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The simple loop is the most basic of all RC aerobatic maneuvers and it is part of many of the other aerobatics included in the AMA pattern.  The AMA provides the standard for competition pattern flying and to see more on the regulations of the AMA pattern check it out here.

Meanwhile, since this series on radio controlled model airplane aerobatic maneuvers is designed for beginners, I would suggest that you work your way through the short series of basic maneuvers that I will be discussing throughout the next several blog posts before starting to think about any serious competition.  And as always, I recommend that you work with an experienced trainer to help you avoid problems and frustrations.

Now, let’s get started making loops.  First, you need to make sure that your model aircraft engine is properly tuned and all of the control surfaces are trimmed so that straight and level flight is just exactly that.  Then you should do some practicing of inverted flight so that you can become familiar with how the controls function while the plane is inverted.

In one of my earlier blog entries, I talked a little bit about what to expect when your model is flying towards you as opposed to how it works when it is flying away from you.  A new theory on how to explain how the plane will react at any given time is to consider how the controls will respond as if you were sitting in the cockpit at all times.  I have conditioned myself to use view from the rear of the plane and I can now administer the proper control adjustments without thinking about whether the plane is approaching me or flying away from me.

    A similar thing happens when flying the model plane inverted.  The difference that you will experience when flying inverted is that down elevator control will make the plane climb and up elevator control will cause the plane to descend.  You should practice flying towards your position as well as away from your position both inverted and non-inverted until your reaction to the plane’s control needs becomes instantanteous without having to think about what you need to do at any given time.  Then you are ready to begin trying the loop.

    You will enter the loop from straight and level flight at or near full throttle.  As you gain experience, you will determine how your particular RC model airplane will perform at different speeds.  To start the loop apply up elevator and hold enough up elevator to pull the airplane up and around a full 360 degree circle.  As you reach the top of the circle, begin to reduce the air speed in order to avoid excessive speed at the bottom of the loop  when you are ready to level out and return to straight and level flight.  The reason you need to reduce the throttle setting and slow a little bit is to reduce the G forces and stress on the model’s wing.  I have seen many accidents caused by snapping the wing in half at the bottom of the loop and the fuselage continuing out of control to the ground.  That’s not pretty.

    So, at first, until you learn the limitations and capabilities of your model, take it easy and just strive to get perfectly round circles starting from straight and level flight at the bottom of the circle and following through to complete the circle and exit the loop straight and level at the point where you began the loop. Watch out for stall conditions, fly safely , and have fun practicing.  Next time we will expand on what was covered so far and gradually advance on to doing figure eights and long ovals,  and  if that goes well, we’ll progress into doing the Immelman turn.  Lots of more fun coming, please come back and keep reading. 

    As I have stated before, I am not a competition flier and if anyone reading this has any information to offer that would benefit my readers, please feel free to comment.  Just follow the comment link at the end of this entry and let me know what you are thinking.  This is the OldManFlier and I’ll see you next time. 

I know that I said in the last blog entry that we would start talking about doing the simple loop, which is a basic part of most other RC aerobatic maneuvers.  I looked back in the archives of previous blog posts and realized that I haven’t yet talked much about landing.  So, I decided to point out a few things about this all important part of RC flying before moving into more advanced maneuvers.

After all, remember that someone once said, “takeoffs are optional – landings are mandatory.”  I guess what they were really saying is that you need to know how to safely land your radio controlled model airplane.

Let’s start by talking about wind direction with respect to the direction or heading of the landing strip.  It is advisable to always take off and land into the wind.  However, that is not always possible.  So, what do we have to do to get our RC aircraft back on the ground all in one piece if the wind is blowing across the runway?

Let’s back up to the basic “into the wind” landing.  Your flying field or local club may have some specific rules regarding any emergency situations including the infamous “dead stick” landing.  A dead stick landing is one in which the model’s engine or electric motor has stopped running and you are forced to land as quickly as possible to avoid crashing your RC airplane or worse yet, injuring someone if you lose control of your aircraft.

Given enough altitude and and enough room to land in, most of the time landing a RC model airplane without power can be done successfully.

Let’s start with you standing along the side of the landing strip facing away from the parking, spectator and flight preparation areas.  As always, we are going to keep the model out in front of ourselves to avoid any dangerous problems.  In other words we should never fly our radio controlled models over the “safe” area.

When you decide to land, two things have to start happening together.  First, you need to reduce the air speed and start descending into the down wind side of the landing approach.   If you think about it, meeting these two objectives at the same time can be a little difficult, because as the aircraft begins to descend, it will gain some air speed.

Assuming that your engine is running and your aircraft is heading toward the far side and at the  up wind end of the landing strip.  Begin the first leg of your descent with a 90 degree right turn and begin  descending and reducing  the airspeed gradually .  It is important to not descend too fast over the distance of the downwind side of the runway, but make a gradual descent until the aircraft reaches  a point just far enough beyond the downwind end of the runway to allow for two consecutive 90 degree right turns.

After completing the two right turns, make sure your model airplane is heading straight into the wind and straight down the center of the runway.  Continue the gradual descent and further decrease speed until the airplane settles gently to the ground about directly ahead of where you are standing and allow it to slow even more until it reaches a speed that will allow a safe left turn and taxi directly off the landing strip.

Practice your landings until you have learned exactly  what the rate of descent and speed reduction rate work best for your particular aircraft.  As always I highly recommend that you learn and practice landings with a qualified instructor at your side.

As your landing skills improve and you gain more confidence, you can also practice “touch and go’s” which will give you almost simultaneous take off and landing practice.  One last piece of advice… you should master each maneuver as you go before starting to learn the next.  The more you practice the basic maneuvers, the easier it will be to learn the more complicated stunts and maneuvers.

This is the OldManFlier and I will see you next time.

I must apologize for delaying this blog post for so long.  I have been recovering from eye surgery and it has been difficult to work at the computer.

Up till now, I have been discussing various aspects of getting started in flying radio controlled model airplanes.  Now, I want to step up the action a little bit.   Over the next several posts, I will be discussing and describing the basic aerobatic maneuvers and how to do them.

As always, I recommend having an experienced flier standing by as you go through these maneuvers to help in case on an emergency and to provide additional assistance as necessary.  Since I am not a serious competitor, I welcome input from those of you that are.  Please feel free to click on the comments link at the end of the post and add your input.  All comments are moderated by myself in order to keep this site free of spam.

If you are a beginner, I suggest that you have mastered all the basic flight steps including takeoffs,  solo flight, and landings before you attempt these basic aerobatic patterns.  Check with your flight instructor to see if he feels you are ready for aerobatic flying.

    Before getting into the basic patterns, I want to explain what a stall is, why it happens and how to get out of the stall condition.  I know that some of you already know about stalling and what to do about it, but for the sake of the ones that don’t, please bear with me. 

    An airplane, whether it is a model or a full sized aircraft will stall if the airspeed gets too slow.  To explain this a little further, you need to understand how a radio controlled model airplane gets the lift needed to sustain continuous flight.  I don’t want to get into a lot of technical details about aerodynamics, but let it suffice to say that the lift is created by the air moving over both surfaces of the wing at a speed that is great enough to develop and maintain the required lift. 

    The shape of the wing (airfoil) and the speed of the plane determine how much lift is created.  When the aircraft slows down or loses airspeed, the lift diminishes and it will fall out of the sky.  For example a model can stall from the consequences of too steep of a takeoff when the airspeed is less.  Or, when doing aerobatic patterns at a slower speed and climbing too steeply.  Another condition that can cause a stall is by flying at too low of an airspeed or if the engine should quit in flight.

   Whatever causes it to happen, if a stall occurs without proper corrective action, the plane will fall out of control to the ground and I don’t need to tell you what the end result will be.  To recover from a stall, it is necessary to regain airspeed to create the required lift.  If you encounter a stall, point the nose slightly down and if necessary, increase engine speed and when you have reached adequate airspeed gently pull the nose up and level off.  It is a natural reaction especially for beginners to pull up immediately on the elevator control which will only worsen the situation.

    You should practice getting your radio controlled aircraft into a stall and then recovering from the stall and be familiar with doing that so that when doing the aerobatics, you will be more familiar with how your model behaves in a stalled condition.  And as always you should be accompanied by your trainer when you first attempt the stall recovery practice.  

    We will get into a simple inside loop next time.  This is the OldManFlier and I’ll see you next time.