Unusual Aerobatic Aircraft

the Boeing barrel roll

Not strictly, speaking a barrel roll, but an aileron roll. (A barrel roll uses back stick and is a blend of a loop and a roll, like rolling round the outside of a barrel – fun to do around appropriate size puffy cumulus. But lots of people outside the aviation world use the term to mean an aileron roll).

To stay under 2.5G on entering a barrel roll in a swept wing will use a ton of altitude.

Why? Procedure for an aileron roll is the same in anything – pull the nose up gently to 30 degrees or so, then neutral elevator, full aileron and a bit of rudder to keep things straight. And wait. Depending on the roll rate, you’ll end up with the nose pointing downwards (maybe not in an Extra, but for sure in a 707). Gently bring the nose up, keeping speed under control. Shouldn’t go outside 0.8-1.2G the whole way round.

I knew an ex-USAF pilot who told me that the C130 rolls very nicely. He said the same about the 182 as well, though we never rolled mine. I also know someone who inadvertently rolled an R22 (helicopter), or at least his student did. He thought he was going to die, but it all ended very uneventfully.

I’m willing to bet that nearly every type ever produced has been rolled by test pilot somewhere far out of sight. Maybe not the A380. Concorde for sure was. It’s the one manouver I would be willing to try in an aerobatic twin, since you REALLY have to mess up for it to turn into a spin.

Every time Airbus introduce a new model and after testing, the test pilots will fly it over Toulouse.All the staff and a load of dignitaries are there for a Vin d’ honneur and to watch the test pilots show off what the aircraft can do (and you’d be surprised at the maneuvers carry out). The tv cameras are there to record the event and it’s always front and centre of every news broadcast. It doesn’t matter that it is unlikely that any crew will ever do those maneuvers on their own airline.

@johnh yes check for zero alpha and apply full aileron, for some reason I thought they had barrel rolled it, probably because it dished out quite badly. Not sure the roll rate would manage an aileron/flaperon/spoiler (any other roll device) roll without the nose pointing down inverted and exceeding Vmo.

Some military turboprop transports have been rolled for test purposes, but I doubt swept wing CAT is ever rolled. Will check with my local concorde pilot if the type was rolled.

I saw an interview with the test pilot who flew that roll (aileron roll) with the 707 ages ago. It was when displaying the aircraft and the audience went nuts. He was brought up to to the CEO (or whatever) and asked WTF? He then simply explained that an aileron roll was a 1g maneuver, nothing dangerous whatsoever. Then the CEO answered: “You know that, and I know that, but don’t ever do it again”

That is on youtube, IIRC.

A barrel roll is +1G all the way round, but aileron roll?

Peter wrote:

A barrel roll is +1G all the way round, but aileron roll?

No, you got it mixed. A barrel roll is at least a 3g maneuver. It’s a mix between a loop and a roll (aileron roll). An aileron roll is as the name implies, a roll where only ailerons are used, and is per def a 1g maneuver when done horizontally. Then you have a slow roll. Horizontally it will be +1 -1 g, and much harder to do correct. Some of the more difficult things in fact, unless you have an Extra or something

There’s also the flick roll. It was fun to do (and very simple) in the C-152A. But it’s not actually a roll, more like an incipient spin (flick) in the horizontal plane (usually, but can of course be done at any attitude).

As LeSving says… an aileron roll is nominally 1G throughout. A slow roll, while it may look similar from the ground, is a very different thing indeed. And it is certainly -1G in the upside down bits, unlike an aileron roll which is still +1 even when you are upside down.

There may be planes whose roll rate is too low for an aileron roll, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Most gliders are aerobatic and can be rolled, despite their super-long wings.

Curious why @Robert18L things swept wings make a difference? They do give higher roll stability, so maybe reduce the roll rate a bit.