Aerobatics

By Bastian Blinten
23 January 2008

Much of my enthusiasm for flightsimming has always been linked to real life events, which is the case with aerobatics.

For me as a paraglider pilot there is little chance of practicing aerobatics myself as it is illegal in Germany. Well, right across the border in Austria there are championships but I never thought it's a good idea to risk my life in such events as it bears a good deal of danger in an 'aircraft' with a flexible wing. I have seen videos and was totally amazed to see them do things like loops and rolls. I couldn't believe that is possible.

For myself I stick to an occasional steep spiral that delivers a permanent 3G and a satisfying thrill.

My first experiences with aerobatics date back to my childhood days when my daddy took me to an airshow at the nearby Aschaffenburg airfield. Although it is quite a small club with an 800 meter runway they put up an impressive display of aircraft. They had an Airbus fly-by (I think it was a then new A320) and a great amount of interesting and historical aircraft.

What stands out in my memory is the display of three warbirds, a P-40 with shark jaw painting, a P-51 and a Spitfire. Besides there was a terrific Hungarian aerobatic formation consisting of three aircraft. I don't remember the type. I can only recall the piston engines and the partly orange color.

The warbirds put up a beautiful show with lots of slow rolls, hammerhead turns and formation flying. I still marvel at their curved approaches as it must have been very demanding to land on such a short runway.

What really thrilled me were the Hungarians. Never again have I seen such a perfect display of low level aerobatics. The three aircraft stuck together like glue performing loops and rolls as if they were one. Their loops were a vertical carousel with every aircraft in a 120° angle from the next going around and around and around.

After a while the formation split with two of them landing and the leader continuing in an even more impressive series of manouvers. He must have had a deal with God who seemed to have turned off the laws of physics in the airspace above the field. Every time I expected him to have lost control he stopped his crazy maneuvers as abruptly as he had started them and went on and on.

Later on I got the chance to experience aerobatics as a passenger. My father had just received his license for glider-aerobatics. He had flown the cute but impressive LO-100 and the ASK-21 two-seater in the course of his training.

I still remember the day when my brother and I took our bikes to visit him 30 km away at Gelnhausen airfield. From far away we could see the gliders doing loops and stall turns. My brother had always been the type to check the theory while I couldn't wait to get airborne and feel for myself.

The regular program consisted of a loop, a left and a right roll, two hammerheads, an Immelmann, a half roll followed by a half loop and a 360° circle at 60°+ bank.

The tow aircraft, a Polish Wilga, pulled as up to 900 meters. It is an altitude limitation because of the nearby Frankfurt airport. It is forbidden to fly acrobatics below 400 meters so there are 500 left for your pleasure.

The loop felt great. We had about 5 G. In such conditions your body is flooded with adrenalin to make your heart pumping the blood to the brain. Otherwise it would linger in your feet a place where you don't need it so badly in these circumstances.

Glancing back during the loop. Looks like I have aged 20 years and I need a shave!

It feels great, just like a drug (if I had ever taken any). The roll is very slow with 18 meters of wingspan. You will need full rudder to prevent the nose from sinking too much below the horizon. Once inverted we take a little pause to push the nose up and then we go for the second half. Not beautiful but possible.

The stall turn is amazing. You go straight up and apply full rudder at the top. The aircraft comes to a complete standstill. In case of an Extra 300 you would use the prop's airstream and the rudder to turn the aircraft around in a moment.

In a glider it is a different story. You are hanging there, weightless... soundless... It feels like floating in the air. It is the most impressive memory I have. Only after 4 or 5 seconds the nose slowly turns left or right until it points straight down. Pull up to level flight and that's it.

The 360° turn is easy. After touchdown my father asked how everything was. I said: "Well, pretty good for an old man". Too much for him, not to comment on... His answer came on our second flight. It was an acrobatic statement. Instead of the simple 360° turn we were now going to do it inverted. No problem, if my father hadn't initiated it with a half negative loop. The g-meter went up to -2.5 or 3 G which gave me a sudden and very bad headache. I tried to keep my mouth shut but I must have said something like "Ooomph! This is brutal".

Daddy! Stop it!

When returning to normal flight, the headache disappeared as suddenly as it had come.

On later flights I always enjoyed being upside down. It was funny to hang in the safety belts without contact to the seat enjoying the great view of the earth above you. But on that day my "Omphhh!" had given my father the necessary satisfaction.

The anatomy back in the right place. Approach and landing.

In my case FS5 was the first simulator that offered the chance to try desktop aerobatics. The program's flying lessons included aerobatics in the Cessna 182RG. Not what you call "as real as it gets" but not bad for a start.

Upside down in a Cessna 182? Better keep it grounded.

Apart from that both the Schweizer 2-32 and the Sopwith Camel were in fact capable of acrobatics. For this article I am going back to the old days and have another look at the Camel.

My aim is to find a reliable aircraft with good handling to perform at least the basic maneuvers. As advanced maneuvers and spins can only been flown in a few payware add-on aircraft I will never become the unlimited class pilot in FS.

Hope the belts will sustain!

The Camel proves to be better then expected. On earlier FS versions it had been hard to handle and almost impossible to land as it was gliding better than anything else. I remember the flight characteristics changing a lot with every new version.

Rolls and turns are a delight while the loop gives me some trouble. Lots of speed and trimming is needed to get around the top.

Here we go!

Funny, but not what I was looking for.

Better go for a landing!

FS for Windows 95 came with an Extra 300. This offered a new dimension. I practiced a lot although I was quite limited by the lack of pedals. Still it was able to perform impressive maneuvers. Landing was very difficult with a bad forward view and no flaps. Apart form that the Extra was so sensitive that it was hard to keep her straight.

That's what it must be in real life. The Extra 300 has stayed with us through all newer versions.

The 'wingtip-fence' helps to fly the desired angle which pleases the judges on the ground. I was astounded to see that there are now virtual championships for online pilots.

Still I am not pleased with the Extra. My current version shows some weird stall behaviour that causes regular crashes. If you pull a little to hard the plane will keep its nose down attitude and continue. This is very hard to get out of and definitely a disqualification for low level acrobatics. It is strange that there is no such tendency while flying inverted. You rather push than pull if you want to survive.

Okay, let's go home.

What else can help us? Military trainers? I found that the Pilatus PC-9 is a pretty good all-rounder with only few drawbacks. The turboprop delivers a good amount of power but the engine takes a while to react if you need an abrupt change of power setting.

Still I was longing for something small. The Czech Zlin 142 is another military trainer but with a piston engine. I found it beautiful and nice but it couldn't handle the hammerheads.

My search went on. There is another Zlin in my virtual hangar, the 526. I have the basic version and another with a 265 hp Lycoming engine altering the looks a little.

The wingtip tanks offer a good range and add to the distinctive looks.

The Zlin 526ML mastered all my expectations. Loops, rolls, hammerheads, everything works nice and smooth. It is far less tricky than the Extra 300 and the retractable gear and flaps are a big help on landing.

All the screen shots were taken at Zweibrucken, Germany.

Whenever you look for a nice and easy trainer without annoying habits I recommend this czech beauty.

By the way, if there is any online pilot out there seeking for a partner to try out formation aerobatics please feel free to contact me. Maybe we can sharpen our skills together!

Any more recommendations? Yes, go for pedals to operate the rudder and use a normal joystick. Force feedback will never be realistic and the handling of my Logitech Force Feedback Pro was more annoying than helpful. There is no aircraft in the world with wildly moving ailerons while flying within the given speed limits. This just ruins much of the precision without providing any realism. That's why I'm back to 'spring'-feedback. Choose one with an integrated throttle lever and a coolie hat. It helps with the handling and the quick all-round-view you will need.

Happy loopings!

Bastian Blinten
b.blinten@gmx.de