PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Flying the perfect wing waggle!
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Old 7th Jul 2008, 09:09
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You can't combine passenger comfort with perfection looking from the ground.

For passenger comfort a wing waggle needs to be flown in balance. This means basically a succession of balanced turns, rolling into and out of the turn rather slowly so that your head doesn't bang against the side windows. But this will look rather sloppy from the ground.

To look good from the ground you need to fly straight and just roll along the longitudinal axis of the plane. By definition you're not flying in balance and in fact, in most aircraft you'll find that you will have to cross-control to stay on heading (a roll left needs a bit of right rudder and slight forward push).

Fortunately a wing waggle as a way of saying goodbye (after a photo orbit, say) only needs to be about 20 degrees either side to be visible from the ground. Once left, once right is enough and most passengers are able to survive this. Especially if they've just survived a few minutes of steep turns to get into the right position for the pictures.

It's a different matter for the wing waggle that's marking the start of your aerobatics sequence. The rule is three wing drops (all to one side or alternating) and they need to be 45 degrees. Unless you have a thoroughbred aerobatics plane, this maneuver will rob you of somewhere between 10 and 20 knots. Especially if you try to do them the proper way, compensating for adverse yaw with the rudder and so forth.

Must admit in an aerobatics sequence passenger comfort is nowhere near the top of the priority list.
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