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The Torque Roll
What it is
: The Extra 330S “hovers” vertically in
place, rotating left around its roll axis.
Setup
: Full 3D throws in elevator and rudder are a
must. An aft CG helps a little. Also gyros provide
the best aid to stabilize the aircraft. They won’t do
the maneuver for you but they’ll help. I found them
a fantastic tool in learning to torque roll, kind of
like training wheels. A few years ago gyros made a
big difference for me; now I don’t use them
anymore. You’ll need to use the Zenoah
®
GT80 or an
engine that will give you unlimited vertical
before you try this one.
How it’s done
: Fly low along the ground at low
throttle and gently add power with up elevator to
bring the model into a vertical position. Add throttle
to keep the nose pointed up and make corrections
with rudder and elevator to keep things straight. If the
model hovers but won’t start rolling left, quickly blip
the throttle up and down. The torque change will
usually get it going.
Trickiest part
: Recognizing your correction when
the model’s belly is toward you.
Tip
: Think: push the rudder toward the low wing
when the belly is toward you. You have to be fast
with throttle corrections. Add bursts of power, along
with rudder/elevator corrections. If you simply hold
full throttle, you’ll climb out of the maneuver.
Recovery
: Fly out at full throttle.
Worst way to mess up
: Have an unreliable
engine. Torque Rolls are tough on engines because
there’s only prop-induced airflow over the cylinders.
I’d really recommend putting the baffling in the cowl
if you are running a twin-cylinder engine and plan on
doing Torque Rolls.
