Trifecta

[Eric Janson]

I sat in all 3 flightdeck seats yesterday - does that count?  ;) ;)

[Colonel]

At an airshow a couple years back, I think I flew displays in
the Pitts, Stearman and L39.  Plus repositioning flights that
day. 

It's a little disorienting, rapidly jumping from one aircraft to another,
and doing low-altitude aerobatics with no warm-up in very different
types, with different speeds and radius and G and control responses
and flight characteristics.

Waaay beyond checklist territory.  No time or place for reading a
"how to fly" book in the cockpit.

For example, a hhead in a Pitts with a composite prop is totally
different than in a 450hp R-985 Stearman with a huge metal
prop with enormous gyroscopic precession.  Procedure and stick
forces are completely different.

This BOAC four-bar couldn't even fly [i]one[/i] aircraft.  The concepts
of entry and top gate (airshow basics) were clearly unknown to him,
but you can't tell a four-bar anything because they know it all:

[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Shor ... rash#Crash]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Shor ... rash#Crash[/url]

Bobby Younkin was the master of many-type airshow displays - biplanes,
jets, piston twins, you name it.  Incredible stick.  He's dead now, of course.

[John Swallow]

I'm thinking the Hunter could have executed a low level loop given his entry speed, but the proper technique would have been required. 


The lowest/slowest I ever looped a jet was the T-33 from 500' AGL with an entry speed of 165 knots.  However, judicious use of flap and power was required.   


Not particularly wise, but when you're young, single, and the best effing pilot in the world...

[Colonel]

It's really pretty simple.  Even if someone doesn't care to use an entry gate,
every time you are inverted and about to pull through - it doesn't matter how
you got there - you look at the altimeter.

Have you achieved your top gate altitude, which in his case was 4000 feet?

If so, pull through.

If not, lower the nose to say 30 degrees nose down inverted (gain some
airspeed, unload the wing) and half-roll upright.  Full throttle and let it
descend to your entry gate altitude, then at the other end of the box
perform a wingover to regain energy.

Re-enter the maneuver again, this time paying attention to your entry
gate airspeed and altitude.  If you don't make the entry gate airspeed,
do another wingover to re-gain more energy.

This is Low-Altitude Aerobatics 101 and it is literally criminal for someone
to attempt aerobatics down low, without this knowledge.

Note that the above shalllow 1/2 cuban-8 recovery from a blown top gate
is simple and gentle and undemanding but assumes a little bit of altitude
to play with.

If you are inverted at very low altitude (eg below 100 feet), and don't even
have the energy to even half-roll upright, a wings-level push to a gentle
inverted 10 degrees nose up pitch attitude will slowly gain you altitude. 

A good friend of mine is dead because he did not choose this option, but
I choose to learn from his mistake.

However this assumes that your aircraft has serviceable inverted systems
and you are happy being upside down and pushing a little negative G for
a while. 

This is often not the case, and this is not an intuitive choice, which pilots
struggle terribly with.  I spent a quarter century trying to teach pilots to
choose and perform non-intuitive tasks, with marginal results at best.

[John Swallow]

"...Even is someone doesn't care to use an entry gate, every time you are inverted and about to pull through - it doesn't matter how you got there - you look at the altimeter"

And that's the truth!