Tail-slides and negative flicks in BAeA Advanced power Unknowns

From the HCO

Not so very long ago, aerobatic sequences looked quite different from what we’re used to seeing these days. Were they easier back then? Given the capability of the machines and the relative lack of power then, I’m not so sure they were at all 'easy'. As aircraft technology has evolved and improved, the capabilities of man and machine increased too. Aircraft designers continue to push the boundaries wider than thought feasible all those years ago. The BAeA has in turn raised the bar to keep the challenge, well, challenging, with new and more technical figures added so the sequences have became more complex. Parallel evolution if you like.

To keep the challenge alive, the BAeA are for 2013 introducing two new manoeuvres into the repertoire for BAeA designed Advanced unknown sequences:

  • Tailslides – Pilots should only expect plain lines up and down but may be asked to demonstrate either a canopy up or down slide.
  • Negative flick/snap rolls – Pilots will only be required to initiate this manoeuvre on a simple, level inverted line but may be asked to demonstrate either a half or full roll.

These new figures will make their debut as from the Compton event, and will I hope present new challenges for both long established and new advanced pilots alike. They will only be available to BAeA sequence designers for use in unknown compulsory programmes, and are not to be submitted by pilots for use in free unknowns.

As competitors, we have an inbuilt desire to push ourselves ... to strive for better, to be the best. I hope these new figures will ignite something inside even the most hardened of advanced competitors. The something that made us take up this sport in the first place. As someone once said, "sometimes difficult is worth doing". Be you a spectator, judge, pilot or however you choose to enjoy aerobatics, I hope you thoroughly enjoy this new addition to our sport.

Brian McCartney

From the Chairman

Active competitors at Standard and Intermediate should be familiar with the layout of the section in the BAeA Rules that describes the repertoire of Unknowns, so Advanced pilots only have to think back a little to understand what the page tells you, namely that the negative flicks are only appropriate on straight horizontal lines that start inverted.

Since CIVA created an Advanced category, and adopted an American-ish version of what Advanced actually means, some figures that were previously a regular part of the Advanced repertoire in UK have been lost. Also, Advanced has been further "dumbed down" by CIVA mostly following proposals from Norway (!!) over the last few years. As a result, the gap between Advanced and Unlimited is too large. Fields at international unlimited events are dwindling. Fields at international advanced events are becoming too large to handle.

None of the "new" figures we have decided to put into Advanced this year require a high-performance aeroplane. They can all be done quite respectably in an S2A; immaculately in an S1T. The aim is to enhance the breadth of skills embodied in our Advanced pilots in order to make them more easily able to move on to Unlimited in due course. We don't want Advanced just to be "long Intermediate". This may well be more of a Gallic route than an "International" [as in IAC] one, but that probably makes it better.

Alan Cassidy