First real aerobatic lesson

Yeti Niner Five

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Mar 24, 2014
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Yeti Niner Five
So, I was finally able to do it! It took a while to get the schedules to work, but I had my first aerobatic lesson on Sunday in the Great Lakes. Loops, rolls (mostly 2-points) and spins (both directions). What a blast!

Lesson learned for the day: Tighten the harness to where it's almost uncomfortable across your hips. Flying inverted with your head hanging in the slipstream makes it a bit more challenging!
 
Awesome, sounds like a blast! What were you flying?
 
It's a Great Lakes 2T-1A. So, as I was hanging upside down with the too-loose harness, it was a weird sensation.
 
Cool deal! Never done acro in an open cockpit.
 
I found my left hand grabbing the seat frame in the same situation, spincter muscles didn't help a bit.
 
Flew again yesterday. More loops and rolls. I'm losing altitude on my slow rolls. Assume that I'm not getting the nose up high enough when inverted and likely not using enough top rudder on both knife edges.

Also found that I need more initial pull on the loops. I was losing energy at the top.

This is fun!
 
Flew again yesterday. More loops and rolls. I'm losing altitude on my slow rolls. Assume that I'm not getting the nose up high enough when inverted and likely not using enough top rudder on both knife edges.

Also found that I need more initial pull on the loops. I was losing energy at the top.

This is fun!
Heard from an acro talk at OSH that tour best to go to 3.5 - 4G on initial pull for the loop with lower power planes.
More than that and you bleed to much energy.

Are you getting 3+g's?
 
I am. But I don't think I was holding long
enough. I'm going back up tomorrow. I'll ask my instructor about holding it until I'm 20-30* negative.
 
Flew again yesterday. More loops and rolls. I'm losing altitude on my slow rolls. Assume that I'm not getting the nose up high enough when inverted and likely not using enough top rudder on both knife edges.

Could be you're not getting the nose high enough through inverted, but another very common reason for losing altitude and dishing the roll (pulling the nose off heading) is not holding forward pressure for long enough after rolling through wings level inverted. You need to hold that forward pressure until you've passed about 30 degrees beyond inverted. Then start easing off on the forward pressure. But due to your trim setting, it'll likely still feel as though you're still holding forward pressure through the 2nd knife edge point, since if you're trimmed for 1G flight, getting to zero G on the knife edge point will require a touch of forward pressure. After about 30 degrees beyond inverted is also the point where you want to start switching rudders. Takes a good bit or rudder through the rest of the roll.
 
Thanks! I've been trimming for 0G on guidance from my instructor. His advice today was to add some back pressure as I initiate the roll to get the nose higher faster. Seems like that would pull the nose off-heading. Thoughts?
 
Nah, that won't pull the nose off heading unless you continue to pull for too long after you start the roll. You can cheat the nose up just a little at the start of the roll to help maintain altitude during the roll without it being too noticeable - assuming you're flying in front of judges.

How you trim for acro is a matter of pilot preference. If you're flying something like the Great Lakes, and are trimmed for zero G, you'll find that it takes a little less effort pushing through the inverted portion of a roll, but you're also going to need to be holding significant aft stick pressure when flying upright. For Great Lakes style acro, you'll spend a lot more time flying positive G than the momentary negative, so you must figure out what works best for you. A common trimming technique for "Sportsman" level acro is to trim for the speed you'll be flying upright as you exit a maneuver. This prevents you from having to fight stick pressures between figures. This is actually how I still trim the Pitts for acro, even though I'm flying Advanced sequences with more pushing. But the Pitts is not nearly as heavy on the controls as the GL. Other pilots flying Advanced and Unlimited sequences trim for zero G. Personal preference. I once flew a Great Lakes and it does require a fair amount of force to push negative G during a roll if you're trimmed for positive G. I assume your instructor was attempting to alleviate some of that pressure by trimming for zero G. If I was flying the Great Lakes, I'd trim for my upright exit speed, and just use two hands to push during a roll.
 
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