3D Aerobatics and Freestyle Aerobatic Competition
Competition aerobatics is a great way to challenge your
skills, enjoy camaraderie with hobbyists who share
interests in aerobatics and similar aircraft, and get to show
off your new Giles G-202 ARF! Even if you don’t ever
intend to compete, learning and practicing competition
routines is a great way to stretch your skills and expand
your awareness of your aircraft’s orientation and
performance at all times in all flights. For more information
on scale aerobatics, visit
http://www.mini-iac.com/
or
contact your AMA representative for information on
reaching the regional director in your area.
A separate event of IMAC (scale aerobatic) contests is
called Freestyle. This is a 3-minute “anything safe goes”
chance to really pull out the stops and show off all your
finest hot dogging, or watch others and learn new and
exciting aerobatic maneuvers to add to your flying. Since
1995, a new form of aerobatic maneuvers has developed
known as “3D.” The name comes from helicopter freestyle
and, as it implies, is based upon the aircraft doing
maneuvers that involve all 3 axes in one maneuver.
Another definition is aerobatics below the stall speed of
the aircraft. Below we’ve provided you some examples of
some popular 3D and other freestyle maneuvers the
aircraft does exceptionally well and some information on
how to perform them. Be sure to always practice new
maneuvers high and safe and, ideally, have an
experienced pilot with you who is familiar with both the
maneuvers you are trying AND your Giles G-202 ARF.
Before beginning any of these extreme “3D” maneuvers,
you will need to adjust your control throws accordingly.
The throws to use are as follows:
Ailerons
1-1/4" up [32mm up]
1-1/4" down [32mm down]
Elevator
7/8" up [47mm up]
1-7/8" down [47mm down]
Rudder
5" right [130mm right]
5" left [130mm left]
Use a longer control horn on the servo to obtain these
control throws rather than moving the linkage closer to the
control surface. This will give a mechanical advantage to
the servo, and also help in preventing flutter.
Torque Roll:
Since Charlie Hillard did the first torque roll to
win the World Championships in the 70’s, the torque roll is
probably the most widely recognized “3D” maneuver. To
properly torque roll, an airplane must be “hanging on the
prop” so that it is not climbing or losing altitude. Note that the
vertical C.G. of the airplane will affect whether it hangs truly
vertical or slightly “on its back” or “on its belly” (the tail
slightly farther from or closer to the pilot than the spinner).
When an aircraft is hung perfectly and not climbing or diving,
the torque of the engine will pull the aircraft around to the left
on its own, resulting in a torque roll (feeding left aileron
when an airplane is close to hanging is NOT a torque roll).
The modeler’s job is to keep the plane upright, giving slight
elevator and rudder corrections to keep the plane from
twisting off vertical or it will fall out of the torque roll. This is
much more difficult than it sounds because you must notice
the slightest need for correction and make it promptly, plus
you have to remember the rudder works opposite of your
instinct if the aircraft is “belly in” (the underside facing the
pilot). To help get past this, we recommend practicing trying
to hang the model belly in until the rudder application becomes
natural. This will really help when you get torque rolling.
Knife-Edge Loop:
The knife-edge loop is a challenging
maneuver that takes lots of courage! (Don’t try this
maneuver until you are
REALLY
confident flying your model
knife-edge, and can feed aileron or elevator – or have set a
mix – that means you can smoothly fly knife-edge without
seeing any pitching or rolling.) Fly the plane knife-edge into
center stage from the left at full throttle. Gradually apply
more left rudder until the model just starts to climb knife-edge.
Apply more rudder to maintain the round shape until you’ve
completed 1/4 loop. (If you’re nervous, do just this first 1/4
of the loop until you get comfortable.) For the next 1/4 loop
you will gradually need to ease out of the left rudder and
may even need a small amount of right rudder at the top of
the loop to keep the shape round. Again, it will take
LOTS
of
practice to get a round shape. For now let’s just get all the
way around! Now for the scary part – throttle back as you
come across the top of the loop and again start to apply left
rudder. When you hit the 3/4 point of the loop it gets really
exciting! You’ll need to balance rudder and slowly add
throttle until the airplane finishes the bottom of the loop,
easing it to straight knife-edge flight.
WHEW!
This is a really
impressive show of power, aerobatic capability and piloting
skill when you can do it cleanly and round.
Hangar Keyhole:
The hangar keyhole is a unique 3D
maneuver that has lots of WOW factor. Its kind of a
combination of the two maneuvers we just covered. Climb
vertically and bring the model to a hangar, but do not stop
long enough to let the torque pull the model around
(climbing or sliding slightly will not be noticeable to
spectators but will keep air flowing over the ailerons and
provide you roll authority to stop the torque). When the
model is hanging, rock the plane left with rudder, then apply
full throttle and full right rudder and hold both, completing
3/4 of a VERY tight knife-edge loop. When done correctly,
the plane pivots around the wingtip in a very small area. This
maneuver can be done in either direction similarly.
Knife-Edge Tumble:
This is an impressive looking
maneuver that really isn’t as difficult as it looks. (Before
learning this maneuver you must be able to confidently snap
and tumble your Giles and stop the aircraft at exactly a
single snap without over rotating.) Simply fly the model
knife-edge from the right at full throttle so the model has
reasonable airspeed. Perform one full right negative tumble
by maintaining your rudder and throttle settings while
applying full down elevator full right aileron, releasing in time
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