Loops, and a sequence

[Toby]

Today's lesson was only .7, but what a session. First, the weather report: very windy and bumpy, with those smooth, stretched-out clouds high up that mean turbulence. So we were rockin' and rollin'. But it was still springlike, and I had the vents open and the air smelled and felt good.

I had done a couple of loops before, or, rather, assisted at loops. Today I did a couple with my instructor and then maybe 5 or 6 on my own. They're not hard at all, not nearly as hard as those pesky slow rolls! I lined up with the shoreline and put the nose down until I was going 150 mph. We try to be at 140 mph, at least, and anywhere up to 160. Below 140, our loop is going to look like a lowercase "l" in script.

So I got to 150, leveled the wings, pulled back hard, and looked up (out the front window) until the horizon disappeared. Then looked out to the left and as we got near the top, moved the stick forward just so, to float over the top. Then looked out the front again as we headed down, making sure the wings were level, and pulled back hard to come out of the loop. That's all there was to it. In all my loops we pulled 4 or 4.5 Gs. The wind was quite strong from the north, so we kept drifting out to sea. To do a loop in competition, you can't crab or do anything to correct for wind drift, you just have to drift. So we did round loops and came out on heading, but ended up to the right of where we began, like a corkscrew. I was just cheering like crazy at the end of each one.

After a bunch of loops, we did the best thing.....my first attempts at sequencing. I did a loop, followed by a 180 degree competition turn, followed by a slow roll, followed by a 90 degree turn. The turns give you a chance to correct for wind drift. If you've been drifting out to sea, you turn toward shore. I understand that in Basic, I won't be penalized for going out of the box, but I want to try and stay in it, anyway. In any case, if I go out, I want to get back in.

My turns were okay to the left, but, as usual, when I turned to the right I wasn't able to stop at the 60-degree bank mark. I am so sloppy with movement to the right with the stick. Ugh. And when I move it to the right spot, I tend to let the bank increase as I turn. Not good -- there we are, getting lower, and it messes me up and I come out of the turn sloppy and scoopy. I need a lot of work on these.

The slow roll I couldn't do well at first. I couldn't remember how to do it. I was thinking too much. My instructor kept saying to me, stop thinking and do it. It really is something you have to just do. Just keep the cowling going around that point in the sky, do whatever it takes to do that. The rudder work is getting more instinctive. I still remind myself "top rudder" now and then, but sometimes I'm already doing it when I get around to reminding myself.

One problem with the slow roll is that I end up on a different heading than when I began. I think it's a rudder problem. I'll ask him about that, and try to fix it.

I did a couple of sequences and then I was ready to head back. It takes a lot out of me, doing one maneuver right after another. But what a trip.....

Next week is competition spins. I've "assisted" on two of them with my instructor already. They involve a regular one-turn spin followed by stick forward to attain a true vertical, a count to three, then recovery. Something like that. I will let you know. In any case, what we did today was the last four-fifths of the Basic sequence. The spin is actually the first maneuver. You spin down into the box, then do a loop with all the airspeed you've got, then the turn, the roll, and the other turn.

 

[maximus]

Loops can be difficult especialy when someone is grading them. I have had judge comment on mine being like e's l's anything but a big ol' O.

 

[gismo]

I had done a couple of loops before, or, rather, assisted at loops. Today I did a couple with my instructor and then maybe 5 or 6 on my own. They're not hard at all, not nearly as hard as those pesky slow rolls!

What's hard is getting them to look like circles (I never got very good at that).

My turns were okay to the left, but, as usual, when I turned to the right I wasn't able to stop at the 60-degree bank mark.

Do you have trouble visualizing 60 degrees of bank? Maybe you can put long narrow tapes on the windscreen at 60 degrees from horizontal. This made a big difference for me.

One problem with the slow roll is that I end up on a different heading than when I began. I think it's a rudder problem. I'll ask him about that, and try to fix it.

I'll bet its the elevator, not the rudder. Rudder problems usually mean letting the nose drop while the wings are near vertical. Chances are you aren't pushing/pulling enough to achieve zero lift pitch at the 90&270 degree bank points. That pulls the plane off the straight line.

 

[Toby]

What's hard is getting them to look like circles (I never got very good at that).

I know! Since I can't see them from the outside, I have no idea what I look like. Lopsided, I'm sure.

Do you have trouble visualizing 60 degrees of bank? Maybe you can put long narrow tapes on the windscreen at 60 degrees from horizontal. This made a big difference for me.

Yeah. Even if they are not long tapes, just pieces of tape at the 60-deg. points, that would help.

Part of the problem is that I don't have that crispness to the arm movement that I need. I swoosh past the 60-degree point, then I try to correct. A mess. In the meantime, I also have to push forward just a tiny bit to "stop," then pull straight back. I have a LOT of trouble pulling straight back, I think because I'm still too tense. The whole series of moves is still in the mechanical phase.

I'll bet its the elevator, not the rudder. Rudder problems usually mean letting the nose drop while the wings are near vertical. Chances are you aren't pushing/pulling enough to achieve zero lift pitch at the 90&270 degree bank points. That pulls the plane off the straight line.

I wonder if I'm messing up at the one-quarter point or the three-quarter point. I think it's at the one-quarter, because I'm always hearing him tell me to push. Maybe I'm not pushing soon enough, or maybe not far enough....?

 

[Bill]

Today's lesson was only .7, but what a session.

Toby, keep 'em coming, good reading!

 

[Diana]

What's hard is getting them to look like circles (I never got very good at that).

Yea, I still have that problem, too. Greg Koontz had a few suggestions for me when I flew with him. Also, In the past I have been in a hurry to float over the top so I wouldn't have to be inverted for long. I'm not in as much of a hurry now.

I think it really helps to have someone from the ground observing to tell you how it looks. (Especially for me since I don't have an instructor around here to work with me inside the airplane.) I am fortunate to have Tom on the ground below with a radio to give me instant feedback. Although I get really, really tired of hearing "It looks like an egg." We're going to start video taping them so I can see how they look later.

Sometimes I hit my wake coming back through the loop, and sometimes it's a pretty good thump.

Do you have trouble visualizing 60 degrees of bank? Maybe you can put long narrow tapes on the windscreen at 60 degrees from horizontal. This made a big difference for me.

I have that problem too. And knowing when I'm on the 45 inverted for the Cuban Eight.

I'm glad you're doing loops now Toby; fun aren't they?

 

[gismo]

I know! Since I can't see them from the outside, I have no idea what I look like. Lopsided, I'm sure.

Supposedly you can tell by watching the wingtip scribe it's path on the horizon but I must admit that I didn't find that easy either.

Yeah. Even if they are not long tapes, just pieces of tape at the 60-deg. points, that would help.

What you need is something to hold parallel with the horizon. If the sky is very clear, a couple bits of tape on opposite ends of a 60 degree line would probably work, but with the typical hazy horizon with a few clouds in the way I think a continuous line at least a foot or two in length works best.

Part of the problem is that I don't have that crispness to the arm movement that I need. I swoosh past the 60-degree point, then I try to correct. A mess. In the meantime, I also have to push forward just a tiny bit to "stop," then pull straight back. I have a LOT of trouble pulling straight back, I think because I'm still too tense. The whole series of moves is still in the mechanical phase.

I expect that you've gotten past the point where you're worried that the plane is going to do something unexpected that you can't counter, and if so I think all you need to do is convince yourself that you're really in control and can push that stick anywhere you need to. It does take a little subconscious confidence to get your body to obey your mind on this. Just tell yourself there's no benefit to being tenative and go for it. The worst that will happen is that you will over control and bust the maneuver, but a bust is pretty much guaranteed if you are too tenative or gentle so why waste your time with that?

I wonder if I'm messing up at the one-quarter point or the three-quarter point. I think it's at the one-quarter, because I'm always hearing him tell me to push. Maybe I'm not pushing soon enough, or maybe not far enough....?

I do think that's likely. In my case it was both (too little, too late). You have to eliminate all of the lateral component of the lift vector. That means coming forward on the stick pretty agressively during that first quarter roll getting to zero lift at 90. The force required builds non-linearly (it's a sine function) with 70% of the max occurring at 45 degrees. That means that the rate of force increase on the stick must itself increase as you roll in and the tendency is for just the opposite (push too hard at first and then ease off).