Cuban 8
 

Took a date to the fabulous Ft Lauderdale beach airshow this weekend and was explaining to her that the incredible F-15 was doing a Cuban 8, with each loop reaching about 10,000', when she asks, "why is it called a "Cuban" 8?" Living in Miami for a long time you'd think I'd know about all things Cuban but no, I have no idea why the figure 8 in the sky is called "Cuban"; can anybody help me on this one?

Cuban 8
 

Cause it's laying down ?????? You got me on that one !

Cuban 8
 

I think I read something like the first guy to do one in public was Cuban. If you are a political activist you could call it "infinity" ;) :p

Cuban 8
 

If I remember right, at an international airshow in Cuba, a Cuban pilot got disoriented in a loop and turned it into that.

Cuban 8
 

The basic story I heard was that a Cuban pilot was getting ready to do an Immelman and flew past the horizontal. Instead of taking a zero, he rolled came out level, performed the maneuver again and then did the Immelman. When he was asked what that maneuver was, he responded that it was how Cubans did figure eights. The name stuck!