The fundamental structure of Aresti
Aerobatic figures are made up by combining basic and complementary manoeuvres which are grouped into eight basic "families" (1-8) and one complementary "family" (9) in the CIVA catalogue. Each manoeuvre is depicted by its Aresti symbol.
Power and Glider aerobatic figures are in separate catalogues - the latter differs in many details from the power version.
- Family 1, Lines and Angles - Horizontal, 45° & vertical line variations.
- Family 2, Turns& Rolling Turns 90°-360° turns erect & inverted, with optional rolls.
- Family 3, Combinations of Lines - more of family 1.
Family 4, (no longer used - was originally Spins on their own, now incorporated with Family-9)- Family 5, Stall Turns - the four possible variations.
- Family 6, Tail Slides - the eight possible variations.
- Family 7, Loops and Eights - Round/square/octagonal loops, split-'S' & 8's.
- Family 8, Combinations of Lines, Angles & Loops, Humpty bumps, Cubans and variations
- Family 9, Rolls Slow, 2-point, 4-point, 8-point, flicks and spins
Understanding the notation
The simplest basic figure in the catalogue is the very first - Family 1.1, line 1, column 1, usually referred to as 1.1.1.1 and shown as figure-1 below. This is drawn as a solid line (denoting erect flight) with a black dot at one end and a short line at right angles at the other, denoting the beginning and end respectively of the figure. To this must be added one or more rolls from Family 9. Slow rolls are drawn as an arc half way along the line, concave to the direction of flight and with an arrow-head denoting direction, or as a triangle with a short line at the apex to denote flick / snap rolls. The number above the dot refers to the figure number in the sequence.
In each case above the (same) basic figure has a difficulty or 'k' factor of 2. The 'k' factor of the complementary maneouvre (the roll) is added to this to produce a total 'K' for the complete figure thus:
| Figure | 'K' | Total 'K' |
|---|---|---|
| a | 2 | 2 |
| b | 2 + 8 | 10 |
| c | 2 + 11 | 13 |
Therefore a mark of 8.0 for figure (b) would give a contestant a score of 80 (8 x 10) from that judge for that figure; a mark of 7.5 for figure (c) would give a score of 97.5 (7.5 x 13).
Inverted and so-called negative 'G' flight is represented by a pecked or dashed line (in red if possible):
Sometimes pairs of flick or snap and aileron rolls are shown "opposed" (the heads are on opposite sides of the line) and in these cases the pilot must fly the two rolls in opposite directions, either to the right then left, or to the left then right, it doesn't matter which.
The sequence total 'K' or difficulty is calculated by adding together the 'k' factors from each individual figure. This may vary in value between (roughly) 60K for the Club sequence to 450K or more for an Unlimited program. Part of the challenge for pilots at Intermediate and above is the task of designing their own "Free Known" sequence to an exact total 'K'.
The 'k' factor for every basic figure and complimentary maneouvre in the catalogue is derived by a logical set of rules from a series of base values. Discussion of this is outside the scope of these notes but it is all explained in the Aresti Aerobatic Catalogue ('Part III - Method of Evaluation').