Airplane air show questions

[VaSteve]

There is a little airport near me that had a little air show today. Looked like little WWII propeller planes. As I was driving by, one was doing flips and barrel rolls.

My question is this, a wing Is designed to provide lift, thus when a plane is upside down, isn't it being forced downward toward the ground? How long can a plane fly upside down?

What about jets? I know the blue angles and such do a lot of stunt/trick flying. But the basic physics have to be the same, right?

[Flieger]

It is all about angle of attack. Most airfoils are asymmetric, so they are meant to fly upright. They can still fly upside down as long as they have enough power to overcome the greater drag that the wing makes in the upside-down configuration due to the greater angle of attack it has to run (the nose has to be high inverted, when it can fly pretty level when upright). It also must be able to handle the reversed loading in its structure...

Aerobatic planes often will have symmetric airfoils, which means they don't generate any lift at all without an angle of attack. They aren't as efficient as an asymmetric one in upright flight but they don't care whether they are right-side-up or down.

A plane can also fly on its side, but this requires even more power because there is a lot less area to catch the air and the side of the fuselage and vertical stabilizer are about as efficient as a barn door at making lift. Which is why you need a very nose-up attitude along with even more power.

Eventually you get into the airplanes like Sean Tucker's, who has enough power to do whatever the hell he wants. He can fly it like a helicopter, just hanging on the prop.

[Embraer]

to simplify what max said...when you are in regular flight, you pull back on the yoke to climb. well, whilst inverted, you push forward on the yoke to maintain straight and level flight (or descend). you're counteracting the lift (or downward lift in the case of being inverted.)

here's my buddy doing some of his airshow work. noticed the horizontal stabilizer at the back of the airplane? look how he's pushing forward on the yoke:

[Embraer]

here's the vid of my buddy flying...

[Flieger]

Originally Posted by Embraer

here's the vid of my buddy flying...

That is AWESOME!

[Embraer]

he's a captain at my old company, KC-135 Instructor Pilot in the reserves, and owns his own aerobatic training outfit. he's got some serious skills.

[Zeke]

I don't know how awesome that is. After the guy on the bike let go of the tail, the tail went to about 6 inches above the tarmac. The pilot didn't have a lot of room there.