Some thoughs on the NATS Experience

[Don Szczur]

First of all, I'd like to congratulate the team.  Jason won the NATS.  Congratulations to Jason!  That is a really big deal for several reasons.  First, he was in pretty good company, considering Quique had placed 2nd in the worlds last year, and Chip also placed a close 3rd in Poland.  Second, this is his first AMA F3A NATS win for Jason.  There isn't much room at the top and he took the big trophy.  Third, and the reason which I think will gather most of the (press) is that he did it flying electric.  Now, one must ask oneself, does an electric powered model have an advantage over glow power?  That is a question that a lot of pilots- whether in F3A or other categories- will ask themselves.

Quique flew outstanding as well.  I watched few of his flights, but the one that stands out is his first preliminaries flight on Wednesday morning (wind blowing about 12 mph over left shoulder).  He won the round flying with a certain technique.  This technique was clearly that of wind-correction throughout every radius, loop segment, and line.  My techique is to correct on the horizontal lines, bottom corners and minor part-loop segments, while trying to display a more-clear geometry on verticals and major looping segments.  I learned from Quique and will strive to emulate his wind correction technique.  He was very impressive.

Chip.  What can I say.  Pure pilot skill. Chip probably has more raw talent than any pilot I've ever seen.  From my opinion, Chip would have won if he had not been rushed in his first unknown, or, would not have rushed the end of his second unknown.  Due to a engine stop during the sound check, Chip had to restart, quickly takeoff and enter the box.  However, he kept a fast pace thoughout, landing with a time of about 7:50.  In his second unknown, (this was a long unknown, with two vertical 8 maneuvers) fuel was (perhaps) getting a bit short and after the engine coughed, had to cut the last maneuver (Avalance) short, making it off center to the right and resulting in a bit of a radius crimp at the start.  This could have made the difference.  Can one speculate that electric power would make a difference?  Within the current technology and power requirements, (associated with weight limits) not an option for all at this time.

Sean- many congratulations.  Sean has so much desire, and it shows in his flying.  He tied with Jason to win the last unknown, and as a result took the remaining team slot.

As for me?  I did not realize how much I wanted to be on the team until I did not make it.  Wasn't any easier when I discovered that I was only about 1.3 points out of 4th, and only about 5.5 points out of 3rd.  After about 4 hours on the road, heading home, I found myself asking myself why I even went to the NATS in the first place?  All the hours away from the family.  The long list of to-do items with the new house.  The absence of a family vacation  Then I felt a bit of shame and conviction.  I am priveledged just to have the opportunity to fly in the NATS.  I enjoyed the fellowship, discussions and meeting those I've only conversed through e-mail previously with.  I enjoyed providing assistance with adjusting valves on a YS, or just trading flying stories, I hope and pray that I made a difference in some small way, of everone I came in contact with. 

The flying/scoring disparity.  I was surprised how far out the top 5 finishers were from the rest of the finalists.   The rest of the "pack" was 150 points- 225 points behind. Troy and I spoke about this quite a bit after the NATS and my initial thinking was that flying IMAC, yes, IMAC can be very helpful with competing in the pattern F3A finals.  Unknowns.  There are tough unknowns in the IMAC unlimited class.  However, I did not learn unknowns from flying in the TOC.  In fact I could not get through an unknown without zeroing at least 2 or more maneuvers per sequence at the TOC.  That's a good way to end in 19th place!  Likewise I mis-flew several maneuvers (0's) at the 2001 team selections.  No, I did not learn to fly unknowns until the JR IMAC Challenge in 2003.  Why? Many thanks to Andy Kane.  See, Andy did not pass out the (IMAC) unknowns until the MORNING that they were to be flown.  It would seem that one would have an advantage staying up all night learning unknowns to be best prepared.  However, going through and memorizing the sequence... quickly, before they are flown...was quite effective, I found.  What was particularly helpful at that JR Challenge was flying my stick model through the sequence for my 6 year old daughter without having to reference the call sheet. I did do the call sheet with my Dad the night before this pattern NATS finals, but did not give it much real thought to the first unknown until AFTER the first F05 sequence was flown.  Likewise for the second unknown.

How does one learn an unknown? Take speed-reading/ memorization classes...  or, memorize, and fly, a series of unknown sequences during the practice season.  Start out simple and build from there.  Guess this "thoughts post"  is written for the pilots that will be preparing for the F3A finals next year, but interesting thinking material non-the-less.

Future thoughts/ experiences if anyone is interested- (1) flying quality in the finals- a bit harder than it seemed. (2) Zeros, zeros and more zeros--- served with a purpose in the finals.  (3)  NATS Experience at the 150 markers- mid-airs, close calls and (yes) even a pilot flying with his feet...

Signing out
Don

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Don Szczur 
  To: discussion at nsrca.org 
  Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 8:07 PM
  Subject: Some thoughs on the NATS Experience


  Anyone interested in some random thoughts, experiences, etc?  I have some and would be happy to share if there is interest.

  Don
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