3D Aerobatics or 3D flying is a form of flying using flying aircraft to perform specific aerial maneuvers. They are usually performed when the aircraft had been intentionally placed in a stalled position for purposes of entertainment or display. They are also often referred to as post-stall maneuvers, as they occur after aerodynamic stall has occurred and standard control surface deflections, as used in flight, are not effective.
3D Aerobatics are typically practiced in aircraft designed for supermaneuvrability, such as the Aviat Eagle, the Sukhoi Su-27 (Russian: Сухой Су-27; NATO reporting name: Flanker), or the Lockheed Martin F-22. Supermaneuverable aircraft typically include some feature that enables them to maintain stable control of the aircraft in situations where there is little to no airflow over control surfaces. Aircraft either achieve this through having designs that allow for high lift at low speeds, large control surface deflections, or thrust vectoring. The Aviat Eagle, after stalling, is able to gain some degree of control after just a few moments of falling to regain velocity, and is then able to resume regular flight. The F-22 Raptor uses its thrust vectoring to maneuver the aircraft with no dependence on airflow over its control surfaces, allowing it to perform acrobatics otherwise impossible for non-thrust vectoring aircraft. Aircraft not designed for post-stall maneuvers, such as the Cessna 172, would place themselves at high risk if attempting such maneuvers due to the likelihood of inducing flat spins, nosedives, or deep stalls, all situations which are nearly irrecoverable, especially at low altitudes.[1]
3D Aerobatics in non-thrust vectoring aircraft are typically reserved for display purposes and hold little use in standard everyday flight. They have some usage in air combat, as the unpredictability of aircraft in post-stall situations allows for sudden maneuvers which may place friendly aircraft in advantageous situations. The Russian Su-27 Flanker can, in theory, lock an adversary with IRST and perform a cobra maneuver in which it suddenly pitches upwards but continues laterally, gaining 90 degrees or higher of AoA, and launches a heat-seeking missile. The missile is able to engage the enemy aircraft after it has overshot the Flanker, often without the adversary realizing a missile has been released. These types of situations are high risk and high reward, and often occur over an extremely short period of time, leading to them being referred to as 'snapshots'.[2]
Introduction
In its most basic sense, 3D flight is controlled flight beyond the stalls critical angle of attack (AoA, or alpha) aka post-stall. Because the model is stalled and has little natural airflow across its flight surfaces, most 3D maneuvers require very large control deflections to vector the propeller thrust and change the models attitude.
3D aerobatic flying is a typically performed by model aircraft which have been configured with a higher thrust-to-weight ratio of more than 1:1. In fixed wing aeroplanes large control surfaces assist the aircraft on performing radical maneuvers which allow the aircraft to turn in tighter than conventional turns. This is achieved by having larger control surfaces; rudder, ailerons, and elevator and having greater amounts of throw applied to these control surfaces.
Depending on the type of competition, a pilot may compete in Set Manoeuvres where a pilot can choose from a number of manoeuvres from pre-published set of moves or Freestyle, where pilots must show their skill within a predetermined environment in a free format. The Extreme Flight Championships (XFC) is a large international freestyle competition.
Pilots often train moves using PC simulators such as RealFlight or other RC flight simulators. This allows the pilot to practice and hone their skills before using the real RC model which may be costly exercise in the event of a crash. Pilots have the ability to plug the controller used to fly the real model to the PC and simulator via a USB link cable thus giving the pilot a better response to the real world controls. Famous pilots include Quique Somenzini, Andrew Jesky, Jason Noll, Frank Noll, Chip Hyde, Mark Leseberg and Gernot Bruckmann.
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Aeroplanes
There are a multitude of Hobby Grade Model Airframes that can perform 3D manoeuvres. Many of these models are designed after full scale airframes with slight modifications to accommodate thrust to weight ratios, control surface sizes. Some of the most popular scale models are below:
Extra Aircraft: Extra 260 Extra 300 Extra 330S
Zivko: Edge 540
Yakovlev (Also known as Yak): Yak-54 Yak-55
Sukhoi: Su-26 Su-29
Cap Aviation: CAP 230
AkroTechs Giles G-202
There are also custom made 3D capable aircraft that are not modeled after full scale aircraft.
For instance: Showtime 50, Showtime 4D, GP Reactor, Twist 40 and Twist 60 3D, Thunder 3D, Slick 580, and Laser.
Some of the popular aerobatic model manufacturers include Extreme Flight RC, 3D Hobby Shop, JTA Innovations, Flex Innovations, Composite ARF, Hangar 9, Krill, and others.
Helicopters
3D Helicopters are collective pitch and have very high head speeds and they range in size from a few inch blades to over 2 foot long blades. Some of the most popular sizes are 250, 300, 450, 500, 550, 600, 700.
Aeroplane Manoeuvres
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Hovering in place
Hover You pull the aircraft into a completely vertical attitude and allow the propeller to hold the aeroplane in the air in plane much like a helicopter. This is the most basic 3D manoeuvre and usually the first one new modelers want to learn
Torque Roll The plane is made to hover in place, rotating around its roll axis. This is an extension of a Hover whereas the Torque of the engine rolls the aeroplane.
Elevator The aircraft is stalled with a large amount of elevator up or down. This causes the plane to descend vertically.
Wall The Wall is where the aeroplane is made to come to a stalled stop to a vertical position from a previous horizontal flight path, usually this is executed prior a Hover.
Alien Wall The same as a Wall but pulled into full vertical position violently at high speed.
Harrier flight
Harrier A very slow forward flight motion with the nose high at about 45 degrees of attitude.
Inverted Harrier The same as the above, just inverted. Most capable pilots find this easier than a standard harrier due to the wing being above the center of gravity rather than below it.
Harrier Roll Like the Harrier manoeuvre but with a roll performed simultaneously.
Flat spin A spin induced with full up elevator, full rudder, and full aileron. Once the spin is initiated you will level the ailerons and increase engine speed a bit to pull the aircraft around. This will in turn flatten the spin.
Inverted Flat spin The same as the above but inverted. Inverted flat spins are easier to control, but can be hard to come out of due to orientation, and knowing when to stop the spin. When entering an inverted flat spin, you must apply opposite aileron to which the rudder is going. Once the spin is initiated, you do the same as a standard Flat Spin.
Waterfall The waterfall is a move where the plane is made to pivot 360 degrees in the pitch axes. Ideally this is performed with little altitude gain or forward motion.
Blender Form of entering an inverted flat spin from a nose down attitude. The pilot applies full aileron, then rudder in the opposite direction and full down elevator. The plane will "snap" and then the pilot must neutralize aileron (and in some cases apply aileron in the same direction as the rudder) and the plane will be in an inverted flat spin.
Pop-Top Same as a blender, but going up. The pilot must have a good deal of speed on an upline, then apply full aileron followed by opposite rudder and full down elevator (very similar to the blender). Then neutralize aileron and lessen elevator and the plane will spin while motionless in the air. This manoeuvre has a large "wow factor" because the plane is literally stopped dead in the air for a second or two.
Turn-Around A Turn-Around is a figure to go from upright to inverted and opposite. To go from upright: go straight up make a quarter roll Cut your throttle and apply full rudder and down elevator. That all has to come in a special timing at the same time with your throttle management. To go from inverted is the same but opposite rudder. After that your plane should go opposite way in a down elevator.
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Helicopter Manoeuvres
Loop
Inside loop. A vertical circle commenced from horizontally and with level flight. A positive pitch is applied throughout the movement so the upper surfaces of the aircraft are pointing towards the center of the circle. The circle must remain perfectly round, with entry and exit to be at the same altitude.
Outside loop. A vertical circle commenced from horizontally and with level flight. A negative pitch is applied throughout the movement so the lower surfaces of the aircraft are pointing towards the center of the circle. The circle must remain perfectly round, with entry and exit to be at the same altitude.
Pogo A hover that causes the helicopter to climb and descend.
Roll A 360 degree revolution around the longitudinal axis.
An aileron is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll, which normally results in a change in flight path due to the tilting of the lift vector. Movement around this axis is called 'rolling' or 'banking'.
In flight dynamics a spin is a special category of stall resulting in autorotation about the aircraft's longitudinal axis and a shallow, rotating, downward path approximately centred on a vertical axis. Spins can be entered intentionally or unintentionally, from any flight attitude if the aircraft has sufficient yaw while at the stall point. In a normal spin, the wing on the inside of the turn stalls while the outside wing remains flying. It is possible for both wings to stall, but the angle of attack of each wing, and consequently its lift and drag, are different.
Aircraft flight control surfaces are aerodynamic devices allowing a pilot to adjust and control the aircraft's flight attitude.
Thrust vectoring, also known as thrust vector control (TVC), is the ability of an aircraft, rocket or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine(s) or motor(s) to control the attitude or angular velocity of the vehicle.
The empennage, also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow. The term derives from the French language verb empenner which means "to feather an arrow". Most aircraft feature an empennage incorporating vertical and horizontal stabilising surfaces which stabilise the flight dynamics of yaw and pitch, as well as housing control surfaces.
A radio-controlled aircraft is a small flying machine that is radio controlled by an operator on the ground using a hand-held radio transmitter. The transmitter continuously communicates with a receiver within the craft that sends signals to servomechanisms (servos) which move the control surfaces based on the position of joysticks on the transmitter. The control surfaces, in turn, directly affect the orientation of the plane.
Aerobatic maneuvers are flight paths putting aircraft in unusual attitudes, in air shows, dogfights or competition aerobatics. Aerobatics can be performed by a single aircraft or in formation with several others. Nearly all aircraft are capable of performing aerobatics maneuvers of some kind, although it may not be legal or safe to do so in certain aircraft.
Aircraft flight mechanics are relevant to fixed wing and rotary wing (helicopters) aircraft. An aeroplane, is defined in ICAO Document 9110 as, "a power-driven heavier than air aircraft, deriving its lift chiefly from aerodynamic reactions on surface which remain fixed under given conditions of flight".
In aerobatics, the cobra maneuver, also called dynamic deceleration, among other names, is a dramatic and demanding maneuver in which an airplane flying at a moderate speed abruptly raises its nose momentarily to a vertical and slightly past vertical attitude, causing an extremely high angle of attack and momentarily stalling the plane, making a full-body air brake before dropping back to normal position, during which the aircraft does not change effective altitude.
A barrel roll is an aerial maneuver in which an airplane makes a complete rotation on both its longitudinal and lateral axes, causing it to follow a helical path, approximately maintaining its original direction. It is sometimes described as a "combination of a loop and a roll". The g-force is kept positive on the object throughout the maneuver, commonly between 2 and 3g, and no less than 0.5g. The barrel roll is commonly confused with an aileron roll.
A Lomcovák is a family of extreme aerobatic maneuvers where the aircraft, with almost no forward speed, rotates on chosen axes due to the gyroscopic precession and torque of the rotating propeller.
An aircraft in flight is free to rotate in three dimensions: yaw, nose left or right about an axis running up and down; pitch, nose up or down about an axis running from wing to wing; and roll, rotation about an axis running from nose to tail. The axes are alternatively designated as vertical, lateral, and longitudinal respectively. These axes move with the vehicle and rotate relative to the Earth along with the craft. These definitions were analogously applied to spacecraft when the first crewed spacecraft were designed in the late 1950s.
The aileron roll is an aerobatic maneuver in which an aircraft does a full 360° revolution about its longitudinal axis. When executed properly, there is no appreciable change in altitude and the aircraft exits the maneuver on the same heading as it entered. This is commonly one of the first maneuvers taught in basic aerobatics courses. The aileron roll is commonly confused with a barrel roll.
Radio-controlled aerobatics is the practice of flying radio-controlled aircraft in maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in normal flight.
Supermaneuverability is the capability of fighter aircraft to execute tactical maneuvers that are not possible with purely aerodynamic techniques. Such maneuvers can involve controlled side-slipping or angles of attack beyond maximum lift.
Throughout a normal flight, a pilot controls an aircraft through the use of flight controls including maintaining straight and level flight, as well as turns, climbing, and descending. Some controls, such as a "yoke" or "stick" move and adjust the control surfaces which affects the aircraft's attitude in the three axes of pitch, roll, and yaw. Other controls include those for adjusting wing characteristics and those that control the power or thrust of the propulsion systems. The loss of primary control systems in any phase of flight is an emergency. Aircraft are not designed to be flown under such circumstances; however, some pilots faced with such an emergency have had limited success flying and landing aircraft with disabled controls.
In aeronautics, loss of control (LOC) is the unintended departure of an aircraft from controlled flight and is a significant factor in several aviation accidents worldwide. In 2015 it was the leading cause of general aviation accidents. Loss of control may be the result of mechanical failure, external disturbances, aircraft upset conditions, or inappropriate crew actions or responses.
A slow roll is a roll made by an airplane, in which the plane makes a complete rotation around its roll axis while keeping the aircraft flying a straight and level flightpath. A slow roll is performed more slowly than an aileron roll; although it is not necessarily performed very slowly, it is performed slowly enough to allow the pilot to maintain balance, keeping a steady flightpath, pitch angle, and height (altitude) throughout the maneuver. The maneuver is performed by rolling the airplane at a controlled rate with the ailerons, and moving the elevators and rudder in opposition, or "cross-controlling," to keep the plane on a steady, level flightpath.
A wingover is an aerobatic maneuver in which an airplane makes a steep climb, followed by a vertical flat-turn. The maneuver ends with a short dive as the plane gently levels out, flying in the opposite direction from which the maneuver began.
A falling leaf is a maneuver in which an aircraft performs a wings-level stall which begins to induce a spin. This spin is countered with the rudder, which begins a spin in the opposite direction that must be countered with rudder, and the process is repeated as many times as the pilot determines. During the maneuver, the plane resembles a leaf falling from the sky; first slipping to one side, stopping, and then slipping to the other direction; continuing a side-to-side motion as it drifts toward the ground.
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