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I used the words “keep on flying high” in the title for today’s post as a reminder to you that while you are practicing radio controlled model plane aerobatics, you need to make sure you are maintaining enough altitude to allow time to recover from mistakes.

As I started thinking about writing this post, I realized that we haven’t talked about how to do the horizontal roll.  Like the simple loop, the roll is part of many of the other more complicated aerobatic maneuvers and you need to learn that and practice it until it too becomes instinctive to you.

Being able to successfully and gracefully complete the roll is necessary in order to perform the Immelman turn, the cuban 8, and  other more advanced aerobatics.  I would also suggest that you practice some long oval loops as part of the preparation for more advanced maneuvers.

Start a loop and at the top of the circle, add some down elevator to maintain a straight and level inverted flight then at the point where you want to end the long oval loop, feed in up elevator and complete the long oval pattern.  Remember to decrease the airspeed as you start the down side of the ending loop.  At the bottom of the second half of the loop, use down elevator to level out and continue straight and level flight back to the point where you began the long oval.

This long oval pattern is suggested here just to provide you with another kind of practice to help you become proficient in flying inverted.  To make graceful, smooth rolls you need to keep the plane flying level whether it is inverted or right side up.

Okay, now let’s move on to discussing what it takes to roll your plane 360 degrees horizontally.  Please remember that each model behaves somewhat differently and you may have to modify these steps to get the smoothest performance from your own airplane.

Start with straight and level flight and it is advisable, at least at first, to be flying downwind and feed in a little up elevator just as you begin the roll.  Until you gain some experience, it will be the tendency to end up in a steep dive, so it is good to start with a slight nose up attitude.  Quickly give your plane left or right full ailerons and as you enter the inverted portion of the roll, be sure to give it a little down elevator to maintain level flight.  Continue the roll until the aircraft has righted itself and is flying straight and level.

I don’t want to overload you with too much new material at one time and I encourage you to practice each maneuver as I have described until you are completely at ease with each new step before moving on to more advanced aerobatics.

Watch this blog for a new option to sign up to receive my new 7-day Ecourse on how to get started in the radio controlled model airplane hobby.  It will consist of one new step each day for 7 days and will give you enough information to get a good, knowledgeable insight as to what you need to do to get started flying RC.   Also, be sure to take a look at my “about” page and let me knpw what you think by using the comments button below.  I will be glad to hear from you.

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

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.