What it is
The waterfall is a maneuver where the plane pivots 360 degrees in the pitch axes with very little forward motion and altitude gain or loss.
Plane Set-up
The primary control surface is the elevator followed by the rudder and finally the ailerons. The control rates should be set for maximum deflection, not that you will need that much, but it's a good place to start. Later, if you find that you’re consistently not using max to do the maneuver, you can dial some out. Remember the plane will be VERY sensitive in these rates. There's two ways to manage this. One, is to have dual rates, the other is to have a lot of expo dialed in to make the plane less sensitive around the neutral point of your radio.
How to do it
The waterfall is a fairly easy 3-D maneuver to learn. There's two ways to enter. One, from a harrier, the other is from just above a stall. Let's start from just above a stall. From a safe altitude, slow the aircraft until you feel that it's at it's slowest CONTROLLABLE speed. When the plane is directly in front of you, push full down elevator and apply enough power to rotate the plane 360 degrees back to the upright position. How much power? That will depend on the type plane and engine. Start by using full power, after a while you will be able to tell how much it actually takes to get the plane to rotate.
Entering from a harrier will basically the same. It's actually a little easier because the plane is in a nose high attitude and will have more momentum as the nose comes down on the rotation.
Trickiest Part
The hardest part is keeping the plane from falling off of one side or the other. The rudder is the most effective control having the most air moving by it because of engine thrust. The first few that you do, the plane will probable fall one side or the other. Use rudder opposite to the fall to keep it upright. Ailerons help some, but remember, this is a 3-D maneuver and the plane's not flying. There's very little air moving over the wings so the ailerons are not very effective. The other tricky part is stopping the plane as it comes over the top. You can either fly out by releasing the elevator and keeping the power in, or go right into another by not releasing the elevator. With practice, you can get the plane to make consistent small tight circles in a very small space.
Recovery
This is a pretty safe maneuver if you keep enough altitude. The thing to remember is, THE PLANE'S NOT FLYING! If you over rotate the nose pasted level and want to recover, first get the plane flying by releasing the elevator and keeping the power in. If you fall off to one side, again, RELEASE THE ELEVATOR, use ailerons to get the plane upright, and use enough power to get the plane flying.
The waterfall is a maneuver where the plane pivots 360 degrees in the pitch axes with very little forward motion and altitude gain or loss.
Plane Set-up
The primary control surface is the elevator followed by the rudder and finally the ailerons. The control rates should be set for maximum deflection, not that you will need that much, but it's a good place to start. Later, if you find that you’re consistently not using max to do the maneuver, you can dial some out. Remember the plane will be VERY sensitive in these rates. There's two ways to manage this. One, is to have dual rates, the other is to have a lot of expo dialed in to make the plane less sensitive around the neutral point of your radio.
How to do it
The waterfall is a fairly easy 3-D maneuver to learn. There's two ways to enter. One, from a harrier, the other is from just above a stall. Let's start from just above a stall. From a safe altitude, slow the aircraft until you feel that it's at it's slowest CONTROLLABLE speed. When the plane is directly in front of you, push full down elevator and apply enough power to rotate the plane 360 degrees back to the upright position. How much power? That will depend on the type plane and engine. Start by using full power, after a while you will be able to tell how much it actually takes to get the plane to rotate.
Entering from a harrier will basically the same. It's actually a little easier because the plane is in a nose high attitude and will have more momentum as the nose comes down on the rotation.
Trickiest Part
The hardest part is keeping the plane from falling off of one side or the other. The rudder is the most effective control having the most air moving by it because of engine thrust. The first few that you do, the plane will probable fall one side or the other. Use rudder opposite to the fall to keep it upright. Ailerons help some, but remember, this is a 3-D maneuver and the plane's not flying. There's very little air moving over the wings so the ailerons are not very effective. The other tricky part is stopping the plane as it comes over the top. You can either fly out by releasing the elevator and keeping the power in, or go right into another by not releasing the elevator. With practice, you can get the plane to make consistent small tight circles in a very small space.
Recovery
This is a pretty safe maneuver if you keep enough altitude. The thing to remember is, THE PLANE'S NOT FLYING! If you over rotate the nose pasted level and want to recover, first get the plane flying by releasing the elevator and keeping the power in. If you fall off to one side, again, RELEASE THE ELEVATOR, use ailerons to get the plane upright, and use enough power to get the plane flying.
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