RCU Forums - View Single Post - Negative Gs at the top of loops
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Old 08-16-2014 | 03:11 PM
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Jetdesign
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There is a lot of 'stuff' in this thread. I think the best thing to do is to keep it simple - trim your plane well, watch wings level, and use power appropriately.

The stuff about gravitational forces and changes in direction may contain a few myths, to put it nicely. G forces have no impact on wings or airfoils generating lift. Momentum will always force the airplane in a straight line in the direction of it's current travel. If your inside wing is down, you will loop inward. If you keep the plane in that attitude (meaning inside wing is now high over top of loop) it will continue on an inward path as long as you are on the elevator. As you're flying over the top with the inside wing still 'down' relative to the airplane (up in your frame of reference), it will still fly in due to the relationship of the wing (positive angle) to the forward motion of the airplane, and obviously more so if you are on the elevator.

If you still have trouble with the direction the airplane wants to travel in this situation, practice your knife edge and rolls, and try some point rolls if you can with only elevator inputs. You will get a feel for all of this. Up elevator is always toward the canopy, down always toward the gear. The wings basically follow the path of the nose (for all intents and purposes of this discussion).

Edited: I should listen to my own advice and keep it simple! Had a mistake about lift at top of loop.

Last edited by Jetdesign; 08-16-2014 at 05:59 PM. Reason: mistake about lift at top of circle - corrected.