First Aerobatic Contest :)

I just came home from competing in my first Aerobatic Contest. What fun !! Challenging, exciting, educational and nerve wracking all wrapped up in one.

The contest was held at the Rocky Mountain House (CYRM) airport up here in Alberta. I think it?s division 7 and a few guy from Division 8 showed up to compete and help.



I fly an RV-7 with a 180 hp Superior engine, Hartzell prop, no inverted oil. I had the aerobatic restriction removed earlier in the year and then had some dual instruction time with an instructor. Some of our final lessons included some ground critiquing as I was being groomed for the contest.

Being my first contest I wasn?t sure what I was in for. To ease some of the competition day nerves I flew to the site to practice in the box and also to try on the mandatory parachute. I wanted as few ?new? things to deal with on the day.


Local flair - Sportsman Category

I believe the box is 1 kilometer square but it sure looks small from 1500 agl and at the speeds the RV?s travel it doesn?t take long to get from one end to the other. The box is marked with white corners and a big ?X? in the center.

Practicing at the site was a great help to me as I was able to iron out some positional things and get an idea where to start pulling manoeuvres.

The day begins with registration and a pilot briefing. Safety is stressed through out and as the Chief Judge said, ?I don?t care if you do you do your figures 5 miles high, just don?t go low. I?m zeroing you if you go below the low line?. Ok note to self??.Don?t go low?.. more on that later


RV6A in Sportsman

There are two frequencies that are used. The airport frequency is for taking off and landing and anytime you are out of the box. Once airborne you are to switch to the box frequency and then head to a predetermined holding area. There are guys on the ground monitoring both frequencies and if there happens to be a stray plane entering the box the Chief will shout over the radio, ?Knock it off, Knock it off, Knock it off?. At which point the pilot is to fly straight and level and await further instructions. The airport is NOTAMed for the contest but we all don?t check NOTAM?s

The low line or the floor of the box for Primary is 1500 agl and the contest begins with a competitor fly this line to show the judges where the floor of the box is. Gives them a mental picture of where the plane should be.


Never too early to train an aerobatic pilot

My sequence in Primary consisted of: 45 degree up line, one turn spin, half Cuban 8, loop, 180 degree turn and a roll. Sounds simple enough don?t it ?. Until the stress hits you and you brain fart

The day was hot and beautiful and no wind. I practiced from a right to left direction and was glad when the Chief picked this as the direction of flight. I did practice from left to right but in the -7, since I?m not sitting in the center of the fuse, I found it hard to see the box markers from the left seat when flying that direction. I know there are box markers at the rear but I still found them hard to see.

The higher classes were flown first and then Primary. So after a 4 hour wait I was finally up to bat. I couldn?t eat because of nerves so all I did was drink and pee, drink and pee, drink and pee.


This -6 has 4 seat (two rear facing) and an IO-540 !! Cool.

Ok so here we go?.. Take off, switch to box frequency and head for the hold area. I?m hot and sweating and death gripping the stick. Finally I get the call from the Chief that the box is mine. Level off at 1800 agl, 23.5 MP and 2490 on the prop with 10.5 gph burn. Feels good, last minute trims, 3 wing wags and wait till my left wing hits the edge box marker. From practice I know this is where I should pull my 45 degree up line.

A quick pull up to a definitive 45 degree stop and watch for my IAS to hit 80 knots. In round two I brain farted and started to pull power on the way up. Never did that before. Nerves got to me. I lost speed rapidly, botched the spin as a result and was messed up for the rest of the round.

Next is a quick push of the nose to define the top of the up line. Maintain a nose high attitude.

By the way, it?s a good idea to vacuum out your plane before hand because all the grass and dirt that?s sitting on your mats will come flying in your face with any negative G pushes I now know.

I maintain that nose high attitude to prevent sinking which would happen if I went to a cruise attitude (ground critiquing). Next I pull power, maintain altitude and wait for the stall. As soon as the nose breaks, full right rudder and stick in the gut. Hold it ?? ? rotation and then full opposite rudder and nose down. Point the nose straight to the ground so the judges see a nice vertical line. I?ll be the first to admit that it?s a bit scary pointing your airplane straight at the ground, but it?s something you get use to the more you practice. At this point I better see that big ?X? marking the center of the box.

Whew?. There?s the X? so far so good. A two count, full power, pull out level, define the horizontal line and give a 3 count. The RV?s are fast and in no time I?m at the end of the box and moving fast. There is no penalty for going out of the box in Primary but it hurts the presentation if you do your manoeuvres way out in the bush.

Part Deux


My best score sheet

Worst score sheet


Next was 3.5 G pull for the half Cuban and then establish the inverted 45 downline. As the marker comes into view over the top of the half Cuban I push to establish the line?. Darn there?s that dirt and junk in the face again?.. give the inverted segment a quick 3 count, roll and then a 2 count to level out.

By now I hope to see the center box marker. Easier to see from the left seat with my favored direction of flight. Next is the loop and there is no time to dilly dally. In my second round I was too jacked up and pulled about 4.5 G into the loop. Way too much. The plane will lose inertia and speed and the ensuing loop will be an egg shape and not a donut shape. In that round I also got low and came down to about 1300 agl. I saw it on the Altimeter but was hoping the judges wouldn?t notice?.. they did. I got a 5 out of 10 on that one. Too low. Lucky I didn?t get a zero. Note to self again. Relax and pull smooth, don?t grip the stick like you?re choking a chicken! Just fly the figure and don?t muscle it around.

The 180 degree turn isn?t too tough, just don?t drop altitude during it, then finally is the roll. In the first round I tried to do a nice smooth slow roll and got nailed by the judges for barrel rolling. By the third round I said forget this. Use the speed and quickness of the RV to my advantage. It?s not like I?m flying a Decathlon (no offense to the Decath. readers) . Round three roll was a touch of nose up, full aileron and do is so quick the judges can?t find too many mistakes. Whoo Hoo it worked, I got a 9.

3 wing wags and I?m out of the box and heading for a landing. I was sweating and frankly glad it was over.

Best round was #3 when I told myself to relax and fly like I practiced. It reminded me of golf. I?ll take two nice practice swings that look and feel good but when it?s time for the real deal I?ll try and kill the ball. Wham?. Nice 40 yard shot dude

I took second place overall! I was very happy. The guy in first place flies a Pitts S1S but with a 1.5 hour range and no leather seats I?ll stick with my -7


My -7 and the Pitts that beat me. See other VAF threads to see why I have an ugly green spinner.


Finally, aviation is filled with all sorts of interesting and unique characters. I met my fair share this weekend but one guy in particular sticks out. Bob Harris aka. ?Birdstrike Bob? is someone I?ll never forget. The more I laughed the more stories he told. I wanted to find out how his moniker ?Birdstrike? came into being. Well as the legend goes he was practicing for an airshow and was inverted 50 above the runway when the fowl entered his canopy. Being in the back seat of his Extra 300 there was some hardware between the front and back seats. This allowed the stray bird to ricochet off something before bonking him in the head and then exiting out the aft of the fuse. He had the presence of mind to push to a positive rate of climb, roll level and assess. He was fully prepared to bail out but realized that he still had control. His eye was cut and could only see out of one of them but managed to get the plane back on the ground. Great job Bob!!, it was nice meeting you.


"Birdstrike" himself

So those RV drivers out there thinking of giving Aerobatics a try I would encourage you 100%. Get the training and give it a go. The planes are wonderful cross country airplanes and capable aerobatic machines in the lower classes.


The spoils

So what?s next ? Inverted oil and smoke system, join the airshow circuit and quit Dentistry?.. er ?.. maybe not, let?s not get carried away now shall we

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darren, WOW

To pull a second place in your first contest sounds like you did very well indeed !!!

Awesome!

Very cool! Thanks for the excellent blow-by-blow account! I'm sure that will inspire others to take a whack at it too! Count me in next spring at a local IAC contest...

Very nice

Awesome! Thanks for the detailed Post Darren and great timing as I just joined the IAC and am planning a Primary event in November. Your timing advice is something I've been looking for and will practice with your numbers and see how it works for me.

I also do not have inverted oil or fuel. How did the plane do on the 1/2 cuban inverted downline holding for 3 seconds? I've been purposefully keeping this segment very short, maybe 1 sec, for fear of spewing oil all over the place.

Well done!

Ken

Congrats! Wooohoooo! If anyone care tomjoin us, we are having the mason dixie clash at farmville, va the weekend on oct 8th! More news at iac19.org

Thanks for the kudos fellas. It sure was fun. Can't wait for next year.

Ken as for the Cuban 8 inverted portion of the sequence: I didn't notice any change in oil pressure. It's a quick 3 count so probably 2 full seconds. The key is to keep the line before the roll the same as after the roll. After the roll it's a quick 2 count.

I have an Advanced 3500 EFIS so maybe there is a delay in oil pressure reading ?? I don't know but it doesn't move at all in the brief time inverted. Also, I run 5 quarts of oil. Any more and it all comes out the breather tube and ends up on my tailwheel. After the two days of flying at the contest the oil level is only down slightly. There is fresh oil on the tailwheel so I know some oil came out.

I was reading last night that some guys put in something called an "oil accumulator". It is a pressurized tank, about 12" long, that will shoot oil into the engine as soon as the oil pressure drops. One guy says it will provide 7 full seconds of inverted oil pressure. At least I think that's how it works.

Maybe something to look into. My engine is Fuel injected with a flop tube so there was no fuel issues.

Entry speed to the first manoeuvre was about 145 - 150 knots. After that I don't watch speed till after the half Cuban when I want to see the same speed before the loop. Again, the more aggressive the pull into the loop the more speed and inertia you lose and the more difficult it is to make a nice round loop.

Good luck in November!!

Darren

Aeros v Inverted Oil systems can be a long topic.

Firstly, as Darren says, the Cuban lines need to be the same length. Given the speed change on the way down, then count to 3, roll, count to 2, about right. It does not matter how quick you count, so long as it is the same pace I can assure you the 3 count does not take 3s!

We have on the RV-8 the oil tank of a Raven system - this collects oil trying to escape via the breather, and returns it to the sump when upright. So it minimises Oil loss / dirty belly. However, it does nothing to keep Oil P up.

An Oil Accumulator will be the opposite - it will do nothing to prevent Oil Loss, but will keep the Oil P up. I would not worry about a few seconds decreasing Oil P for the engine - unless you have a C/S prop and it leads to a significant overspeed.

I reckon I can get 2-3s actual inverted flight before I hear the RPM increasing. See 4:47 in this Video

All in all, a great account of a 1st contest - I remember mine

Andy & Ellie Hill
RV-8 G-HILZ
RV8tors

Get video Andy!

Andy,
That video of your airshow performancewas excellent- you can really get a sense of what these aicraft can do with capable hands! Good show!

Great job Darren! I remember your practice videos and knew you would do well. Keep it up. Curious, how many other RVs flew the contest?

Very nice review and fun to read. Congrats.

As far as the oil accumulator I can talk some on that as I have one in my "race car".

I personally would not build another race engine without one and I don't even try to go inverted in my car. I am fairly sure it has saved my motor as I went through 2 motors due to bearing failure (oil loss?) prior to installing it.

Here is similar to what I have.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CTR-24-006/

One side holds extra engine oil, other side is pressurized with air with a cylinder/spring in the middle. When the engine runs and builds pressure the accumulator stores that. If pressure drops the extra oil is pushed back into the engine under pressure.

I have an electric valve tied to my key on, so the engine never starts without already having oil pressure in the engine also.

I love it and for the cost worth its weight in gold at least for my application.

for a non-inverted oil set-up wouldn't an accumulator just help pump more oil overboard since the oil pick-up is un-ported while inverted? I dunno..just asking?

Where does the accumulator dump the oil in an aviation set-up?

I can't answer to aviation but on my race car it is tied into the pressurized port of the engine (near oil filter). The breather issue would need addressed.

I happen to have a 1.5 qt unused moroso accumulator for sale if anyone is interested. I couldnt find space for it in my -3.

Nice flying and great motivation btw. I hope to compete in basic for sportsman in my 3 someday.

very cool Darren, where did you do the training? i had some lined up but it fell through as he was too busy in the summer. he trains out of Bassano AB.

Darren, awesome 3rd flight. Why couldn't you have done that on the first two?

first contest

Darren, Congratulations and fantastic write up. I know this will encourage other RVers to at least attend an IAC event, and then take the BIG step to participate in their first competition. I've never had more fun than being around those upside down, vertical flying, precision pilots. Bringing an RV to a contest also gets a lot of attention.
Like you, always practicing and looking forward to the next contest.
Bill McLean
RV-4 Slider

Good Job, Hope to see you flying at OshKosh and Lakeland soon!

Darren S said:

... So what’s next ? Inverted oil and smoke system, join the airshow circuit and quit Dentistry….. er ….. maybe not, let’s not get carried away now shall we

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Tell you what, brother ... give me some time to catch up to you and we'll quit dentistry together! We can form a competition team (The Yank-n-Banks?) and never look back.

Congrats on your first competition. Well done!

Some answers to questions

Thanks to all for the positive feed back.

I do hope my little post does get other RVers joining the IAC and thinking about aerobatics. Even if you don't enter a contests the training will make you know your airplane better and make you more comfortable in various situations.

One of the first things my instructor and I did was to explore the envelope of the plane. I told him that I had read about the possibility of getting into an inverted spin if I entered a loop too slow and thereby was nervous about doing them and about my ability to recover.

He said, "Let's go try". The RV's are designed very well and are quite forgiving in certain circumstances. If you fall out of a loop the plane will not enter an inverted spin without ALOT of cross controls while inverted. In other words you have to work to get the inverted spin started. If you fall out of a loop the plane will nose down and then you recover like we were all taught in Flight School. If inverted, roll upright and recover.

Next we would bank the plane at 75 - 80 degrees and pull the stick till we got a high speed wing stall. The stick shakes alot prior to this. He would say, "Darren the plane will talk to you, just listen". If the stick starts to shake like that, release back pressure. All this builds confidence and comfort with your plane. Worth every penny spent


Some RV's visiting the contest


Jeff - Here's a thread I found on VAF about using the oil accumulator. It's mounted to the firewall.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=51286

I am seriously thinking of going this route rather than a full blown inverted oil system. I'll research more before I lay out some $$

Swixtt (sorry couldn't find your first name) - I did get the "aerobatics prohibited" placard removed by Jim Hrymack in Bassano, Alberta. It was then replaced by an "Aerobatics Mandatory" placard Jim gets busy in summer flying his Harvard in airshows so he actually just flew my RV once. I submitted the manoeuvres I wanted him to perform to Transport Canada and he signed off on those. He makes no qualms about the fact that during the testing, if the plane starts to come apart he is bailing out. In fact he practices his egress a few times on the ground. Kind of freaky watching..... not the kind of thing you want to visualize happen.

His friend Miles Crane did my training after that. Miles is very good and took first place in Intermediate this past weekend. Private message me and I can give you his number if you want.

Bill and Dave - thanks for the kind words.


A couple of Yakkies competing in Intermediate

Eric - Thanks for your critiques on my video when I posted it months ago.
I was amazed at how much you could see from just a helmet cam video. Your suggestions were appreciated and were helpful. There was only one other RV at the contest. It was the -6A in one of the pictures and he flew in Sportsman. As for why I couldn't fly like how I did in round 3..... well ......nerves I guess. I was only 1% behind first place after the first round but fell back in round two because I was so jacked up and pulling more G than needed. I needed to relax. Round 3 was done on day two after a flight home and a chance to chill out. One big thing I learned was to focus on flying smooth. It's a bit of an art to be able to pull to a line quickly and crisply but not overly aggressively. Sounds weird but that's how I see it.

Don - "The Yank and Banks" !! Sounds good. Let me know when our first team meeting is ..... Well being from Canada we're often referred to as "Canucks". You being a "Yankee" ......so how about "The Yank and 'Nucks" .......er..... well maybe not......sound too much like "yank my nuts" Wouldn't look good on the brochure.

Darren

FP Prop without inverted fuel or oil system

Ok..so I understand a few seconds of zero or near zero-g flight will do little more than spew a few ounces of oil and possible cause OP to drop.

How does the power setting while in this flight regime affect the amount of oil and duration of OP fluctuations? Since I have a FP prop I pretty much reduce throttle to near idle on the backside of loops and cubans to ensure I don't over-speed.

If I keep power more mid-range, making it easier to keep the E up at the bottom, do you think this will increase issues with oil loss and fluctuations in OP?

Thanks

Ken

Congratulations on your first contest Darren, and good job on the flying! I still remember my first contest. That contest changed my life. I no longer compete, but I was very serious for many years, and really enjoyed myself. You will never meet a more supportive group of pilots than the IAC'rs, from beginners to seasoned Unlimited pilots. it's a great group. Beware, though, you may find yourself so hooked that you soon find yourself eyeing planes with higher horsepower, roll rate, and price tag!

best, and keep flying safe,
Damon

RV8R999 said:

How does the power setting while in this flight regime affect the amount of oil and duration of OP fluctuations?

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If the oil pickup has unported under negative G, I don't think oil pressure would drop (to zero) any differently under various power settings. But I guess the harder the engine is running, the more it's attempting to pressurize the case, and with the breather plugged with oil, it might pump out a little faster at higher power settings.

RV8R999 said:

Since I have a FP prop I pretty much reduce throttle to near idle on the backside of loops and cubans to ensure I don't over-speed.

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No need to pull power off on the backside of a loop - you'll have trouble doing a round one and you'll give away energy on the exit. If you enter a loop at a given power setting/RPM under redline, leave it, and exit at the same altitude, it's physically impossible to gain RPM or airspeed. It's all about managing the pull throughout. RVs will easily loop from cruise settings, and there's no need to touch the throttle. In competition, and to get a round loop, it will help to apply full throttle on the way up to help float and round out the top, and pull it back only slightly on the backside to your original level flight settings.

Similar for the half-cuban - draw a quick line before and after the roll, and you might only need to pull the power back slightly to keep RPM in check. Pulling excessive amounts of power throws away altitude and energy.

Darren
Way cool !!!
I have made plans to go and watch a contest before trying one myself but I have had things that kept it from happening.
Do you have double belts in your -7?
Great story, thanks for posting it.
Dave

Hey Dave,

They told me that no double belts were needed in Primary or Sportman. I do have Hooker harnesses and a crotch strap. The crotch strap is essential, I think as you will knock your noggin on the canopy easily without it. In fact my guy wouldn't fly off the restrictions without it. It's simple to install and Van's sells a kit with rivets and all.

As others have told you, the IAC group is VERY supportive, especially to newbies. They want to groom safe aerobatic pilots and build the sport.

Darren

Darren S said:

They told me that no double belts were needed in Primary or Sportman.

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In Primary and Sportsman, it's true that your exposure to negative G is extremely brief, and that it's no more than -1G, but in theory the failure of your single lap belt during this time could still be a disaster...unlikely as it may be. The need is much greater in Intermediate and higher, where at times you're flying sustained negative, and pushing multiple negative G's, but it's still not a bad idea to have a double lap belt if you're going to be hitting any negative G at all.