I'm not totally sure, but I'm under the impression that "hammer head" is actually the older name, it's just that RC modelers (or specifically the AMA?) called it a "stall turn" for many years. I'm pretty sure the full-scale guys have always called it a hammer head. I think the AMA used the term "stall turn" to diferenciate it from a "wing over". These days, I don't think too many guys do "true" "stall turns", I see a lot of "wing overs".

I've never heard of another name for a cuban-8. However, I remember when I started flying having absolutely no clue what a cuban-8 was, then wonder why it was called that.

Rob, I HATE when people refer to the engine quitting as "stalling". I don't know how many times I've had to try to explain what a stall was and wasn't to beginners. The engine quits or stops, or the plane is deadstick. The wing stalls Just my pet peeve.

(It's also fun to kill the engine up nice and high when there are lots of spectators around. You always hear people saying things like "oh no, he stalled, he's going to crash" and stuff like that. It's even more fun when I go in to a near-vertical dive, pull out in to a loop, then set up and land. (don't try that at home, kids, I do it with a combat plane. Seriously light wing loading, and pretty much impossible to damage in that situation, not your typical wood plane). I guess they never heard of a "glider" before.


Mike, what about "alloy wheels" bothers you? The fact that all wheels are made from an alloy of something or the other?