Practice at KWJF General William J Fox Airfield
By Brooks Mershon, IAC 440213
IAC Chapter 26 has been filling the skies with aerobatic fun every few weekends for a few months, and this aerobatic community collaboration is starting to be noticed for its helpful feedback and effective peer training for local pilots. The practice days occur at General William J Fox Airfield (KWJF) in Lancaster, California (locally the airfield is known as "Fox Field") and are at least once per month with a date decided 10 days in advance. Pilots interested in participating can reach out to Ramy Mattar and David Fedors (contact information below).
Enjoy a convenient marked box just North of the runway with the added safety of the friendly tower controllers that get us runway to box and back as fast as your plane can do it. Foxy’s Landing and Restaurant in the terminal building provides a comfortable onsite food and debriefing location between flights. There are two fuel pumps at the fueling island plus fuel trucks and maintenance. It's a seven minute car drive out to the judge's line.
It is important to take the time to commute and hang out at a marked box for a few reasons. First, a marked box with eyes on you offering critique over the radio can help you identify any odd habits or tendencies you have earlier in your pre-contest practice. The higher the category of flying you ascend to, the more these weird habits hold an otherwise serious competitor back from glory.
Second, a marked box helps lower and higher category competitors for both similar and somewhat different reasons: a lower category competitor will certainly benefit from lining up with a box and thinking critically about where they place figures, as will a hot-shot unlimited pilot. Having eyes on you also helps you get used to any “performance anxiety” that might accompany flying in front of your friends. (Yes, we are watching!) In higher categories where pilots fly low enough to experience real ground rush, it is important to get experience with the 656’ and 328’ AGL limits for Advanced and Unlimited, respectively.
Most public practice areas have higher limits like the 1,500’ foot AGL floor for the Santa Paula Aerobatic Area. And within that practice area, I spend most of my time way higher than that for safety as I explore the envelope of my plane… why not? The problem, though, is that I found it uncomfortable to suddenly go from flying “hard” at 3,000 feet to turning a vertical down into a vertical up at “pattern altitude” out at Borrego when I was hot, my arms were tired, and my body was extra adrenalized. A very small percentage of my flying had been at contest altitudes for Advanced in a marked box up until this year. Flying lower at a contest than you fly at practice tends to make a pilot rush things due to a higher than normal shot of adrenaline. Fear and nerves do not actually help you fly better.
And of course, practice days at a marked box are social. Come help your fellow competitors and let us remind ourselves that the farther we go in this sport, the more we probably ought to thank others for helping us succeed. One way to thank the sport is to show up and just be there! Let the chores at home slide for half a day. It feels good to lope the plane to life once you’re all packed and strapped in on a crisp morning and dart out for a practice day. I recommend having your “go bags” ready to make short last-minute day-trips in an acro-mount less onerous. That’s what I do. It takes me five minutes to pack.
Oh, and one more thing! Chapter 49 of the Los Angeles Area is bringing back the Duel in the Desert contest at KWJF this year on April 24th (registration) through April 26th. Go pre-register on iac.org and come out to play.
Ramy Mattar ramyrmattar@gmail.com
Dave Fedors fedorsd@gmail.com
