Competition Tips: 'Flow" is critical to a nice looking pattern... how the pattern is put together, how smooth it looks. To get this, airspeed is critical. To set your airspeed for horizontal flight (no it's not at full throttle), look at your power OFF downline speed. Each plane will be different depending on drag. You can't change this speed (well, you could make if faster if you don't have power off). Use the power OFF downline speed as your reference speed for horizontal flight. Get these speeds close to the same. If you have a throttle curve on your radio, set the center throttle stick position to this speed. You will then fly all horizontal segments at 1/2 throttle, increasing power slowly as you pull up into any maneuver. Your goal is to keep the airspeed of the plane the same at all times. If you get close to this, your pattern will look great.. assuming you are flying geometry correctly.
The other thing to consider is the distance you fly from the flight-line. You want to fly much closer than you may think, allowing the judges to view the plane and judge it easily. Flying out to far is a MAJOR problem with many flyers in sportsman and intermediate. Set the speed as mentioned above, this will allow you to fly in closer and not be as rushed. Then work on your distance.. combine the two and your scores will increase.