is this a chemtrail sprayer? ride along to investigate

This aircraft is surely spraying something. But in this case, it is a paraffin based oil injected into the exhaust stack of a Textron-Lycoming IO-580 engine. This is the winning freestyle from the World Aerobatic Championships in France. Want to ride along?

Video: www.youtube.com...

a reply to: F4guy

I think a mere mortal like me would have painted the inside of the cockpit canopy with the contents of my stomach if I had been in that. The person in question sure can fly!

Man that is crazy awesome. I know they have all the gauges and what not but it seems it would be so easy to become disoriented.

I wonder if they have a special maneuver or plan if they do become disoriented or maybe it doesnt happen often.

a reply to: tinner07

When I worked the desk at a flight academy one of the instructors was talking about a guy that taught aerobatics in a Pitts biplane. Your first flight with him, you took off, rolled inverted, and flew all the way to the North Shore of Oahu upside down. Sometimes you'd go back to Honolulu that way too. It was to teach to both that you have to move the controls differently, and to teach you to function in a manner you weren't used to.

originally posted by: tinner07
Man that is crazy awesome. I know they have all the gauges and what not but it seems it would be so easy to become disoriented.

I wonder if they have a special maneuver or plan if they do become disoriented or maybe it doesnt happen often.

You don't look at any gauges when doing aerobatics at this level. After you have done it for several years, you learn to think spatially. You have a special awareness of your attitude and where you are in the aerobatic "box" which is a cube of airspace 1000 meters on a side. For the unlimited class, it starts at 328 feet above the ground.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: tinner07

When I worked the desk at a flight academy one of the instructors was talking about a guy that taught aerobatics in a Pitts biplane. Your first flight with him, you took off, rolled inverted, and flew all the way to the North Shore of Oahu upside down. Sometimes you'd go back to Honolulu that way too. It was to teach to both that you have to move the controls differently, and to teach you to function in a manner you weren't used to.

That was probably Tom Skrentny in his S2B Pitts out of Dillingham.

originally posted by: LightSpeedDriver
a reply to: F4guy

I think a mere mortal like me would have painted the inside of the cockpit canopy with the contents of my stomach if I had been in that. The person in question sure can fly!

He sure can fly. He won the Freestyle World Championship again this year in South Africa and was the overall National Aerobatic Champion again this year.

a reply to: F4guy

I don't remember his name, but he was operating out of HNL at the time I was working there. He'd fly to Dillingham, do aerobatics there, then back to HNL.

originally posted by: F4guy
This aircraft is surely spraying something. But in this case, it is a paraffin based oil injected into the exhaust stack of a Textron-Lycoming IO-580 engine. This is the winning freestyle from the World Aerobatic Championships in France. Want to ride along?

Video: www.youtube.com...

Check it out from inside the cockpit. Jeez...watch how he takes off.

Zaph - what is that attachment on his wing tip that looks similar to a carpenter's square? Is he using that to align with the horizon so he knows his position? I notice he looks at the horizon a lot during his maneuvers.

a reply to: Outlier13

I never did aerobatics, but as I understand it they're attitude sights, or something like that. They help as a reference.

a reply to: Outlier13

They are external attitude references. They're aligned with the aircraft's axes and positioned along the pilot's line of sight to give a quick visual guide to the aircraft's attitude during aerobatic manoeuvres.

originally posted by: Outlier13

originally posted by: F4guy
This aircraft is surely spraying something. But in this case, it is a paraffin based oil injected into the exhaust stack of a Textron-Lycoming IO-580 engine. This is the winning freestyle from the World Aerobatic Championships in France. Want to ride along?

Video: www.youtube.com...

Check it out from inside the cockpit. Jeez...watch how he takes off.

Zaph - what is that attachment on his wing tip that looks similar to a carpenter's square? Is he using that to align with the horizon so he knows his position? I notice he looks at the horizon a lot during his maneuvers.

The thing on the wing is called a "sighting device. It is aligned with the zero lift line of the aircraft to aid the pilot in setting perfectly vertical up and down lines and upright and inverted 45 degree lines. For every 5 degrees off from the vertical or 45, you lose 10 percent of the possible score for a figure. Figures are scored from zero to ten in half point increments. So if you pull up to the vertical and overshoot by 10 degrees, the highest you can score on a figure is an 8.0.

I don't even know what to say about those videos besides:

Wow.

a reply to: F4guy

Interesting. Thanks.