Fly It Inverted, The Challenge!

[buzzbomb]

The Challenge is to fly it inverted and hold it as long as you can. The plane doesn't matter, You're skill level doesn't matter. Video does matter. If it's not on video, it didn't happen!

There is no scoring system. Just fly your plane inverted for as long as you can. Then post the video!

HOWEVER! Video must be from ground-level!

An inverted low-pass is one thing. Actually flying inverted? That's a whole different level of skill! Myself? Heck, no I don't have those skills. Am I going to try it? It's just foamboard!

 

[Hai-Lee]

The Challenge is to fly it inverted and hold it as long as you can. The plane doesn't matter, You're skill level doesn't matter. Video does matter. If it's not on video, it didn't happen!

There is no scoring system. Just fly your plane inverted for as long as you can. Then post the video!

HOWEVER! Video must be from ground-level!

An inverted low-pass is one thing. Actually flying inverted? That's a whole different level of skill! Myself? Heck, no I don't have those skills. Am I going to try it? It's just foamboard!

This one I will sit out! Not that it isn't a worthy challenge but it is something i practice often. If you look closely at the MUTTS inverted video segment the inverted flight was a full circuit of the field with the low pass as the final leg!

I can and often do fly the entire battery in an inverted attitude which I do to teach myself to have an automatic control response for when I have an unexpected emergency whilst inverted. I have around 20 different models and each handles inverted flight differently and so I practice and practice!

I want others to have a shot to have the lead or be the best! Nothing worse than trying to beat someone who is reasonably accomplished, or well practiced, in something others are challenged to do as they rarely do it!

I will watch and where necessary or required give a few tips or general advice but I step back so others can enjoy!

Actually I will add a secondary challenge! IMPRESS ME with your skill!

Have fun!

 

[Spacefarer]

but what if you mix your controls backwards?

 

[Hai-Lee]

but what if you mix your controls backwards?

Not sure what you mean in your question.

Just a few tips for the uninitiated in continuous inverted flight!

Flat bottomed wings are not the best for inverted flight and will require LARGE amounts of "DOWN" elevator to hold level flight.

Whilst being nose heavy is OK for normal flight, nose heavy with a flat bottomed wing can actually cause you to run out of down elevator or even not have enough deflection. A little tail heavy flies better when inverted but can cause problems when you return to normal flight!

When inverted you will need to be in "High Rate" so your elevator travel can be sufficient to control the plane.

It is possible to add a mix to your elevator so that when inverted you can apply additional coarse down elevator with the flick of a switch, (Caution - If you fail to disconnect the extra down when you resume normal flight the result can be disastrous).

Aileron function when inverted is the same as per normal flight!

Rudder and elevator appear reversed! Leave rudder control unused in inverted unless only a 3 channel bird!

Do not deploy flaps when inverted because to do so will cause a MASSIVE loss of lift and a crash is almost guaranteed!

You should only practice inverted flight at a height sufficient for you to be able to loop or roll back to normal flight without hitting the ground or a crash and/or inverted landing may be the only choices you have, ( I have done both in the past).

As your plane may be flying inverted with a very high wing incidence angle due to its flat bottomed wing you will need to keep the speed up. If you don't the plane can easily stall even at what feels like quite high speed!

You will also need to be PROACTIVE on the controls and not REACTIVE. Reactive controlling allows the "Dumb Thumbs" to control the stick inputs and your normal automatic responses can actually be seriously wrong for use when inverted!

Whilst it may sound difficult it is actually quite simple but it requires you to work a little harder to maintain control! But then if it was easy it would not make a good challenge!

Have fun!

 

[Dante]

Not sure what you mean in your question.

Just a few tips for the uninitiated in continuous inverted flight!

Flat bottomed wings are not the best for inverted flight and will require LARGE amounts of "DOWN" elevator to hold level flight.

Whilst being nose heavy is OK for normal flight, nose heavy with a flat bottomed wing can actually cause you to run out of down elevator or even not have enough deflection. A little tail heavy flies better when inverted but can cause problems when you return to normal flight!

When inverted you will need to be in "High Rate" so your elevator travel can be sufficient to control the plane.

It is possible to add a mix to your elevator so that when inverted you can apply additional coarse down elevator with the flick of a switch, (Caution - If you fail to disconnect the extra down when you resume normal flight the result can be disastrous).

Aileron function when inverted is the same as per normal flight!

Rudder and elevator appear reversed! Leave rudder control unused in inverted unless only a 3 channel bird!

Do not deploy flaps when inverted because to do so will cause a MASSIVE loss of lift and a crash is almost guaranteed!

You should only practice inverted flight at a height sufficient for you to be able to loop or roll back to normal flight without hitting the ground or a crash and/or inverted landing may be the only choices you have, ( I have done both in the past).

As your plane may be flying inverted with a very high wing incidence angle due to its flat bottomed wing you will need to keep the speed up. If you don't the plane can easily stall even at what feels like quite high speed!

You will also need to be PROACTIVE on the controls and not REACTIVE. Reactive controlling allows the "Dumb Thumbs" to control the stick inputs and your normal automatic responses can actually be seriously wrong for use when inverted!

Whilst it may sound difficult it is actually quite simple but it requires you to work a little harder to maintain control! But then if it was easy it would not make a good challenge!

Have fun!

I think what they meant was to reverse the rudder and elevator channels so inverted appears as regular flight

 

[Hai-Lee]

I think what they meant was to reverse the rudder and elevator channels so inverted appears as regular flight

As with most things yes you could but then as the plane is configured for "Inverted flight" the flight would in fact not actually be inverted flight. it would rather be a plane with its rudder and elevator reversed and all the issues related to inverted flight would be apparent in normal flight!

For the challenge I would expect that the plane would take off and at least complete a single circuit flying normally and then roll or loop into inverted flight where the clock would start! At the end of the flight a normal landing would be expected also!

Have fun!

 

[Namactual]

I'm down.

I am no expert pilot by any stretch of the imagination, but what the hey? I actually almost flew a full pattern inverted the other day, but it was so far away it was hard to see. It was only about 28 seconds or so. I took the video and zoomed in so it is easier to see. I will post the vid later.

You know I could cheat and use my UMX Wildcat with the AS3X. I can fly that thing inverted for days.

 

[Hai-Lee]

I'm down.

I am no expert pilot by any stretch of the imagination, but what the hey? I actually almost flew a full pattern inverted the other day, but it was so far away it was hard to see. It was only about 28 seconds or so. I took the video and zoomed in so it is easier to see. I will post the vid later.

You know I could cheat and use my UMX Wildcat with the AS3X. I can fly that thing inverted for days.

I am sure the Wildcat would do well in the initial part of the challenge BUT in the "Impress me" category it would flop rather badly!
To be impressed I take into consideration the difficulty involved in maintaining inverted flight and the control the pilot exerts over the bird to achieve sustained inverted flight.

I look forward to being impressed as there are a few models that I still struggle with greatly, (normally the trainer types).

have fun!

 

[Paracodespoder]

@Hai-Lee , can you mix flaperons but instead of going down the ailerons go up for extra lift on a flat-bottomed wing for inverted? Just a thought, may sound dumb, but I figured it just might work , if no one knows I might try it myself on a big sportster .

 

[Hai-Lee]

@Hai-Lee , can you mix flaperons but instead of going down the ailerons go up for extra lift on a flat-bottomed wing for inverted? Just a thought, may sound dumb, but I figured it just might work , if no one knows I might try it myself on a big sportster .

You could program a Flaperon/Spoileron mix and use it at your leisure/risk!

As long as you can fly normal and then inverted, under your own manual control then it would qualify! It might be a little less impressive but get "Brownie Points" for problem solving!

Have fun!

 

[Paracodespoder]

I don’t have any trouble with inverted without the spoilerons, just a thought. I’ll go out someday soon and see how long I can fly my mm mustang inverted .

 

[Headbang]

I am on the fence on this one. Same reason as hai-lee. Often I fly with others with much more beginner skills. I like to fly with them, so I will take up my explorer when they take up theirs, I will then proceed to follow them around the sky inverted. Inverted or right side up does not matter much to me anymore. But maybe I will do one for the heck of it. Hmmmm maybe hand launch inverted? Lol

 

[buzzbomb]

@Hai-Lee I have the distinct feeling that YOU should be administering this Challenge. You're not taking it from me, I'm asking you to do it. I was just looking for video of people getting out there and flying upside down, because it is fun and it is challenging. YOU have turned it into a competition! Plus, you know how to do it, and can more effectively judge and offer advice. It's a no-brainer!

This Challenge is your's, mate! I'm participating (at the end) of my next flight. Let's see if I impress you!

On the sly, I get extra points for not being able to fly upside down. In the Triple Date my son demonstrated how just stopping a loop leaves one inverted. He figured that out on his own, on the fly. I want to give it a go. I expect I'll crash miserably. That's impressive, right?

OK. Just kidding. No extra points for me. Still, it's going to be a whole lot of fun, just trying!

 

[Hai-Lee]

@Hai-Lee I have the distinct feeling that YOU should be administering this Challenge. You're not taking it from me, I'm asking you to do it. I was just looking for video of people getting out there and flying upside down, because it is fun and it is challenging. YOU have turned it into a competition! Plus, you know how to do it, and can more effectively judge and offer advice. It's a no-brainer!

This Challenge is your's, mate! I'm participating (at the end) of my next flight. Let's see if I impress you!

On the sly, I get extra points for not being able to fly upside down. In the Triple Date my son demonstrated how just stopping a loop leaves one inverted. He figured that out on his own, on the fly. I want to give it a go. I expect I'll crash miserably. That's impressive, right?

OK. Just kidding. No extra points for me. Still, it's going to be a whole lot of fun, just trying!

Just remember the "Impress Me" challenge!

I am unlikely to be impressed with an expert doing something he could do all day without a thought but rather see it as a normal everyday thing. Whereas a newbie who manages to fly 100 metres inverted, (fighting it all the way), without crashing would score quite highly!

It is the actual effort and daring which make the real impressions!

Thank you for the role in the challenges and I really am looking forward to those "Daring newbies inverting their flying machines".

Sadly though no points for crashing!

Have fun!

 

[buzzbomb]

Sadly though no points for crashing!

Darn it! That was my whole gameplan!

 

[buzzbomb]

Just remember the "Impress Me" challenge!

I am unlikely to be impressed with an expert doing something he could do all day without a thought but rather see it as a normal everyday thing. Whereas a newbie who manages to fly 100 metres inverted, (fighting it all the way), without crashing would score quite highly!

It is the actual effort and daring which make the real impressions!

Thank you for the role in the challenges and I really am looking forward to those "Daring newbies inverting their flying machines".

Sadly though no points for crashing!

Have fun!

Let me make sure I understand and clarify for others. If you're a relatively new pilot, just being inverted is impressive and daring. But no points for crashing. You've got to be upside down for a bit, pull out of it successfully, and land successfully for it to impress the Head with the Helmet.

If you are an experienced pilot, just flying around inverted won't cut it. Apparently ya'll take that kind of skill for granted, and it's just not impressive. If you're experienced and you've got the gumption to do this Challenge? Hai-Lee's words "It is the actual effort and daring which make the real impressions!"

Oh my! That's going to be some great video! Let's see what you've got and what you can come up with! We're not just flying inverted. We're doing it with style!

 

[mayan]

Actually I will add a secondary challenge! IMPRESS ME with your skill!

You just made me want to do just that!

Give me a bit of time to finish building a new TT (a plane that I feel like I can control well even with out expo) and I’ll give it a go. Since my first shot at inverted flight on the getting stupid with the TT challenge I had the chance to practice inverted flight a bit more and I think that I have improved my ability to fly inverted.

My goal is to fly inverted a whole circuit of the field and have a good time doing it.

Darn it! That was my whole gameplan!

You are a nut case buddy . I am telling you are CRAZZZYYYY! Just remember do the opposite of what you would normally do when flipping to inverted. On the last go we gave it, both of us were doing the same mistake pulling the elevator stick down instead of up. The same day I went to the field again and had better results just had no one to film it for me.

@Hai-Lee if I go inverted with the TT for a whole circuit around the field is that impressive enough for you or by now you want me to pick a different model to take the challenge with? Disregarding the Mini Edge which is a hard to manage plane even without inverted flight .

 

[Merv]

As others have said, a flat bottom wing is more difficult to fly inverted than a symmetrical wing. Also a plane with dihedral or polyhedral is more difficult to fly inverted than a plane with a straight wing.

When I teach someone to fly, after they have become proficient. As the next step, I'll teach them to fly inverted. If you can fly a trainer (flat bottom, dihedral wing) inverted, you have proven to me, that you are ready to move on to a more advanced plane. One that is not going to self correct, as a trainer does.

 

[mayan]

What would be your recommendation for a next plane?

 

[Merv]

What would be your recommendation for a next plane?

It’s personal choice, warbird, scale, acrobatics, mid wing, low wing, even 3D. That is provided you start with low to mild rates. My only recommendation, something that is easy to build & repair. I would not recommend something like the FT Edge, it’s a great plane, just too complex to build for your 2nd plane. Save it for your 3-4th plane.

I should add, by proficient on a trainer, I’m talking about high rates & doing some aerobics with your trainer. You can have a lot of fun with a basic trainer.