Aerobatic Flying

Flying…Upside Down? Aerobatics Explained

You love flying and then you think you want to see what it takes to fly in ways that wow the crowd and take your stomach to lands unknown. This section will give you the information you need to decide if aerobatics is for you.

To begin, you must be a licensed pilot. Assuming that you are already an active pilot, you need two things: the right kind of airplane and the right kind of aerobatic instructor.
The airplane must be designed for the unique stresses of aerobatic flight although gliders and helicopters are also flown aerobatically. The airplane must be equipped to monitor the unusual stress loads which are placed on the airframe. That is done by a G-meter. It also must be equipped with multi-point harnesses to hold you in place during the stunts. Most aerobatic airplanes have tailwheels instead of a nosewheel. Finally, due to the negative G’s you will experience, you need to keep the engine running so an inverted fuel and oil system is recommended. An instructor specially trained in teaching aerobatics is a necessity.

Now you are ready to begin your training which covers the yin and the yang of aerobatic flying and will give you the skills to recover from mistakes. You will be taught how to execute each maneuver with precision. You will also learn how to recover from the inevitable mistakes you will make while learning the skills.
Your first basic aerobatic training course will be for 5-10 hours. Your first skills will involve slow flight and a range of stalls. Once that is established, you will move on to basic maneuvers which are the foundation of many of the more advanced maneuvers. These are the spin, inverted flight, the inside loop, the slow roll, and the hammerhead turn.

Now you will experience physical sensations you have never felt before and you will learn how to handle your reactions. During the slow roll, you will learn how to fly inverted hanging upside down in your harness. You will learn how to orient yourself and how to control your own coordination. During the basic course, you will be instructed on how to control the airplane (and yourself) during rotation on all three axes: roll, pitch, and yaw.

During these somewhat intense sessions, you will probably be like most beginning aerobatic pilots and you will feel the airsickness coming on. So a 15-20 minute initial lesson is common. You will also find that as you continue to take the lessons, your tolerance of the unusual stresses will rapidly increase until it is not an issue.

When you reach the level of having about 10 hours of training, you will probably be ready to fly solo. The next phase is learning a combination of the basic maneuvers and many pilots begin to enter competitions at that point.