Here are a few tips of some of my favorite maneuvers. They really helped me in learning these maneuvers and I hope they are able to help you too! Let me know if there are other maneuvers you would like to see described. Also let me know if these tips have been able to help you out. I would love to hear some feedback from you on this.
Make sure you practice these maneuvers up high till you get the hang of it then start bringing it down little by little.
Video link of me performing Rolling Harriers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b554DD_oFes
- Preparing for the Rolling Harrier: Before attempting the Rolling Harrier it is a good idea to be able to do two things. One is consecutive 4 point rolls straight down the runway. This helps with your timing of rudder and elevator inputs. The other is a regular rolling circle using just elevator inputs with the aileron stick pegged to one side (you should roll to your most comfortable direction, left or right).
So, first a couple of things about the consecutive 4 point rolls. Hold each hesitation point the same amount of time, for instance two seconds for each hesitation. Try to do at least two consecutive 4 point rolls per pass maintaining the same altitude and heading. Also, do this maneuver in both directions, from left to right and right to left. This helps with orientation and gets you used to seeing the plane at different attitudes which will come in handy when you are doing rolling harriers.
For the rolling circle, the idea is to peg the aileron stick as far as it will go in one direction and hold it there for the duration of the maneuver. You then use the elevator to maintain altitude and also guide the plane around in a circle. Use the throttle to also help maintain altitude and speed of the maneuver. You don’t want to go wide open during this maneuver, just a little below ¾ throttle should be fine. Before practicing this maneuver set up your aileron throw so you have a comfortable roll rate when aileron stick is pegged to one side. Not so fast that you can’t add the correct inputs in time but not so slow that you don’t have enough aileron control if you get into trouble. Practice this maneuver in 4 steps. Each quarter of the circle will be a step. Step 1 will be the first quarter of the circle, step 2 will be the second quarter of the circle and so on till the fourth step which will be completing the circle. Don’t move on to step 2 till you get step 1 down.
This example will demonstrate rolling to the right while making a left circle. If you prefer, you can roll to the left while making a right circle.
OK now for step 1, from straight and level flight and coming across the runway from left to right, peg the aileron stick to the right. As soon as the plane has rotated just past a quarter roll which would be a little past knife edge feed in down elevator. This does two things. It turns the plane to the left and also holds the nose up. If you add the elevator input too soon the plane will turn but may lose lift and the nose will drop. If you add the elevator input too late the plane will not turn but will climb. So timing is very important and this will just take a lot of practice. As the plane continues to rotate beyond the first knife edge position you have to start backing off of down elevator. As it gets to the inverted position you should have just enough down elevator to keep the nose horizontal. When plane has rotated back to the other side on knife edge and just past knife edge position, you need to start feeding in up elevator which will make the plane continue to turn left and also keep the nose of the plane up. Back off of up elevator as it comes back to complete one roll. Keep repeating this process till you have made one quarter of a turn. Your roll rate and the tightness of your turn will determine how many rolls you will have to make to get to the first quarter turn. A tighter turn may only require one roll to get to the first quarter turn. A wider turn may require two or three rolls to get to the first quarter turn. It’s better to start out with a wide turn which means you will have more rolls in between before getting there. Once you get to the first quarter turn stop the maneuver, go around and do it again. Keep doing this till you can keep the plane at the same altitude without too much bobbing up and down while making a nice quarter turn.
Then repeat this same process with the next step and so on till you can put all 4 steps together.
Once you can execute consecutive rolling circles comfortably you have done the hard part and are well on your way to doing your first Rolling harriers.
Something else to practice once you have mastered the above maneuver is to start throwing in the appropriate rudder input when the plane is on its side. This is where the 4 point roll practice will come in handy. Once you start adding in the rudder inputs you can really make this maneuver look smooth. You can slow the plane way down (1/4 throttle) and still maintain altitude. It is much easier to get the maneuver dialed in when going at ¼ throttle, plus it is a step closer to rolling harriers which are done at below ¼ throttle. You also get rid of the bobbing affect as when using just the elevator.
- Rolling Harrier: Before attempting the rolling harrier it is best if you can already perform consecutive rolling circles as described above. This maneuver is done with 3D rates (35 degrees of throw or more on elevator and rudder, preferably 45 degrees of throw). You will need to find a comfortable roll rate for this maneuver and is a very important part to learning this maneuver. If the roll rate is too fast you will not be able to add the proper inputs at the right time. You can speed up your roll rate after you learn the maneuver if you want. Once you learn the maneuver it is personal preference as to how slow or fast your roll rate is. I like a slow roll rate and feel I have more control when performing this maneuver low to the ground. There are various control inputs used by different pilots. This again is personal preference. Some pilots may only use rudder inputs and no elevator input, some may use just elevator inputs and no rudder input. I prefer to use rudder and elevator inputs which allow me to have a slow roll rate and still keep the plane at a high alpha attitude. If you use only one input and not the other, with a slow roll rate the nose of the plane is more likely to drop from lack of input during rotation of your plane. This does require better timing though but because you have been practicing your 4 point rolls it should not be a problem. So now, how I perform this maneuver. For this example we will roll to the right but you can also do this maneuver rolling to the left, and actually there are some advantages to rolling to the left. Making use of the torque is the main advantage. So, with radio on high rates, come across the runway (up high) and throttle back bringing the plane almost to a stall. Right before the plane stalls peg the ailerons to the right. As soon as you peg the ailerons to the right you will need to simultaneously add power (maybe 1/8 of throttle) and full left rudder as it rotates to knife edge. The idea here is to keep the nose at a 35 degree or more angle of attack for the duration of the maneuver. This means you have to tweak the throttle and rudder inputs to achieve this angle. You may not require full rudder or elevator inputs but this is something you will have to figure out as you perform this maneuver. You also may require less or more throttle as you are executing this maneuver. I typically will get the plane as slow as possible and max out my control inputs as the plane rolls and then bump the throttle as needed to keep the nose in high alpha attitude. OK, so as the plane is rotating past knife edge you back off left rudder as you are adding down elevator. When the plane is inverted you should have no rudder input and full down elevator. As the plane continues to roll to the other side of knife edge start backing off of down elevator as you are adding right rudder. You should be at full right rudder and no elevator input by the time you are completely on knife edge. Then as the plane continues to roll from knife edge back to up right you should be backing off of right rudder and starting to add up elevator. As you reach up right flight you should have no rudder input and should have full up elevator input. Just keep repeating this till you want to stop the maneuver. To get out of this maneuver you just neutralize all controls when you are in upright flight, power up and fly out. Be careful not to over control plane as you fly out because you are still on high rates. Another thing that will be a little hard in the beginning is direction control. The goal is to keep the plane moving in the same direction without veering off course. That is not an easy task but with practice you can get there. It is actually easier to do a rolling harrier circle in some respects because the plane has a natural tendency to turn to the left while rolling to the right. For ease of learning the maneuver you can start out by using just elevator if you like but the goal should be to add in the rudder inputs later. If using just elevator inputs you may have to increase your roll rate to keep the nose from dropping when the plane is on its side. One thing about rolling harriers, don’t let your nose get too high or your roll rate will slow down and you may find yourself hovering instead of doing a rolling harrier. Just back off of the elevator inputs and catch the plane with the throttle as it falls back to about a 45 degree angle and continue on with the harrier rolls.
- Rolling Harrier Circle: The rolling harrier circle is similar to the regular rolling circle in that you steer the plane in a circle by using the elevator, it’s just you are performing the rolling circle while performing a rolling harrier. If you can already perform regular rolling circles and rolling harriers, then it should not be very hard for you to learn how to perform rolling harrier circles. Start out up high and begin performing a rolling harrier. Once you get into the rolling harrier just use the elevator to steer the plane in a circle as you perform the rolling harrier. This requires a little more up/down elevator input at the precise moment to turn the plan in the direction of the circle and then letting off as the plane rotates past knife edge. You will need this added up/down elevator input when the plane is on its side, just as with the regular rolling circle. Your hands will be much busier with this maneuver than the regular rolling circle by trying to keep the plane at high angle of attack while also making the plane turn in a circle. Typically if you are rolling to the right the circle will be made to the left. If you are rolling to the left the circle will be made to the right. There is nothing that says you cannot roll to the right and make the circle to the right. You can, it’s just a little harder and I have heard others say that the presentation of the maneuver does not look as good, although I have done it that way and I did not think it looked too bad. Practice this maneuver in 4 steps just as with the regular rolling circle mentioned above.
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