Loops

Or: How to do crazy things with a perfectly good model airplane.

Really now, loops are not so crazy. In fact, they are the basis for many maneuvers the student will be doing for the rest of his/her flying life! Partial loops are the start and finish of many maneuvers such as the Stall Turn, Humpty Bump, Top Hat,Cuban Eight, Outside Loop and the Avalanche.

OK, let’s do it. By the way, we are talking about trainers here, not aerobatic airplanes. First establish a straight and level line. You know, fly the airplane so that it is going straight—parallel to the runway—and level at about 100 ft. high. The most important thing in learning to fly a loop is to have the wings level.

If the wings are not level, the loop will go off to one side. The down wing side. The result will be that the loop will look terrible; it really will not be a loop but a corkscrew. One aspect of a good loop is that the plane finishes the loop exactly where it starts, going in the same direction (heading) and at the same altitude.

Back to that wonderfully straight and absolutely level line you were flying – the entry line. Go to full throttle. Maintain that line until you are right in front of yourself. Now pull full up! That’s right, full up. Until the airplane goes around and is level again. Now level the elevator, bring it to neutral. Fly the airplane straight and level again until it’s time to make a turn.

WOW, you made your first loop. Don’t let anyone tell you what mistakes you made. Just enjoy the feeling. Do a few more! Remember to get the airplane straight and level. These loops may not be round, probably more like the script version of the letter L or be very small, but they will be straight if you kept the wings level.

Nice feeling isn’t it? Now you’re having fun. The fun will continue as long as you are willing to try new maneuvers or make the maneuvers you can do even better. That, by the way, is for the rest of your life. Is this a great hobby?

Now, let’s make that loop even better.

Remember the straight and level thing? This time let’s present your loop in a way that everyone will appreciate. Make your turn and start the straight and level part of the loop. Yes, part of the maneuver is the entry and exit lines you draw in the sky. The airplane is going down this beautiful path, nice and straight and parallel to the runway. You are approaching mid-field. Your throttle is wide open. As soon as the airplane gets in front of you, start to pull up BUT, this time you are not going to give full up. Give about half up. That is, move the elevator stick about half way towards you. As the plane flies past the 3 o’clock position, begin to reduce the elevator input to about one-quarter up. Watch the airplane. As the plane reaches about 1 o’clock, reduce the elevator to neutral. Some planes may even require a little down elevator here. If so, move the stick away from you about one-quarter of the way.

Once the plane passes the 12 o’clock position, return the elevator to neutral again. As it goes just past over the top, not before, reduce the throttle. You don’t need to go to idle, just move the stick to about one third to one quarter throttle. You will learn what is the best amount to reduce the throttle as you do more and more loops.

At the 9 o’clock position, begin to slowly input up elevator until again reaching one-third up. Once past the 8 o’clock position, begin to add throttle again, reaching about one-third throttle at the bottom of the loop. As you approach level flight again, bring the elevator stick to neutral to establish that straight and level exit line. Raise the throttle to half or three quarters. Now the loop is finished.

You will also learn just how large your loops can be. The more power you have, the larger the loops can be. The airplane should not be struggling to get to the top of the loop. All airplanes loose speed as they go up. Only you can determine how big to make your loops (some think big loops look better than little loops, but they all look good). The plane should still be flying at the top of the loop, not on the verge of a stall.

Starting the loop from straight and level flight is the easier part of the maneuver. The exit is a bit more difficult. You will get it. Keep practicing and you will know when to start to level off so that you finish the loop with the ever present straight and level line.

WIND

In our experience, the wind is never exactly straight down the runway. This means that when you establish your beautiful straight and level line the wind will try to push your airplane away from your line of flight. If you tilt the wings so that the upwind wing is down slightly you might be able to fly a straight line but, the loop will be crooked. What is a flier to do?

An experienced pilot might be able to fly your trainer in a straight line by using the rudder to yaw into the wind and the ailerons to correct the tilt or roll produced by the rudder. Now the maneuver is getting really complicated and is no longer a beginner’s maneuver.

But there is a better way. How? Simply point the airplane’s fuselage slightly into the wind as you start to fly your entry line. This wind correction is exactly the same one you use to keep the plane heading straight for the runway as you are landing. Not much correction is needed, about 10-15 degrees fuselage heading into the wind.

At the start though, forget about making the loop perfect in windy conditions. Instead, concentrate on getting the loop round. You can worry about wind correction after that. You will still have lots of fun. Later on you will learn about making flat turns with your trainer. That is a great way to introduce the use of the rudder and increase your fun factor by a lot! All of these lessons will allow you to have more fun with your airplane. Remember, that is the primary purpose of this whole hobby/sport.