Ventures / Venture 2 of 5
Chair-flying and maneuver visualization
Import an aerobatic sequence and watch it flown in 3D inside the box, wind drift included. Drill memorization, then chair-fly with Jon's voice calling the cues. Extend it to stalls, steep turns and the pattern for student pilots.
- Red tape
- Very low
- Build effort
- Medium
- First revenue
- Medium
- Our way in
- Aerobatic club chapters
The opportunity
Why this, and why now.
Chair-flying, rehearsing a flight on the ground with eyes closed and hands moving, is one of the oldest and cheapest training tools in aviation. Instructors recommend it constantly; almost nobody gives pilots a good way to do it.
In competition aerobatics, OpenAero is the free standard for designing sequences and does that job well. What nobody owns is the step after design: seeing the sequence flown, learning it cold, and rehearsing it until it is automatic. That gap is where your specialty and our design work overlap most.
What we'd build
The first version.
Sequence import
Read sequence files from OpenAero so pilots keep the design tool they already use.
3D playback in the box
Watch the sequence flown from the judges' line or the cockpit, with wind drift and box edges shown.
Memorization drills
Call out the next figure before it appears; the app tracks which transitions trip you up.
Voice cues from Jon
Calm, precise call-outs for each figure, the way he would brief it on the ground.
A maneuver library
Stalls, steep turns, the pattern and spin awareness for primary students.
Works offline
On a phone or tablet at the airfield, with no signal needed.
Fly it in your mind until it flies itself.
On chair-flying
Who it's for
The people it serves.
- Competition aerobatic pilots learning a new sequence each season.
- Aerobatic students building their first figures.
- Primary students visualizing maneuvers before a lesson.
- Instructors who want to brief with something better than a whiteboard.
How it pays its way
Ways to make it pay.
- A free viewer to build an audience and win trust.
- Paid rehearsal features drills, voice cues and progress tracking.
- Instructor packs for briefing students.
- Chapter licences for aerobatic clubs and contests.
Guardrails
Keeping the red tape light.
- A practice aid Never presented as a substitute for instruction or flight time.
- Respect for OpenAero We work with its sequence files rather than copying its code; its open-source licence sets terms for any reuse.
- Accurate figures Jon reviews every figure animation before it ships.
The first 90 days
Four moves, in order.
Prove the playback
Prototype 3D playback for a handful of figures.
Record the cues
Jon records call-outs for those figures.
Test with a chapter
Put it in front of aerobatic club members and watch them use it.
Add sequence import
Connect OpenAero files once the core experience is right.
Rehearsal is free. Airtime is not.
On practice
Questions for Jon
Your take shapes this.
- Which figures are hardest for students to picture before they fly them?
- How do competition pilots rehearse their sequences today?
- Would a chapter you know share it with its members?
Answer any of these, push back, or tell us about a different idea entirely.
