Hi Nicolas
I could (and may possibly) watch this vid 50 times and I'll get something out of it each time. In the Laser, I got up to Intermediate level (and flew it pretty averagely admittedly!) which just starts to incorporate inverted manoeuvres such as inverted turns and half outside loops. Snap rolls (flicks) are also introduced into the sequences. Sveta would not even bother making eye contact let with a lowly Intermediate pilot! So, watching Sveta go through this freestyle with the very high degree of inverted manoeuvres (stick forward and usually in one corner) is mind-blowing, daunting and humbling. She loves to do negative snap rolls and Lomi's (Lomcevak) which is a low speed tumbling manoeuvre - stick in one forward corner and full opposite rudder. Speed has to be low, otherwise there is risk over over-G. Over negative G can result in nice red eyes and even black eyes afterwards. Met a instructor who very sillily did a tummy squeeze (used for positive G) when doing negative G. He looked like a panda for a few days due to the black eyes he gave himself.
Sveta flies very "Russian" of course. She often uses two hands on the stick, which is very much a Russian technique - a good one at that. I love how she gives the stick a little shake at the end of each manoeuvre - a competition technique to show the judges the end of the manoeuvre - it's a very subtle thing she does, but gives the manoeuvre a "crisp" look when watching. Watch when she is doing multiple horizontal rolls - see the high degree of stick movement forward and backward and top and bottom rudder during the roll. In competition, it's rare to do more than one roll in succession, so it's interesting to me to see her stick and foot movements during a manoeuvre like this.
Cute her waving at the camera from time to time. I'd like to know if she has totally moved over to flying a Extra, or just does this from time to time. It would be pretty hard to fly both the Suk and a Extra at this top level, as everything is different with the prop's going in opposite directions to each other.
BTW Nic, I have that little A-Models Pitts to send you - I will PM you about this.
Cheers
Adam
Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 9:32 pm
