Portions of the items on this page are from the "Competitor's Guide".

1. FLIGHT PATTERNS AND MANEUVER AREA: The maneuver schedules of all classes must be executed in the order listed during an uninterrupted flight within the maneuver area designated by the Contest Director. Maneuvers must be performed where they can be clearly seen by the judges.

a. Center maneuvers must be performed centered in the maneuver area in a plane exactly perpendicular to the judges line of sight to the model. Infractions are cause for downgrading in addition to those downgrades listed in the Description of Maneuvers, Section III. The Contest Director will clearly mark the center line for each flight line.

b. Each time the model passes in front of the judges, a maneuver must be executed, excluding listed trim passes and fly bys. In the maneuver lists (U) upwind and (D) downwind denotes mandatory maneuver orientation. The orientation, or direction of flight, shall be determined by the direction of takeoff.

c. The direction of takeoff shall be announced to the judges by the Contest Director prior to each round, or subsequently, if direction of the wind dictates.

d. If a maneuver other than landing is done out of order, it shall be scored zero (0). Judges may inform the pilot or his helper. He shall be judged on the remaining maneuvers, providing they are executed in the proper sequence. If an illegal pass (crossing the line perpendicular to and centered on the judges) is made, the maneuver which should have been executed shall be scored zero (0).

e. In all classes, the contestant or his helper must call out the name of the maneuver, the initiation and completion for all maneuvers.

f. Most in-flight maneuvers will be positioned on a line parallel to the runway at a distance no greater than 300 feet, and at a height less than 60 degrees from the judges’ viewpoint. Exceptions as to distance are granted for the Procedure Turn, Figure Eight and Traffic Pattern maneuvers.

g. All in-flight maneuvers will be preceded by straight and level flight for 50 feet after the announcement of the maneuver before execution, and 50 feet after completion of the maneuver before announcement of completion. Exceptions: In Novice, only before Straight Flight Out and after Straight Flight Back. In Antique Sports, only before Straight Flight Out and after the Figure Eight. In both Novice and Antique Sportsman, after the completion of the Traffic Pattern, “Landing will begin a 6 feet” shall be announced.
 

( 2 ) No bonus for exceptionally low altitude is justified. The entry and exit altitudes for most maneuvers should be the same. Exceptions are the Immelman Turn, Three Turn spin and Traffic Pattern. Resultant downgrades should be proportionate to the difference.

c. Size: Flying so far out as to make evaluation of a maneuver difficult should be downgraded. The main criterion here is visibility. Maneuvers performed on a line greater than 500 feet in front of the pilot should be downgraded, as even the keenest eye begins to lose perspective at this distance.

( 1 ) Since the size of the maneuvering area varies proportionally with the distance from the judges to the model’s line of flight, the size of the maneuvers will vary as well. In addition, maneuvers should be proportioned relative to the size of the other maneuvers in the flight.

( 2 ) The competitor should proportion the maneuver sizes, especially those with loops, squares, or verticals, to the distance out within that broad corridor that he chooses to fly. Large maneuvers placed close in should be down graded if exceeding the vertical 60 degree limit. Small maneuvers placed far out should be downgraded for appearing to hide the maneuver.

( 3 ) In all classes, the judge should be careful to judge only the skill with which the maneuver is flown and presented, not the performance of the aircraft. d. Smoothness and Gracefulness: A most general definition would relate to providing a smooth flowing polished appearance in a constant roll rate from start to finish. A perfect loop cannot be made up of a series of straight flight increments joined by sudden angular jerks. Rotations in the pitch axis of the model should be made evenly and be of sufficient radius to give a smooth appearance in flight. Excessively tight maneuvers should be severely downgraded. All these criteria should be judged to determine the final score for each maneuver.

3. ACCURATE AND CONSISTENT JUDGING: The most important aspect of consistent judging is for each judge to establish his standards and to maintain that standard throughout the contest. It is advisable for the Contest Director or Chief Judge to hold a briefing prior to the start of the contest in order to make the standards as uniform as possible.

4. JUDGING INDIVIDUAL MANEUVERS: The schedules of maneuvers to be performed are described in Section III. Each maneuver is to be scored individually on a basis of 10 to 0 points, in whole or 1/2 point increments, according to the degree of excellence. When in doubt, give the lower score. A 10 should be awarded only if no flaws are seen that would justify a lower score.

a. Section III contains a description of each maneuver and lists a number of reasons for downgrades. The maneuver should be downgraded according to:

( 1 ) the type of defect

( 2 ) the severity of the defect

( 3 ) the number of times any one defect occurs as well as the total number of defects

( 4 ) the positioning of the maneuver

b. For example, a small single change in heading during the slow roll would be considered one defect, while two or three distinct turns would be considered two or three defects. Note that, for many maneuvers, there are more than six possible kinds of defects and that some of these can be repetitive. It is not possible to downgrade one point for each defect or, indeed, we would have many negative scores. Start positive scoring on the good parts of the maneuver if the score begins to get too low.

5. MANDATORY ZERO: The following is a collation of all mandatory zero (0) scores applicable to all Pattern Classes:

a. Flying behind specified flight line during or between maneuvers

b. Maneuver performed out of sequence

c. Execution of an illegal pass

d. Touching the plane before completion of the flight

e. Maneuver not completed

f. Model ends up on its back when landing

g. Failure to take off

h. Landing outside of runway or landing zone boundaries

i. In spins, a snap roll, model not stalled or 2 or 4 turns are done

j. A stall turn “flops”. On a double stall turn, a flop on both stall turns

k. Where 3 rolls or loops are required and 2 or 4 are done

Whenever a score of zero (0) is warranted, there should be acknowledgement/agreement between the judges.

6. SUGGESTED DOWNGRADES: Certain types of defects pose difficult judging decisions. The following guidelines are suggested:

a. Stall Turns: A flop would receive a zero for a single stall turn. In the case of maneuvers with two, a flop of either would be downgraded 5 points; if both were flopped, a zero. These downgrades should be applied in addition to downgrades for any other defects observed.

b. Number of Loops, Spins or Axial Rolls: Where 3 loops, rolls or spins are required and 2 or 4 are done, the maneuver will be given a zero (0). Rotation errors of spins should be penalized, for example a 90 degree error would draw a 5 point deduction.

c. Major and Minor Defects: A “minor” error, such as a slight over rotation or heading correction, should be penalized a point for each occurrence. A “major” error, such as no entry or exit line to a maneuver, a stall turn radius exceeding 1-1/2 wingspans, or a total lack of a line segment after a roll where one is required, should earn a two point deduction for that fault alone. Point rolls must hesitate with equal time on each point. One(1) point is subtracted for slight variations, while more severe mis-timing is further downgraded. If one or more points are not visible, or there are more that the required number of points, the maneuver is severely downgraded (five (5) or more points.)

d. Maneuvers Off-Center: Deduct two (2) points for each quarter of the total maneuver’s length that is offset. Examples (assuming no offset with the judges’ permission due to the sun): Loops offset so that the edge of the loop just reaches the judges, deduct four (4) points. For offsets of 1/4 loop, deduct 2 points.

7. DESCRIPTION OF MANEUVERS: All maneuvers consist of a number of basic elements such as lines, loops, rolls, stall turns and spins. A short discussion of these elements precedes the individual maneuver descriptions (Section III) to aid the judges in determining appropriate downgrades for deviations from defined maneuver geometry.

a. Lines: All aerobatic maneuvers are started and ended by a horizontal line.

( 1 ) All lines within a maneuver have a beginning and an end which define their length. The length of a line should only be graded when a maneuver contains several lines with a given relationship, as in a Top Hat. Unequal or misrelated lines should be downgraded according to the severity of the defect.

( 2 ) Whenever a type of roll is placed on a line, the length of the line before and after the roll must be equal.

b. Loops: A loop should have, to be perfect, a constant radius. A loop must start and end with a well defined line which, for a complete loop, should be horizontal. For a partial loop such lines may be in another plane of flight, as required by the maneuver.

( 1 ) Partial loops flown as part of the same maneuver must have identical radii. A slight difference should downgrade the maneuver by one (1) point, while a more severe difference may downgrade it by two (2) or three (3) points.

( 2 ) Excessively tight radii should be downgraded as this violates the requirement for smoothness and gracefulness. c. Rolls: Rolls may be flown as individual maneuvers or as elements of other maneuvers. The following criteria apply to all rolls:

( 1 ) Roll rate must be constant.

( 2 ) Roll must have a well defined start and stop

( 3 ) All rolls flown on lines between partial loops must be centered on the line

( 4 ) Point rolls must hesitate with equal time on each point.

d. Stall Turns: Stall turns consist of lines and partial loops as well as stall turns.

( 1 ) Lines must have exactly vertical and horizontal flight paths

( 2 ) Entry and exit must consist of partial loops with equal radii

( 3 ) Length of the vertical line is not a criterion

( 4 ) All rolls must be placed in the center of the lines

( 5 ) Standard pivot radius is one half (1/2) wingspan. A pivot of more than one and one half (1-1/2) wingspan should be considered a defect e. Spins: All spins begin and are ended by a horizontal line. In order to accomplish a spin, the model must be stalled. The entry should be flown in a horizontal path with the nose high attitude increasing as the speed decreases. The nose then drops as the model stalls. Simultaneously, the wing drops in the direction of the spin. The following criteria apply to spins.

( 1 ) Snap roll or un-stalled entry scores zero

( 2 ) The stop of rotation is judged. An error of 360 degrees or more scores zero

( 3 ) A nearly vertical downward line of visible length must be flown after the rotation stops. The pull-out is judged as a partial loop

( 4 ) The attitude of the model during the spin is not a judging criterion as long as the model is stalled

f. Loop/Roll Combinations: Such combinations are flown in the Immelman Turn, Double Immelman and the Cuban Eights. The following criteria apply:

( 1 ) During Immelman maneuvers, the rolls should be accomplished immediately

after the loop. A visible line in between should be downgraded

( 2 ) In the Cuban 8s, the 1/2 roll should be placed on the middle of the line. The half rolls should be placed at the same location of crossover point.