ORIGINAL: bruce88123
The maneuver you described is an immelman, a simple enough maneuver to perform. What I can't understand is: "and by the time I figured out the attitude of the plane I was out of rudder to correct it." Chances are that that is the least effective control on the plane. Depending on the planes true attitude I suspect that ailerons and/or elevator would have been the control of choice. If a 3 channel the rudder would have made a bit more sense.
OMG, I meant ELEVATOR!!!
Anyway, my first choice is to buy a new Avistar from Tower. Second choice is a gift certificate to Tower for the cost of the plane plus shipping (he's been talking a lot about the Super Tigre 51, and does have a lot of planes). Either way, a replacement of something equivalent to a plane is in order. I took the plane and flew it on the edge until I crashed it. Being willing to buy him something that's more than the cost of a new plane, plus shipping, imo, is out of the question.
What did I learn...
Not to fly someone else's plane LIKE THAT. I underestimated '2 mistakes high'. To talk to some experienced guys about how to approach doing these moves; maybe I'm missing something. Also, kill the throttle when I get disoriented, to buy me time (and dirt less time to get in my engine).
Thanks all.