Learning 3D

[Grumpy]

Don't forget that it's supposed to be fun, it doesn't have to be competitive. Having a rigidly structured training plan is fine and if you want to fly contests or you just feel like you have to be competitive with your flying buddies. But don't feel that this is the only way to fly, if you want to go out and just bore some holes in the sky that's fine too as long as you enjoy it.

[Peteski]

Having gone through the transition from "sport" to basic "3D" flying over the last 12 months, the order I learned after getting my basic upright orientations sorted was:-

stall turns (with ever increasing number of piros at stall point and with tail first exits once I could fly backward circuits with confidence)
360 deg loops & backflips
rolls (I found these a little harder than elevator flips)
inverted hovering orientations (lots of slow piros). Also learned the hard way to continue practicing upright orientations at least as often!
stationary flips and rolls (builds collective management skills, but don't attempt until you can hover inverted in all orientations)
forward and backward inverted circuits (also backward upright circuits as I hadn't learned them at this point). Again need to mix these up with upright forward circuit practice.
Rainbows & slow elevator tic-tocs
Half piro flips (only once confident with inverted hovering in all orientations)
Mobius loops and other transitions
Full piro flips
Funnels (inverted and upright)

That's about where I am at this point. As others have mentioned orientations are key to progression. Once I got to the point where I could fly circuits in any orientation, both upright and inverted my confidence improved dramatically. Then it becomes more a matter of applying yourself to learning specific moves as you please - knowing that you can fly out of any orientation if things go wrong. Plus I only attempt things in real life that I've practiced thoroughly on the sim without crashing!

[Jetman71]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. Taken onboard the need to keep the balance between learning and still having fun. Just want to take my flying beyond circuits, hovering and figure of 8s. So the starting point is perfecting the stall turns and practising on the sim. Week off next week so hopefully the weather will hold and I can get working on some new moves.