Mastering Competition Fun Fly

by Chuck Andraka

Last month I wrote an article to give you a general flavor of competition fun fly. This
month I would like to pass on some hints about plane setup and maneuver practice. I have
about 7 years experience flying fun fly, but I am by no means the definitive answer. I will
pass on tips I have learned from others as well as my experience. I will be speaking
primarily about the Unlimited class. In this class, the plane must be agile and must not
take extra effort to fly. If it is not balanced and tuned, practice can be disastrous.

Start by setting your balance point and look for warps. Move the balance by moving the
battery along the boom. Lead weight should never be needed. I use a 170mA 5-cell SR
battery, which gives me 1 good hard flight on JR 4721 servos and 2 Oz of fuel. Others
use a 5-cell 270 pak. Be sure your engine is going good, as this will directly affect your
loops. Plan on at least 30% nitro in a Webra 32 with a thin 10x4 wood prop. Its cheap at 2
oz per flight! I thin down Top Flight props or find old Rev Ups, and use a Gilbert Aircraft
Performance Products pipe setup for top performance.

After the plane flies straight, you need to set it up for loops. Use plenty of expo on the
elevator and ailerons so it is controllable. Start with no flap mixing, and add elevator until
the loops fall apart. I used to just give as much elevator as mechanically possible, but this
method works better. Now add flap mixing slowly, doing three loops in a row. The flaps
should tighten the loops. Eventually, too much flap will cause the third loop to actually
reverse to an outside loop as the flaps override the elevator. Take out a few percent and
you are good to go. Remember, this takes lots of battery, don’t run out! If your radio
allows, repeat the procedure for outside loops. With many airfoils, the mix will be
different. When set up right, a wings -level entry should give you at least 5 loops in little
more than the plane’s length without falling out.

Now set up your landing system. About 20° up-flap at dead idle will do, then mix in a tad
of down elevator until the plane drops straight down when pulled to idle. If you fly
expert, you will want a similar setup with reversed spoilers for inverted limbo. I use the
JR landing system for inverted, and a programmable mix for upright. This gives
proportion spoilers in normal flight, and fixed spoilers (allowing you to work throttle)
inverted. I moved my landing system switch to the gear switch location so I could flip it
as I roll out of the last limbo pass. Once you are set up, this is the only switch you will
ever move in flight.

A few practice maneuvers are key to learning you plane close to the ground. These are so
different than sport flying, they will take immense concentration to begin with.
Eventually, you will be able to pull out of any orientation 3 feet up without thinking.

The first maneuver is loop touch-and-goes. Contrary to your instincts, bigger loops are
harder, as the plane gets too much speed. Feel your plane out at 20 feet or more,
pretending to do touches. Apply full elevator and full throttle, let it come around, and
chop around 3:00. If it shoots forward at the bottom of the loop, you are chopping too late
or possibly tail heavy. It should do a tight flip, then virtually stop and drop a foot. Work
this on down to the ground. As soon as possible, try them from a standstill rather than an
approach. Its a lot different. It may help to ease off the elevator a tad at 9:00 to gain an
extra foot until you learn confidence. A properly set plane will come out a foot above the
ground, then drop the nose for the touch. Beware of cross-winds, they’ll eat your lunch!
The only way to hurt these planes is to come in on a wing tip.

The second practice maneuver is Roops (roll-loop). As with all the events, time starts
when you leave the ground, so you need to get used to doing that first roll VERY early.
You also need to keep it relatively level, because if you finish the roll vertical, you will
have to finish the loop vertical as well. Start this maneuver again at 20 feet until you learn
the plane. As you oscillate between aileron and elevator, be sure you distinctly move the
stick to center, rather than diagonally. If you don’t, the plane will severely yaw, fly
sideways, and get "wadded up." Try this high. Try left or right rolls. You will likely find
that right rolls will give a large left circle of roops, while left rolls will give a straight
line. This is important in placement for landing. Most guys start flying about 45° away to
the right, and end up after most of a circle landing left to right at the bottom of the fifth
loop. If the plane flies straight on right rolls, or flies too far in the rolls, try less throttle.
In fact, at times I mix some down-throttle with full aileron to control my rolls.

Next, work on modified Dixie Death (3 rolls, 3 loops, touch, repeat). Like the roops, start
your rolls early and low. Keep your throttle soft or the plane will get too far away.
Ideally, the third roll should end 3-5 feet off the ground, wings level, no more than 50
feet from the take-off. Fly a nice gentle arc at half throttle. Once you master the rolls,
pause briefly then pump three loops. If the plane is balanced, you won’t lose altitude in
the loops, and you can use spoilers to drop out of the last one to the ground.

With these maneuvers, you have gained confidence in the plane’s looping ability, and
you have learned a soft touch on the rolls right on takeoff. Now try roll touch-and-goes.
Again, a soft throttle helps, and keep it low. Trust your plane, and keep the light throttle
on through the entire roll or it will fall out. Don’t get the nose high, or you’ll never get
back down. If you nose gets high, add throttle and fly out of it rather than trying to save
it. You’ll discover again that right rolls make a circle, left go straight. Use this to place
yourself in the landing zone for every touch.

With these basic skills, you can put together the rest of the flight plans rather easily. The
final challenge is the inverted limbo for experts. This is the one event that nobody has
mastered yet, and it cries out for someone to just demolish the record with superb flying.
Everyone has a different style. Jerry Smith floats it around, making passes in both
directions while working the throttle. Dave Grantham (and I) likes to do relatively big
outside loops, slightly flattened, and come through with some speed. This is where the
reverse spoilers help, and work the throttle rather than the elevator. Turn off the flap
mixing so they don’t cancel the spoilers! I like a small plate of fiberglass PC board
sticking up from the engine lug to protect the needle on inverted landings. I also like a
9x6 master airscrew for practice. If your fin is relatively stout, this combination will
allow many mistakes without damage to the plane. This is one event that you must
practice if you expect to complete. In my opinion, it is far less dangerous to the plane
than the events you have already mastered.

Now that you know the basics, all that will help is burning some fuel. Since space is
limited, I’ll leave the fun fly class to your imagination. Most of you have done the fun fly
events in your local club contests, and should be ready to show your stuff! Remember,
these are my approaches only, and I continue to learn each year. Be bold and experiment,
maybe you can beat the best.