and record a track, and of that track i make a movie. The vids of solo/team IL2FB aerobatics you find on the net are dead boring, mainly cause the folks don't really think of a clean balanced demo that really shows piloting skills and the best of that certain plane. Instead they cut one movie out of many tracks, and there is no "storyline", no real sequence in that...just random stuff like: wow, we can do a barrel roll in formation - so what?
If i ever see a movie of a formation flying demo that has been cut from ONE track and is NOT BORING I'll rethink whether I want to give it a try.
The thing that bugs me is that these warbirds, though many are good at rolling and classical maneuvers in general, they simply lack control authority at low speed, specially when you combine that with a high power setting. This might be the key to why we are unable to perform certain maneuvers: the lomcevac or tumble comes to mind, even a proper hammerhead is difficult. You simply need better rudder authority to enter and exit spins and flickrolls at will. The lack of elevator + rudder authority comes together when you try negative flicks or spins. In some planes you can only perform these maneuvers in ONE direction only. Also critical: a plane has to be able to do this without being trimmed. Trimming is a no-no in solo aerobatics. If ya wanna check wether your plane has enough control authority, go inverted from level flight and try a negative flickroll/spin, pushing left rudder and stick max forward, slightly in the right quarter (on planes that have engine torque pulling left, like all blue rides; on a russian plane, push right rudder, stick forward + left).
As i see it, for formation aerobatics, the available planes are just perfect, but none matches the requirements of high-performance solo stuff. Solo AND team aerobats would equally profit from having central smoke, however.
When designing the demo i have 4 things in mind:
1) Flying skills - it has to be challenging
2) Own maneuvers: i always include maneuvers never seen on the net.
3) Planetype: it has to fit the plane i fly, e.g. a Fw190 prog involves lots of speed, rolls and vertical maneuvers.
4) Most important: NOT BORING lol.
When I'm satisfied with the demo i fly it once and record a track, and of that track i make a movie. The vids of solo/team IL2FB aerobatics you find on the net are dead boring, mainly cause the folks don't really think of a clean balanced demo that really shows piloting skills and the best of that certain plane. Instead they cut one movie out of many tracks, and there is no "storyline", no real sequence in that...just random stuff like: wow, we can do a barrel roll in formation - so what?
If i ever see a movie of a formation flying demo that has been cut from ONE track and is NOT BORING I'll rethink whether I want to give it a try.
The thing that bugs me is that these warbirds, though many are good at rolling and classical maneuvers in general, they simply lack control authority at low speed, specially when you combine that with a high power setting. This might be the key to why we are unable to perform certain maneuvers: the lomcevac or tumble comes to mind, even a proper hammerhead is difficult. You simply need better rudder authority to enter and exit spins and flickrolls at will. The lack of elevator + rudder authority comes together when you try negative flicks or spins. In some planes you can only perform these maneuvers in ONE direction only. Also critical: a plane has to be able to do this without being trimmed. Trimming is a no-no in solo aerobatics. If ya wanna check wether your plane has enough control authority, go inverted from level flight and try a negative flickroll/spin, pushing left rudder and stick max forward, slightly in the right quarter (on planes that have engine torque pulling left, like all blue rides; on a russian plane, push right rudder, stick forward + left).
As i see it, for formation aerobatics, the available planes are just perfect, but none matches the requirements of high-performance solo stuff. Solo AND team aerobats would equally profit from having central smoke, however.