PONY2 wrote:By the way i'd like to know how a team as you are, can be so stable and so skilled with a new formation every year.... How many times you do practicing?
It's not 4 hours a day. If anyone says that they spend that much time airborne
each day, they are blowing sunshine up your rear...
For continuity sake, you have to practice a full blown show profile about three times per week to be proficient. Twice a week will sustain the knowledge and skill. Once a week and you're banking more on talent than the precise execution of a script (a.k.a profile).
We average about 2-3 practice opportunities per week, each consisting of 1-2 sorties about an hour each. So, that's about 4-6 hours of team practice per week. In between many members practice on their own, but the biggest difference is that every other day we hang out, communicate, work on both business ends and procedures, technique discussions and much more. We just don't show up at practice time and see each other for the first time again since last practice if you know what I mean. Between there's been multiple communications over the internet, work done and many times a lot of phone conversations too. It's this type of briefing/prep for flying and our organization that makes the difference. Obviously, each member takes care of their hardware too (internet connection, setup, computer, seating position etc etc etc etc etc), so that when we fly together as a team we don't start from where we left off last time, but rather use the time
effectively and fly our show profile with all the real world callouts, timing, patterns and procedures bar none. The stick and rudder skills, each member has to find time elsewhere to master, since the show is so complex with 38 maneuvers flown in 45 minutes time and as you know we are a very picky bunch when it comes to how it looks!
To answer how we can fly so stable... Practice, practice, practice and then we typically do a full on debrief after each practice sortie where each pilot dissects his flying in every way possible throughout the show (using video review and a real-time observer) and finds ways to improve, fix errors or notes mistakes and so forth. It can sometimes be as little as:
"I was three feet too deep in the trail formation as we hit 70 and that caused me to go triple-T wide as I corrected with more pull into the float". Then it's back to discussing procedure, profiles (patterns) and technique before you take to the pixilated skies again. Time consuming, yes! Demanding, yes! Rewarding, yes! For everybody, no... It takes people with extraordinary commitment, patience and a drive like no other do to this in unison!
Look for new stuff from us around Thanksgiving...
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