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.
My first experiences 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
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