My Path to Aerobatics
People ask how long it takes to get good at this. The long version has more plateaus in it than the short one, and the plateaus are where the answer lives.
Starting
Like most Polish pilots of my generation, I came up through the aeroclub system. Gliding first, then powered flying, then the discovery that the part I wanted was the part everybody else treated as the dangerous edge of the envelope. The system made that reachable for somebody whose family could not have paid for it privately, which is the single best argument for the aeroclub structure existing.
The first plateau
Learning figures is quick. Learning to fly them the same way twice takes years, and keeping the results consistent takes regular practice. My first competition scores were humbling in a specific way: the figures were recognisable, and none of them were where I thought they had been. A judge sees the loop you flew rather than the loop you intended.
The only thing that fixed it was flying with people who would tell me the truth in the debrief. Specific feedback helped me decide what to practise next.
Competing
Sportsman, then Intermediate, then Advanced, in that order, over years rather than seasons. The FAI Intermediate world title in 2022 was the visible result; the unglamorous version is a decade of repetition with a notebook. In 2026 I took the Polish National Championship in the Advanced class and the Polish Cup, both on SP-EKS, the same aeroplane that carries participants on a Tuesday.
Teaching
The part I did not expect to enjoy. Three of my students have taken national titles: Polish Intermediate in 2026 and 2025, and UK Intermediate in 2022. Watching somebody else fix the exact error you spent two seasons on is a strange and good feeling, and it has made me a better pilot by forcing me to explain things I had only felt.
What I tell pilots who ask how to start
- Get the rating properly. Not a few figures with a friend. The FCL.800 syllabus exists because the failure modes are known.
- Fly with somebody who criticises you. Ask for specific feedback on the figures you fly.
- Enter a competition early, at Sportsman, before you feel ready. A scorecard removes the option of telling yourself the loop was round.
- Fly short and often. Two good figures at the start of a session beat twenty minutes of grinding when you are saturated.
- Keep a notebook. Write the debrief down the same day. You will not remember it and you will make the same error in six weeks.
- Accept the plateaus. Everybody has them, nobody talks about them, and they end.
What has not changed
I still fly the same box next to the same airfield most weeks, and I still find figures I am not happy with. That is the whole appeal. If it were finishable, I would have stopped.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to become good at aerobatics?
Learning the figures is quick. Learning to fly them identically twice takes years, and that gap is where most people stop. Competition scores are the fastest way to see where you stand.
What is the best way to start aerobatics as a pilot?
Take the FCL.800 rating properly rather than learning figures informally, fly with an instructor who criticises rather than encourages, and enter a Sportsman competition before you feel ready.
Why fly short sessions rather than long ones?
Because aerobatic learning is limited by your tolerance rather than by fuel. Two well-flown figures at the start of a session are worth more than twenty minutes of grinding while saturated.
Who has Maciej Kulaszewski trained?
Among others, pilots who took the Polish Intermediate championship in 2026 and 2025 and the UK Intermediate championship in 2022.
Fly it yourself
Aerobatic flights in the Extra 300L SP-EKS from Radom-Piastów (EPRP), 100 km from Warsaw. From 2,222 PLN, no licence or experience required. Gift vouchers are issued as a PDF after payment confirmation and stay valid for 12 months.