Mild Aerobatics

A friend has a 182 and we have rolled that many times. Another buddy
has a Baron and we have rolled that many times. Yet another friend has
a Super Cub and I have gotten fairly proficient at rolling and looping
that. In my plane I frequently take it up and go power at idle, full
back stick and hold a 45 degree bank. I have VG's so the plane will not
roll over into the raised wing, just sits there and falls at about 1500
fpm. This helps to keep my ass current in flying the plane. I try and
make about half my landings from about a mile or mile and a half final
at a few mph above stall without looking at the airspeed indicator.



Jay Honeck wrote:

During primary training, many moons ago, I was growing frustrated with the
sedate nature of our flying, so I asked my flight instructor (Bob -- a guy
with 20K hours in every known flying machine) when we were going to get to
the "fun stuff"? He didn't know what I was talking about, so I told him I
wanted to see what these things could actually *do*...

At which point he smiled that crooked smile of his, and proceeded to do a
wing-over with a recovery out the bottom, going the opposite direction! I
was whooping and hollering for more, but he just went back to our lesson for
the day....

Nowadays, Mary and I are very cautious in our Pathfinder, rarely exceeding
45 degree banks, and never pulling more than mild G turns. Mary hates steep
banks (except in a Super Decathlon -- then all bets are off!), and the most
rambunctious thing we ever do are "Up-Downs" (as the kids call them), which
is a firm pull up with a steady push-over at the top that induces negative
Gs in the back seat.

Just curious -- what do you guys do with your spam cans? I've seen video
from inside a Cessna that shows a guy doing some pretty radical maneuvers,
but in real life what's the most you push your aircraft?