Aerobatics 101: The Loop
1. Have enough speed on entry to get over the top. Low level, have enough speed to complete the loop at some margin above entry altitude with a more aggressive pull past the vertical on the backside of the loop.
2. On entry, don’t pull too gently: you won’t get over the top. Don’t pull too hard: you won’t get over the top (too much g kills speed, see 1).
3. Start relaxing pull as you come to the top of the loop so you float over at less than one g. This makes the loop look round and avoids the risk of a stall. Note that the airspeed gets pretty low. It doesn’t matter if you’re not pulling because stall is a function of angle of attack, not speed.
4. Don’t dilly-dally about beginning the pull on the backside of the loop. The airplane starts accelerating pretty quickly so you don’t want to spend too much time pointed at the ground.
5. Play the pull coming out of the vertical on the way down so as to complete the maneuver at or above the entry altitude (see 1).