Aerobatics practise with loops, barrel rolls, stall turns and slow rolls

It’s been over a year since I flew a plane upside down, let alone tried a competition loop or tried to keep my lines sharp on a hammerhead. So whilst I was in Sydney over Christmas I booked an aerobatics refresher flight with Red Baron Flight Training to shake off some rust. We started with […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

[VIDEO] Russian Roolettes – Yak52 Nanchang Display Team at Hunter Valley Airshow

The “Russian Roolettes” performed a fantastic formation flying aerobatic display at the Hunter Valley Airshow today. The Roolettes (not to be confused with the RAAF Roulettes of course) are a team of six pilots who fly four Yak 52s and two Nanchangs with a seventh member on commentary duty. According to the commentary at the show, the blustery conditions meant separation […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

[VIDEO] Paul Bennet at the Hunter Valley Airshow 2015

Today I took my daughter to Maitland for day 1 of the Hunter Valley Airshow. A blustery day, gusts between 30-40KTS at one stage and a strong crosswind across the runway 23 which was in use for the show. A few pilots opted to depart/land on rwy 26 which was more into wind, but still a challenging day for […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

Aerobatics barrel rolls, stall turns (hammerhead) and slow rolls

Flew another practice flight today to try and work on 3 specific maneuvers: Barrel Rolls – try to get the roll rate constant and come out on the same height Stall Turns (hammerhead) – trying to get the yaw straighter and again come out at the same height (previously had been below entry height on […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

[VIDEO] Aerobatic flight – loops, stall turns, wingovers, slow rolls and barrel rolls

Had another aerobatic training flight today in the Robin R2160. This time we were focussing on tidying up my stall turns and slow rolls and adding them into sequences. Key learnings were: MORE POSITIVE on the rudder (still). Getting better at slow rolls but still need more rudder input at the 1/4 and 3/4 positions. […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

Aerobatics, a pilot’s eye view, head mounted GoPro

I thought I’d give head mounting my GoPro a trial today for an aerobatic practise flight. I’m not all that happy with the result to be honest. Either I mounted the camera incorrectly (most likely explanation) or head mounting isn’t the best view for aerobatic flight. Either way, the resulting view isn’t as good as […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

Learning Slow Rolls (Video)

Today was my first try at Slow Rolls. I was told before the lesson that this would be the hardest manoeuvre I’d ever learn. I can see why now. The edited video below these highlights (lowlights) of the flight: A ‘fast’ slow roll with full aileron trying to keep the flightpath steady Matt demonstrating the […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

Aerobatic video – aero sequence, stall turns, a tailslide, and some steep turns

Here’s a short video of my aerobatic flight this afternoon practising stall turns and adding them into the aerobatic sequence I’ve been learning: Loop – stall turn – aileron roll – wingover – steep turn It also shows a tailslide after failing to carry enough momentum into a stall turn and flipping us back down […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

Formation flying with the Red Baron Pitts

I got a taste of fomation flying today as we flew out to the training area alongside the school’s Pitts special that was taking a customer out for a joy flight. Matt (my instructor) handled the formation take-off and climb-out then handed over and had me follow Chris in the Pitts as we climbed from […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

Aerobatic pre-solo checkride complete

Today marked the final dual flight before a big aviation milestone for me – my first solo aerobatic flight. For today’s dual consolidation lesson we went over the main ‘Advanced Aircraft Control’ maneuvers once again just to confirm to the Chief Flying Instructor that I was (in his eyes) competent to go out there and do […]

Continue Reading

You may also like