[NSRCA-discussion] S&L Flight (Flying The Box)

[J N Hiller]

All this talk about turnaround exit altitude got me to thinking about the
most basic and difficult skills we need to acquire, 'straight and level
flight'.
This is so basic to successful aerobatic competition most of us upper class
fliers don't give it a second thought until we receive unaccounted for
downgrades. I don't know how many sportsman class readers we have that might
find this of value but I will post it for further discussion.

Most of us old (AMA) pattern fliers grew up learning how to set straight and
level flight from a turnaround as much as 1/3 of a mile out. Because the
turnaround is considerably further away than center maneuvers the floor
altitude appears to be closer to the ground and most people will return to
center on a descending line of flight. This descending approach to center is
most noticeable on horizontal center maneuvers such as the straight flight
out and back, point roll, aileron rolls and double immelmann etc. In severe
cases a pitch change is required during or immediately following the center
maneuver to avoid flying into the ground before reaching the other
turnaround.

When helping new aerobatic pilots (pattern or IMAC) I recommend spending a
good porting of each flying session flying the box to focus concentration on
turnaround exit heading and altitude rather than a specific turnaround
maneuver often containing other problems that need to be fixed. I suggest
position any vertical turnaround maneuver such as a reverse cuban eight
about 100 m out avoiding horizontal turnarounds such as the procedure
turnaround for good visibility. When the long return lines can be flown
parallel to the flight line from one end to the other without correction
more difficult turnarounds such as a stall turn can be added. At this point
the airplanes ability gains importance and flight trimming begins. As the
airplane and pilots ability improve more complex 'Box' flight paths can be
flown such as an immelmann / split-S or rectangle advancing to square or
running eights and for even more challenge do it inverted (I need to do
this).

Flying the box develops the pilot's ability to see the airplane 'Point' or
line to be flown. We need to recognize where the airplane will be going
rather than where it is or has been, those have already been judged. When my
flying gets sloppy I return to 'Fly the Box'.

For what it's worth!
Jim Hiller