Once you've learned to fly your rc airplane to a safe and comfortable standard, and you've gained some confidence, it's time to step it up a notch and learn some basic aerobatics.

Important!...

When performing aerobatics of any kind, you need to fly in a very responsible way especially if you're flying in a public place and there are other people around. Choose your flying site carefully - aerobatics often require more airspace than normal 'circuit' flying, so make sure that the area is plenty big enough with no trees, posts or pylons etc.

Altitude is also very important, make sure you start off high to give yourself as much space as possible between your airplane and the ground. Also, fly a safe distance away from yourself but not so far away that you can't see the airplane well enough to know what it's doing ie whether it's up the right way or not, for example.

Three basic rc airplane aerobatic maneuvers:

1. The Loop

The loop is the easiest of all stunts to pull off. Start by flying straight and level preferably into wind if possible, but this isn't a crucial factor. Put the motor to full power and at point A, in the picture above, pull back on the elevator stick - not too suddenly, be gentle but definite. Keep the power on. The airplane will go into a vertical climb, let it keep going until it starts to roll over onto its back - point B in the picture. At this point, close the motor to its slowest speed and keep holding the elevator stick back. At point C in the picture, level out the airplane by reducing elevator and increase motor power to fly straight and level again. That's it!

2. The Barrel Roll:

The barrel roll requires more length of airspace than a loop and is easier to do with an airplane that has ailerons, but if your model only has rudder then that's fine. Same start as the loop, fly straight and level into wind if you can. At point A in the picture above start applying up elevator and left or right aileron (or rudder) at the same time. No need for full power this time, keep the motor at normal operating speed throughout the roll. As you apply elevator and aileron, the airplane will start to climb and roll over. Once this starts happening, don't move the sticks but hold them in the same position until the airplane reaches point B in the picture above. At this point, return both sticks to the central position and resume straight and level flying. Easy!

3. The Stall Turn:

The stall turn makes use of the airplane's rudder, and is a simple maneuver to perform. As before, fly straight and level. If you want, you can use the wind direction to help you perform this stunt by flying crosswind**. At point A in the picture above put the motor to full power and apply up elevator putting the airplane into a vertical climb, adjusting the elevator as necessary to maintain the vertical without going into the beginnings of a loop. Let it climb for a couple of seconds and then, at point B, reduce the motor power to its lowest, release the elevator stick back to the central position and - here's the important part - apply full rudder to the left or right.** Once the airplane has spun round on its tail, release the rudder and let the airplane go naturally into a vertical dive. At point C, apply both motor power and up elevator to pull out of the dive and resume straight and level flying. Piece of cake!

** You can use the wind to make a stall turn smoother and easier by flying at 90 degrees to the wind (crosswind) and turning the airplane into the wind at the top of the turn. The wind on the fin helps the model round for a perfect maneuver! The picture below shows this:

Back to Resources