Chimbu Chuckles
B Sousa you are correct. When chaps earlier in the thread were stating 'first even civvy chopper looped/rolled'..or words to that effect..I was thinking about the MD500E (from memory) that was looped and rolled on the practice day at an Oz airshow about 25 odd years ago. The Oz CAA guy went ballistic and the MD Factory Test Pilot was absolutely forbidden from performing those manouvers during the airshow.
If you are talking about what used to be called the Bankstown Airshow, the pilot you are talking about was me. For the record, it was an MD500E prior to the "no aerobatic flight" limitation in the RFM. The CAA had approved a full aerobatic show, to include multiple loops, in advance. I had been performing the proposed routine all around the world for several years. I had asked for rolls but the request was declined before coming to OZ. After the validation flight of the CAA Approved routine, the airshow director, who may have been associated with the CAA, decided not to allow the loop. He gave no reason for his decision. After considerable negotiation, and the involvment of several TV news interviews with me and the CAA (interesting experience) I was allowed to do an off-set loop. The watered down show was not that much different than what Chris Townsend was performing in the R-22 at the same show. The aircraft used was a company demonstrator with a US special airworthiness certificate.