IMAC for Better Flying

Full scale or models, I’ve always been interested in precision aerobatics. Since I’m not able to fly full scale aerobatics, I stick to models. There are two styles of precision aerobatics.

Pattern – The has been part of RC since the 60s, and it has evolved a lot over the decades. These planes are all purpose built for the sequences flown. There is absolutely nothing scale about these planes. The fly amazing, but I can never get used to what they look like.

I understand why they are designed this way, but I still think they look funny.

IMAC – IMAC stands for International Miniature Aerobatic Club. IMAC follows the full scale IAC. Planes fly the similar sequences, and the main restriction on the plane is that it must be within 10% of any full-scale plane. The 10% rule is pretty subjective, but the planes look like real full-scale aircraft.

Since I started back up several years ago, I always practiced precision maneuvers, but last year I entered my first IMAC contests. Here is the plane I flew:

My first contest was the Granite State IMAC. There are five levels of IMAC – Basic, Sportsman, Intermediate, Advanced, and Unlimited. On the recommendation of the contest director, I competed in Basic. I explained to him my experience, but he said I should still fly Basic in my first contest.

Well, I probably should have competed in Sportsman because I won with the best scores in the world. Yes, the world. That felt a little weird.

Obviously, I should not have been in Basic, so I moved up to Sportsman. I came in 2nd twice behind another pilot that hadn’t lost in a long time. He set a really high bar, and I thoroughly enjoyed competing. It made me a better pilot, and it was a blast.

Now, I’m hooked. This year I decided to move up to Intermediate and get a plane purpose built for IMAC. Here she is:

Now, I need to put it all back together since I only bought the airframe from the original builder/owner. I will post some more photos and descriptions of the build as it comes up.

I’m looking forward to this year’s contests. I will be competing with the same guy that I came in 2nd to last year since he had to move up after winning more than five contents in Sportsman.