How To...Do A Torque Roll

By Peter Ballard

Sorry to disappoint everyone reading this, but I am not a professional aerobatic pilot, in fact I am only 16. I have been flying on the simulator since I was 10 or so, at which point in time I started attempting to hover my aircraft in FS5.1. Although I never learned real 3D maneuvers at that time, I did acquire the needed awareness and coordination to learn. About the time FS98 came out I received some flight pedals which I used to take my flying to greater hights. I got FS98 about the time FS2000 came out, and was greatly disappointed that it was not a great change from FS5.1, except that it took longer to load. Right before I got FS2000 my cousin gave me a Voodoo3 3000 that he didn't want which was a great upgrade from my Voodoo2 and I began trying the new aerobatic capabilities in FS2000.

Enough of this history stuff though...what you guys want is to torque roll like the professionals, and I am going to teach you. Torque rolling as I understand it came from Charlie Hillard at the 1972 World Aerobatic Championship, but for me, my interest started when watching Rocky Hill (AOL Aerobatic Team) of San Jose, CA fly his incredible "Tumble Time" routine in Stockton CA. If you have never seen him fly, you have never seen aerobatics flown properly.

A while back I watched a friend fly who claimed he could "torque roll" in FS98 and I was amused to see him make the same mistake as most of us have, which is to accelerate straight up at full throttle and start an "aileron roll" only to have his aircraft loose balance and fall sideways about 300 feet before his engine kicked in and he flew out of it. For those of you who have called this a "torque roll" let me inform you that it isn't. You may be surprised to hear that a "torque roll" can be performed completely without any aileron movement. A real torque roll requires that your aircraft be controlled completely on the air from your prop running over your tail control surfaces (rudder and elevator). Which brings us to the first step of learning to torque roll, choosing your plane.

If you think you can get out on the field with the default Extra 300s, and torque roll effectively, I think you will be discouraged, for although a torque roll is possible (with the default Extra), it is not realistic and therefore is not a good aircraft to learn on. I personally suggest an aerobatic aircraft by Mikko Maliniemi, but any aircraft with a large amounts of power, elevator, and rudder will probably work. For teaching purposes, I will be using Mikko's new Giles 300. I chose this aircraft for the simple reason that it has a good power to weight ratio, large tail surfaces in the flight model, and wires on the wing tips for orientation with the horizon. Your flightsim settings should be changed to allow for torque. Once you have started Flight Simulator 2000 go to Aircraft in the little bar thing at the top, and choose aircraft realism. After this drag all those little scroll thingies all the way to the right. (Super simplified instructions!)

To learn to "torque roll" you must practice...a lot! Don't expect it to come naturally to you once you read this introduction. "Great," you say, "just practice, that's easy...what do I practice?" Seeing that I was prepared for this question, I have enclosed below what to practice, in an outline form:

Step 1- The Sky Is Not The Limit...The Ground Is!

Like learning to ski, you need to know how to fall down and get back up first. You will make mistakes, even when you have it mastered. So, don't worry about how to control the torque roll yet. Concentrate on learning to catch the plane and fly out of any mistake without losing altitude, regardless of the attitude the plane falls into. This is the key to the torque roll. After all, what virtual audience wants to watch you crash?

How to do it: At a safe altitude, pull the model vertical at about 1/4 throttle and begin to hover. (Or pull straight up at full speed low, and decelerate as you climb.) Use just enough throttle to pull vertical, but not enough to sustain a hover. Let the model begin to fall out--it may fall to the side, the top, bottom or any combination. Practice catching it with the correct elevator and/or rudder input, and get the throttle in it. Focus on flying out level. After you start to get the hang of it and react faster, fly out vertical.

Trickiest Part: Don't get confused and give the wrong input. Be careful! You will soon see why we start at a nice safe altitude.

Step 2 - Switchfoot Flying

You've now crossed the biggest hurdle to learning the torque roll. You can recover, no matter which way your plane falls out. You have confidence that you can save the plane every time. Now you can concentrate on two new things. First, work on reacting with the correct rudder and elevator inputs to keep the model vertical. (The good news is Step 1 has already sharpened your orientation and reaction skills.) Second, learn to "fly" the throttle stick to maintain altitude in a hover but not climb or drop. (Separate throttles help in a huge way, but it can be done with keys!)

How to do it: Now it's time to bring it down to a lower altitude. Start at about 1000 feet, low enough to see the plane from the ground and still high enough to give you a little reaction time before terra firma. Again pull to vertical, only this time add a little more power so that the plane hangs motionless in the air. Once you've got the throttle figured out, concentrate on flying the rudder and elevator to keep the model vertical. Don't worry about ailerons, they aren't going to do much while you're hovering. This is a simply a balancing act, like riding a unicycle. The model may hover or it may begin to torque roll to the left. Don't worry about rolling, this happens on its own and you don't need to make it roll. The plane will begin to roll once it is very close to dead vertical. The better you can hold the model vertical, the faster it will torque roll. To end or slow the roll, simply "push" the aircraft out of the perfectly vertical position. This must be done because ailerons are almost worthless now that you are rolling in this way.

Trickiest part: Learning to keep up with the plane's orientation as it rolls to give the correct elevator and rudder inputs. It takes time to get good. One wrong input and the plane will fall out, but you know how to fly out of a mistake, so set up and try again. Also don't over-control (but if your plane starts falling one way fast, do something about it!). Even too much of the right correction can make you fall out.

Once you've got the hang of it, try backing the throttle down a few clicks as you are torque rolling and slide the plane down closer to the ground. And that, in a nutshell, is just about it. So now you've got a plan and you know what kind of plane, all that's left is practice, practice, practice...

Unfortunately I am presently unable to record videos for all of you of my torque rolling due to slight computer problems, but I will upload some to the file directory. On the other hand I have a collection of videos of torque rolls that I am ready to upload, so those will briefly follow this article.

If you enjoyed this article and would like to learn other 3D / aerobatic maneuvers, write your congressman (and get a cool form letter), or write to me. Send me video clips of your torque rolls! Please also use this address if you are interested in joining my start-up aerobatic team. Thanks folks, and happy flying.

The information enclosed was compiled and written by myself for home study only, do not use it in any way otherwise without my approval.

Peter Ballard
BAPAO_2000@yahoo.com