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The key to flying aerobatics well is precision, using only as much speed and 'g' as is necessary to complete each manoeuvre in a controlled and accurate fashion. As you have limited height (and hence energy) to complete a sequence, efficient flying is necessary to complete a sequence within the available altitude.
Even if you have no particular interest in [[:Category:Competitions|competitions]], every pilot can benefit from doing a few aerobatic flights. By pushing closer to the limits of an aircraft's flight envelope, it greatly increases confidence during normal flight, and by learning the recoveries for when aerobatic manoeuvres go wrong, you become more confident in recovering from any unusual situations that could occur during normal flight.
== Learning Aerobatics at CGC ==
Have a chat to an instructor if you want a demo of some basic manoeuvres, such as [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwe0duJZzgI these].
Throughout the winter, [[Cambridge Gliding Centre|CGC ]] offers aerobatic training slots every Saturday. These can be booked in the usual way on the booking system, putting your name down with 'AEROBATIC INSTRUCTOR'. Martin Whitehead and Graham Spelman usually take it in turns to instruct - if Graham is going out he is usually happy to give lifts.
Just like training to be solo there is a aerobatics syllabus to get each badge, with each manoeuvre ticked off in turn. Once you have all the moves ticked off, you fly a demonstration flight solo where the instructor watches you from the ground. If satisfactory, they will sign you off for your badge. For the first badge, this should take around 5 flights.
The aerobatics badge claim form can be found [http://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/onlineforms.htm here].
== [http://www.aerobatics.org.uk/ Competitions] ==
In [http://www.aerobatics.org.uk/ aerobatic competitions], the competitors each have to fly a set of sequences, some of which are [http://www.aerobatics.org.uk/sequences/sequence.htm known] and can be practised in advance, with the remainder being unknown and are not available till the judged flight.
Each sequence is defined by a set of figures, each of which is scored from 10 points by a group of judges, with each fault resulting in a cumulative reduction in the score.
