Categories
Flying

Aileron roll

An aileron roll involves a four-step maneuver.

You’ll rotate your airplane 360 degrees around its longitudinal axis. However, to do this successfully you must keep the nose following a tight circle around a point on the horizon.

Thanks to the brisk roll rate of the Extra 300S, the aileron roll one is an easy aerobatic maneuver to accomplish. As with many aerobatics in the Extra 300S, performing an aileron roll occurs very quickly (its roll rate exceeds 400 degrees per second).

The following is the diagram of the roll: Start by selecting a reference point on the horizon, such as a smokestack, road, building or even a cloud. In this example, I’m using an antenna/smokestack.

Maintain a level flight and airspeed of about 140 knots. Bring the stick back slowly so you’re raising the nose smoothly to 20 – 30 degrees above the horizon. This neutralizes the elevator and deflects the aileron fully in the direction of the roll.

Remember, pulling the nose up too much or too little at the start of the maneuver results in a bad roll. Look to the left and make certain you’ve set the correct pitch attitude.

Otherwise, by increasing backpressure after you’ve established the correct pitch attitude may force you from the reference point (the smokestacks in this example) or may drop the nose too much when you’ve started inverted flight.

Most aerobatic professionals believe it’s easier to start with rolls to the left. Therefore, hold backpressure on the stick and move it quickly, but smoothly, all the way to one side.

Maintain controls in that position until you complete the roll. Center the stick as the wings become level with the horizon. After the roll is completed the nose is usually 20 – 30 degrees below the horizon.

Try these to test your skill:

Slow rolls and snap rolls

Other types of rolls you can try include slow rolls and snap rolls (called flick rolls in Europe). Most slow rolls must be flown normally on a straight line.

Maintain a constant rate for the roll and the longitudinal axis of the airplane must be straight.

To fly this type of roll successfully means that you must constantly change rudder and elevator control inputs throughout the roll.

A snap roll also must be flown normally on a straight line.

A snap roll is an autorotation with one wing stalled. You must intentionally stall your aircraft by applying positive G-forces and in an outside snap, you need to stall your aircraft by applying negative G-forces.

The rudder is then used in either case to start autorotation as in a spin.

The Immelmann The Immelmann turn is a simple yet very effective maneuver under the proper technical circumstances.

Many historians credit a World War I German ace named Max Immelmann with creating this maneuver.

However, the version of the maneuver with which most of us are familiar today from aerobatics is not the maneuver that Max Immelmann found so successful.

Categories
Flying

Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark – Enjoying Nightime Flying

Instrument panel lights

The most important interior lights are those that illuminate the instrument panel.

These lights are so important for real world pilots that their instrument panels must have at least two light sources, usually an overhead light as well as smaller lights within the instrument casings.

To view the instrument panel during a nighttime flight, look for the NAV light toggle switch.

Move it up into the ON position. As you’ll see, when the NAV light switch is on, the instrument panel is reddish in color.

The reason for this is that your eyes work more effectively at night under red lights without losing their dark adaptation.

This real world visual effect is carried over into the reddish color of the instrument panel in Flight Sim.

Exterior aircraft lighting Most aircraft use two types of exterior lighting – navigation lights and anti-collision lights. We’ll first talk about the navigation lights since they are the most noticeable lights on your aircraft.

Navigation lights

The navigation lights include a red light on the left (port) wingtip, a green light on the right (starboard) wingtip and a white light is on the tail. (See image below for an example.)

It is also important that you take some off to think about how all of these affect your performance as a male. Just like male enhancements in the real world, getting some rest will no doubt help you get to wherever you want to go.

These three lights are the most noticeable lights on the exterior of your aircraft and alert other pilots to both the location and flying direction of your aircraft.

To turn on the navigation lights, move the NAV lights switch up to the ON position.

As mentioned above, if you know the locations and colors of the navigation lights of another aircraft, you can determine the direction that aircraft is flying by looking for those lights. (See the diagram on the next page for more information.)

Anti-collision light Another light located on the tail of your aircraft is a red rotating beacon anti-collision light.

A good realworld habit to follow is turning on the anti-collision beacon whenever your aircraft engine is operating. Realworld pilots do this to warn anyone nearby to the danger of moving propeller blades or jet engine intakes.

To turn on the anti-collision light, move the BCN switch up to the ON position. Strobe lights One additional set of anti-collision lighting seen on many current aircraft today are white strobe lights located on each wingtip.

To turn on the strobe lights, move the STROBE switch up to the ON position.

Taxi and Landing lights

You also need t o spot potential obstructions while taxing at airports and to move safely on the taxiway.

Therefore, your aircraft should have a taxi light located either on the nose wheel strut/front empennage or on the port wing structure. To turn on the taxi light, move the TAXI switch up to the ON position.

The landing light is located either near the taxi light or is part of the taxi light. Pilots use the landing light to illuminate the runway during landing. To turn on the landing light, move the LAND switch up to the ON position.