Dave Russell wrote:

I've yet to meet anyone that pushes -3 or more and claims
it's fun or easy. :-|

Well, you just met one :-) Most serious (Advanced and Unlimited
category) dot-pilots routinely push at least -5G. Some airshow pilots
(you should see Skip Stewart and Jim Leroy fly the square outside
knife-edge turn) push considerably more than that.

Negative G is a whole different world than positive G. Positive
G by itself is quite pleasant - the more, the merrier. Negative G
requires that you relax, and I recommend that you take your time and
slowly build your tolerance by increasing 0.5G increments over a
period of a couple years. Most people aren't patient enough, though,
and often end up screwing themselves up (see wobblies).

After a while, a -3G or -4G push feels about the same as bending
over to tie your shoelaces (really). My normal takeoff now is
a half-roll inverted, accelerate level to 140 mph, then push up to
an outside 1/2 cuban-eight, half-roll on the 45 down back to
inverted, push to level inverted over the runway again, then push up
again to an inverted 45 up and do an 8-of-4-point roll back to the
inverted, then pull through the reverse 1/2 cuban-eight over the
the runway again, this time upright :-) :-)

Pushing -3G is really not very much. What you want to avoid is a
good pull right after a good push. Pulling +6G (or more) is a piece
of cake, but immediately after a push it's a receipe for sleepy-time,
at least for most of us anyways. Wasn't there an F-20 demo crash in
Europe a few years back? The pilot flew -1G inverted straight and
level, then rolled upright and pulled +9G. He blacked out. Turned
out he was on some iffy medication, IIRC.

Anyways, one maneuver I love is a series of 4-pt rolls on the 45
downline, then push level inverted at the surface, then a 1/2 outside
loop push up to the upright, then an 1/2 outside snap back to inverted
at the top, then a 1/2 inside loop pull down to the surface again, but
it's a bit dicey from a G-loc standpoint - you go right from a -3G (or
more) push to a +5G (or more) pull.

--
aboyd ATP www.pittspecials.com/images/takeoff.jpg