DMAC Gold Introduction

The Fixed Wing Gold Safety Award.

Very few fliers go on to attempt the Gold Award after passing their Silver . If you've practiced the Silver as described in our Guide and are confident and accurate in flying the manouevres there is really no reason for not attempting the Gold - but it's not going to be easy!.

There is no doubt in my mind that the new Gold schedule is far, far more difficult than the old one and I'm afraid that this is going to lead to many model fliers not bothering to go beyond the Silver.

There are several reasons for making this comment. Given that the Gold schedule manouevres have to be flown to a very high standard, there are not many models that are going to be capable of this. Even with a pattern or aerobatic model, it is going to have to be powerful, well trimmed and aerodynamically uncoupled. There are a considerable number of manouevres that require the use of adept rudder co-ordination for alignment - something that wasn't required at all in the old Gold. There is also a rather long spell in the schedule which is entirely negative G - the outside loops, half loops and inverted pass - which will prove tricky. The Stall Turn with the half rolls in the vertical is also a tough manouevre. The Four Point Roll is, in itself, not too difficult but followed by a further two quarter rolls on the way up for a Half Reverse Cuban Eight calls for a lot of power.

There is such a big difference between the old and new Gold that the new Gold basically invalidates the old one - it will be interesting to see how many "old Gold" fliers can demonstrate the new one - I know two who can!

You might find that you will have to use the dual rate switch for Ailerons. Set the high rate higher than normal for most of the schedule. This is particularly important for some of the vertical and 45° rolls where you need to roll faster than you normally do - for example, in the half rolls on the way up and down at the Stall Turn or the Humpty Bump. Use the low rate for the Three Rolls, Two Rolls and Slow Roll where much smoother rolls are required. If you choose to do this, get your caller to call the rate switch changes otherwise you'll get confused.

One manouevre which falls into the "decidedly dodgy" category is the Vertical Eight followed by a Split S. Consider that the topline for the schedule to be the height set by the tops of loops, stall turns etc. The schedule calls for the Vertical Eight to start in the middle at half the topline height from where you execute an inside loop then an outside loop. No doubt you're ahead of me here, but this requires you to do an outside loop, half the size of the two outside loops earlier in the schedule, from half the previous height. That's then followed by a Split S (again from half the previous height) - a manouevre specifically designed to increase speed at the expense of height. Assuming that you don't want to bury your model, the topline has to be established as twice the normal height for an outside loop which then makes the rest of the schedule.... enormous! This means you need a big, powerful model and, to have any realistic chance of powering your way through some of the high vertical manouevres, a thrust-to-weight ratio greater than one. Basically, your model is going to have to accelerate going vertically. The more logical solution is to exit the previous Half Bunt on the topline rather than the half height line.

However... just trying the new Gold and some of the manouevres will definitely improve your flying. It will also demonstrate to you how important it is to correctly trim out a model for aerobatics. It will also get you using the rudder for something other than take off!

All the required manoeuvres for the Gold Safety Certificate are included in our Aerobatics Guide which can be downloaded from our Downloads page).

The "schedule" required is:

Checking out your model.
Starting the engine.
Pre-take off checks.
Taking off.
Procedure Turn.
Reverse Cuban Eight.
Half Cuban Eight.
Two Loops.
Stall Turn with a half roll in up and down legs.
Three Rolls.
Humpty Bump.
Four Point Roll.
Half Reverse Cuban Eight with two points of a four point roll in the upline.
Two Rolls first in one direction, second in the opposite direction.
Immelman Turn.
Two Outside Loops. (Bunt)
Half Outside Loop. (Bunt)
Inverted Pass.
Vertical Pullthrough.
Vertical Eight starting at the middle.
Split S.
Slow Roll.
Half Square Loop and Half Roll.
One Turn Spin.
Rectangular Circuit.
Landing.
Recovering the model and returning to the pits.
You will then be asked questions relating to the Safety Code (which should be second nature by now!).

As with the Silver Award, you will be tested by two Examiners, at least one of whom will not be from your own Club.

Fixed Wing Gold