RC Model Airplane Aerobatics Part I – The Basics
After you finish learning the basics of model airplane flight, you will probably want to progress to more advanced flying. Aerobatics are maneuvers which are performed outside the normal performance envelope of an aircraft. This means that the aircraft is subject to stress, speeds, and attitudes not encountered in straight and level flight. There are several relatively easy to perform maneuvers for a beginner to try. This article will show you the basic maneuvers such as loops and rolls, and later articles will detail more advanced maneuvers.
Although the stall isn’t exactly an aerobatic maneuver, you will need to know how to avoid and survive them before you try the basic aerobatic maneuvers which can sometimes cause stalls.
In order to produce lift and keep the RC model airplane flying, air must constantly move over the wings. If the angle of attack (how high the nose is pointed) is increased, then the aircraft will climb and slow down. A stall is a condition of flight where little to no lift is produced by the wings, causing the aircraft to free fall. All aircraft wings have a critical angle of attack, beyond which they cannot effectively generate lift. If this limit is exceeded, then the RC model aircraft will enter a stall.
After entering the stall, the RC model airplanes nose will drop. Most beginning pilot’s first instinct is to pull back on the elevator and attempt to slow the descent. This is actually the opposite of what should be done to recover from a stall. Remember, the lift produced by the wings is proportional to the amount of air moving over them. The only way to increase this airflow over the wings and thus end the stall is to increase the RC model airplanes speed through the air. This is accomplished by letting the nose drop, and then gently pulling back after sufficient airspeed has been gained.
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