Ancient Web: Don Ramsey Kept RC Pattern Aerobatics Results Online

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.

Flying a model airplane through a precise sequence of aerobatic maneuvers is difficult enough. Remembering everybody who competed twenty-five years ago requires a different kind of dedication.

Visit Don Ramsey's RC Pattern Flying site

The site identifies itself as a resource for radio-controlled precision aerobatics, commonly called pattern flying, and says it began in 1997. It names Don Ramsey, Ollie Sonnier, and Luis Rodriguez in connection with those early years. The homepage describes the resource as the oldest continuously operating American site devoted to the specialty; that is the site's own claim, not an independently established ranking.

Pattern flying is not simply making a model aircraft loop or roll. Pilots perform prescribed figures to standards judged for geometry and execution. The website gives newcomers a way into that world, with building advice, flying and judging discussions, and contest information.

The results tables are a quiet historical archive

The contest section retains results going back decades. Separate pages show national rankings for years including 2000 through 2004 and local events from 1997 to 2002. In a 2000 Texas contest listing, competitors appear by category, from Sportsman to FAI, with their scores preserved in plain HTML tables.

Those names and scores would be easy to lose if the site had been nothing more than a news feed.

The building and flying section is even more revealing. It includes notes on elevator linkages, aileron lead holes, balsa weights, fiberglass fuselage repair, retractable landing gear, and battery chargers. Contributors are credited beside individual ideas, including Bob Pastorello, Troy Newman, and Mike Harrison.

One discussion walks readers through the old debate over PCM versus FM model-aircraft radios. Another gives a practical visualization exercise for pilots without a coach: draw a maneuver accurately on paper, hold it at arm's length, and study its shape before flying.

That is a distinctive feature of old hobby websites. They preserve the arguments and improvised teaching methods, not just the official rules.

The site remains useful even when a particular product recommendation has aged out. Its deeper subject is how enthusiasts taught one another to build, trim, practice, and compete.

Explore the contest archive and flying techniques.

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.