Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Dudley Henriques wrote in
:

Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Dudley Henriques wrote in news:9-qdnZO8Tvdst-
:
Yeah, OK. jibes with my experince ( I think, been a while).
NEver thought of looking at the tip during it. I'll try it and let
you know how I get on!

Bertie

Works like a charm in the vertical plane as
well...loops....Cubans...etc.

Well, for that, obviously! I always had problems with reverse cubans
though. I never did figure out a way to track my rotation perfecly
going up. So, I just avoidd them!


Bertie
A Reverse Cuban or more correctly a 1/2 Reverse Cuban since the
complete maneuver is simply two maneuvers done back to back put
together :-) is in my opinion one of the hardest maneuvers for a
novice to get right. First of all, it requires a high entry speed. For
this reason, and as well the slow roll rate of the Citabria and other
flat wing light aerobatic trainers, doing a good 1/2 reverse Cuban is
not the easiest thing to accomplish.
You can do one, but it amounts to a sloppy 1/2 roll at the top
followed almost immediately by a Split S. It isn't pretty in these
airplanes. To do a 1/2 Reverse Cuban correctly, you need an
established 45 degree up line erect, a quick 1/2 slow roll and an
inverted 45 degree up line continued as the energy drops down to the
1/2 inside Loop recovery. The timing is critical as is the airspeed at
the top gate as the pull is initiated. In an underpowered airplane
restricted by a low never exceed speed you are severely hampered in
obtaining the energy required to do the maneuver properly.
As for visuals; you use the wing tips for establishing BOTH up lines
right side up and inverted, but in a Citabria or an Aerobat for
example, the low entry speed coupled with the energy lost doing the
roll to inverted leave you with little time to even establish an
inverted 45 degree up line :-)

The result is sort of like doing what I refer to as a 1/2 whale roll
and a pull down into a 1/2 loop recovery.
You can get a decent 1/2 Reverse Cuban out of a Decathlon but barely
:-) Now the Extra, or a Pitts is another matter entirely :-))
But don't feel bad about not getting this one down just right.
Actually if you DID get one right within the airspeed and g limits
suggested for the Citabria or Aerobat type airplane you happened to be
flying, you'd be doing quite well :-)


I used to od them in the Decathlon and they were OK ish, but certainly
not up to competition standards. It was the lack of decent reference,
really, not so much the performance or the agility of the airplane.
Going vertical was OK since the wingtip would stay at the same place on
the way up, but on a 45 I had nothing I could ever get a bead on to
maintain the line. They were OK. I didn't end up 90 deg to m entry
heading or anything, just not all that tidy.
It'll be interesting to see if I can do any better second time around!

Bertie

I'm sure you will.
Generally for practice anyway, you can pick a long road or anything
straight in front of you extending a bit into the distance. Do the roll
as a slow roll but do it fast. The visuals are easy really in this
scenario. Use the left tip and form a 45 with about a 4g pull and set to
the angle formed by the wing and the horizon. It isn't nearly as
accurate as a metal or FG tip cross attachment but close enough for
government work.
Do the roll quickly holding in some excessive forward pressure past
knife and on into inverted. The Citabria will have a seemingly VERY high
inverted nose attitude at the inverted 45 due to the flat wing and angle
of attack needed to keep the airplane stable on the 45 inverted up line.
As you go past knife edge switch the visual cue directly over the nose
and pick up the extended reference and adjust if needed for the vertical
maneuver line. Check the wingtip for the inverted 45 up line but be
aware that in the Citabria you probably won't have any excess inverted
up line time available before you relax the forward pressure and go
through the float at the top. You should be just above stall so don't
pull down, just relax the forward pressure and let the airplane float on
through, then gently pull down as the airspeed starts to increase. Use
about a 4g maximum radial g pull on the back side.
When you can do this one well in the Citabria, you get the Gold Star for
being able to fudge a 1/2 Reverse Cuban and make it look good in a
Citabria :-))



--
Dudley Henriques