Flying Inverted

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Flying inverted is generally not something to sustain without some skill. But with basic flying skills in performing loops and rolls you have what it takes to enter into inverted flight.

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Loops and rolls are the two ways you are going to enter into inverted flight. A few principles to keep in mind when you're preparing to fly your RC plane inverted; stall speeds are higher, the dihedral of the wings will require you to fly "actively", as the plane will want to right itself and fly the way it was designed for.

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Also, on the radio, some of the controls are the same and some are different. Ailerons will stay the same, but your elevator and rudder are backwards. You'll want to be sure your thumbs know this, otherwise your RC flyer will be taking a 'dirt nap' very quickly.

There are two types of ways to enter into inverted flight, rolling and looping. Rolling is the more complicated of the two.

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To roll into inverted flight you'll want to fly into the wind, stop and roll at the top and then apply just a little bit of forward pressure once inverted. Remember: forward pressure. Now, too much forward pressure your plane will stall out, too little you're going to bail out.

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The other method of entering inverted flight is looping into it. Again, you'll want to enter into the wind to invert so begin by flying with the wind then pull back looping into the wind inverted. Forward pressure, and there you go, you're flying inverted!!

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Another flying tip to keep in mind while flying inverted, when you're ready to return back to normal flight be sure to roll out, don't pull out. If you pull out at too low of an altitude you'll crash (aka: your plane takes dirt nap).

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Hope this Flite Tip was helpful! Now get out there and try it for yourself!
 

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UndCon

UndCon
I started learning inverted indoors with foamies.
At the ceiling - loop into inverted and ease off elevator - try to hold the plane upside down for a while then continue looping.
Eventually you end up a bit sideways so you have to compensate with ailerons to keep it going.
When confident start doing turns in inverted and finish off with figure 8's

This took me a few months indoor training every Sunday. And when control is greater than fear - go down in altitude to do inverted 8's just above the floor.

//UndCon
 

lobstermash

Propaganda machine
Mentor
I learnt with an EPP wing, and then learnt my lesson with a funbat. The wing took the impacts of the first couple of poor attempts, while the funbat copped me getting too cocky and doing a low, fast inverted pass, at the end of which I got a case of dumb thumbs. The plane survived without too much damage, but I learnt not to over-think it and just relax.
 

lobstermash

Propaganda machine
Mentor
By the way, I think mode 1 makes it much easier to fly inverted. Your right hand controls stay the same, left hand controls are reversed... Just saying...
 

Superfly

Member
By the way, I think mode 1 makes it much easier to fly inverted. Your right hand controls stay the same, left hand controls are reversed... Just saying...

Very true, yet somehow I support much more mode two, because it replicates better the standard control inputs give by a helicopter pilot AND also an airplane pilot.
The rudder is always driven by feet, it seems. So let's leave one thumb dedicated to the vectorial input behaviour, and the other thumb for gas and compass pointing... :) It works wonders especially when you match up a joystick with your transmitter!
(my 2 cents)
 

lobstermash

Propaganda machine
Mentor
Haha, yeah, I'd be hopeless in a real plane/heli :) I wonder if someone's thought of wiring in a RC tx for control in a real plane... With manual controls as a backup of course :)