This Was Fun... aerobatics video

[aadamson]

Originally Posted by Spindrift

Beautiful video! I think I'm going to leave work early to pound some rivets...

Just curious, where did you learn acro? I always wonder when I see acro videos whether the pilot has a military or purely civilian background.

Thanks,

Check out his camera section of his webpage and you'll see him dressed in military flight suit...

Excellent video, thanks for sharing...

[pierre smith]

Originally Posted by Spindrift

Beautiful video! I think I'm going to leave work early to pound some rivets...

Just curious, where did you learn acro? I always wonder when I see acro videos whether the pilot has a military or purely civilian background.

Thanks,

The answer is here: http://www.thedukes.org/tanya.html Just scroll through the pictures.

Pierre

[panhandler1956]

Bryan,
Excellent video. I love the first one too! I watch it all the time for inspiration!!!!
Keep up the great work with your videos and the byproduct of keeping us RV wannabees motivated.
Regards,

[groucho]

Holy cow, thanks for all the responses everyone. You are all too kind. You guys nailed the training background...I've been lucky enough to use some of your tax dollars for time in lots of military airplanes (thanks!). It all started with my VariEze though. I owned it from 96 to 00 & survived a little acro in it. During & after the Vari was a slew of military stuff - mostly F-15's & now F-16's, but a few hours in a bunch of different planes. The RV is a great plane for this kind of aerobatics & I completely love it. My wife completely loves that I don't take her flying when I want to do aerobatics.

Like Pierre said, everything in my last two videos was positve g's only. My plane doesn't have inverted fuel or oil. Since I really don't like flying powered airplanes that aren't making engine noise, I keep things on the plus side...about 0.5g or higher seems to keep everything happy (and me in the seat). I do run with the electric boost pump on for a little "just in case." Everything was below 4g's.

Frank, you're right about the harness. I didn't notice it until you mentioned, but it sure looks like I could have been better strapped in. Gotta fix that.

Buck (& all), the camera's great, but it's a fairly big as far as bullet cameras go. My wife won't let me call it a lipstick camera any more. It's a little over an inch in diameter up by the lens. Still, it's plenty small enough for what I need. Super Circuits calls it a 480 line camera, but other companies sell cameras with the same sensor & call it 520 or 560 lines. Whatever...it shoots ok video I think. The super wide angle of the camera is what I really like. I makes by low level shots look not-so low level, but I'll live with it!

DR, thanks again for the front page billing. Sorry to hear about your clouds.

As for my heart rate, during my FAA medical today it registered at 62. I'm sure it was up to at least 75 though during the acro.

The hardest part about all this video stuff is finding a song that some people will like & at the same time most people won't hate. Nobody will replay the video if the absolutely hate the background tunes. I probably spent as much time song hunting as actually editing the video!

Thanks again everyone. No promises on timing of the next release. I do have about 5 minutes of unused footage from the "A Day Off Work" day, so I might throw together "A Day Off Work 2."

[pierre smith]

Brian,
Thanks so much.....it's really appreciated. Could you walk me through a barrel roll? I have a lot of acro experience but my barrels end up more like wallowy aileron rolls. A friend (ex Naval pilot) says to start with a reference off one wing and pull elevator and aileron until the nose is pointing at the ref, inverted and continue with pretty much the same inputs all the way around. Your ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Pierre

[Ralph Kramden]

What would be really great would be if some of you more experienced RV pilots would use these good video platforms that you have and shoot some instructional videos. You know, the basic stuff - how takeoffs, landings and the usual checkride type stuff are done in RVs... Narrated, it would be a great help to some of us lesser experienced pilots. Also, a narrated video of how some of the test flights should be done. Give us some split screen of the instruments and the view out of the cockpit.

--Ralph

[panhandler1956]

[quote=groucho]
The hardest part about all this video stuff is finding a song that some people will like & at the same time most people won't hate. Nobody will replay the video if the absolutely hate the background tunes. I probably spent as much time song hunting as actually editing the video!QUOTE]

Good work on the music, I especially like the first video, Day off work, with Avirl Lavigne!

[groucho]

Pierre & all- I've been thinking about that exact thing. Putting together a series of how-to videos would be fun. In fact, I started writing scripts for them a couple weeks ago. The thing I'm trying to figure out is stupid liability. Hate saying that. Despite the fact that the USAF has let me teach people how to fly the F-15 & F-16, I am not a CFI. So you may not get to hear any instruction from me. The odd thing is, there's no requirement that I've found to learn aerobatics from a CFI. We'll see.

NOT INSTRUCTION: The majority of the rolls in the video are a cross between an aileron roll & barrel rolls. They wouldn't get any points at an aerobatic competition, but they are easy & generally keep the engine running. I like starting at over 160mph IAS with the airplane trimmed for level flight, then pulling about 2g to 10-15deg nose high. Once I'm 10-15deg nose high, I relax all back stick pressure so that the airplane is back at 1g (or slightly less). That last step is critical for not ending up excessively nose low. If you are 15deg nose high & start your roll at 2g, you'll end up pointed at the ground by the time you are done. Start your roll at 1g. Fly your roll at 1g. End your roll at 1g. From there, roll with stick only with the rudders centered. For roll input, I generally increase side pressure on the stick until I feel this stick force change from smooth force to a slight buffet (little bit of separation on the ailerons). The danger here (and common trend for new guys) is not getting enough roll rate. If in doubt, push the stick to the stop. Continue the roll until the plane is back to wings level. Once wings level, you'll find yourself 10-15deg nose low. Center the stick in roll then smoothly increase backstick pressure to approximately 2g. Relax all backstick pressure once the plane is level. Smile.

A true barrel roll requires a mix of continually changing elevator & aileron inputs. To over simplify, I start by picking a point on the horizon about 30 deg left of the nose (since I usually sit on the left side of my -6). Throughout the maneuver, I apply inputs as required to keep that landmark exactly in the same position on the canopy. You will get more nose low & nose high in a barrel roll than the previous roll I described. So, if you pick a spot 30deg left as your reference, you'll start your pull & roll to the left. When you are 90 deg left bank, you'll be 30 deg nose high. When you are inverted, you'll be level. When you are 90 deg right bank, you'll be 30 deg nose low. When you are back to wings level, you'll be level pointed back where you started.
END OF NOT INSTRUCTION

Important things to think about are the FARs. Review & obide by 91.303, 91.307 & anything else you can find. Some, but not all, of the other important things to think about are your skill levels, unusual attitude & spin recoveries, g-limits on your plane & what your goals are in starting to learn aerobatics.

Originally Posted by panhandler1956

Good work on the music, I especially like the first video, Day off work, with Avirl Lavigne!

Thanks. Yeah, that song is a fun one. I'm pretty sure she wrote her latest single "Girlfriend" to me...too bad for her I'm not getting rid of my wife.

[Ralph Kramden]

NOT AEROBATIC INSTRUCTION REQUEST

Again, I am not necessarily asking you, Groucho, for aerobatic instructional videos... I am asking for someone who has a similar video setup to make demonstration (not "instruction") videos. Someone who has an ATP / CFI and like 50 years of flying experience to show us how basic flying in an RV is done.

END OF NOT AEROBATIC INSTRUCTION REQUEST

--Ralph

[groucho]

Of course! I might make an "entertainment" series...

I had only really thought about an aerobatic series. You're right though, there's probably interest in all aspects of RV flying...from takeoff to landing & everything in between. There's a lot out there on building, but not nearly as much on the actual flying. Too bad I don't have an ATP, CFI & 50 years of flying experience.