How to fly a Zwilbelturm
 

Actually this is about how to fly the Mulleroid, a variation on the Zwilbelturm or Muller tower, which is used by a number of display pilots (including me for the 2012 season) as their opening figure. It broadly looks like a variation on a spin going up and then some kind of translation into a rapid spin on the way down. Most people find it entertaining to watch without really having any clue as to what is happening; the link explains what is occurring, how to fly it and some of the multiple considerations to be taken into account when flown.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ultim...14?ref=tn_tnmn

The manoeuvre is named after Swiss pilot Eric Muller, who was Swiss and European Aerobatic champion, and was overall Winner of the Unknown Programme at the World Aerobatic Championships in Red Deer, Canada in 1988. He died of natural causes just before competing at WAC 1990 and the winner of the WAC unknown is now awarded a trophy named in his honour.

It is perhaps interesting that Eric came up with this figure 24 years ago, and whilst not normally considered a true 'gyro' figure (although the principles of rigidity and precession do assist the translation from negative upline flicks to erect downline spin) it is fascinating that we have been discovering 'new' aerobatic figures for many years.

Finding new figures has been going on (alongside trying to be the fastest) since man first slipped the surly bonds – as an example, Jimmy Doolittle (yes, THAT one) was the first person to execute an inverted or outside loop (previously thought to be a fatal manoeuvre because of the stresses encountered) in 1927! Carried out in a Curtiss fighter at Wright Field in Ohio, Doolittle executed the dive from 10,000 feet, reached 280 mph, bottomed out then rolled upside down, then climbed and completed the loop. (BTW, this is marginally the less scary of the main options for entering an outside loop; starting from inverted feels just WRONG.) I’m guessing that launching a B-25 off the Hornet was a lot less intimidating…

I find it fascinating that with so many world class aerobatic pilots having been experimenting for so long to stretch the envelope that people are still coming up with new aerobatic gyro figures – Mark Jeffries as an example has a cute new one in his current display - and hey! Isn’t the constant striving to improve and innovate just brilliant! (Whisper it but quietly, but we may have a new and unique one for next season – if I can get it to come out online and in the correct attitude on anything approaching a consistent basis…!)

In case it's not obvious when you follow the link, the write-up is attached to a picture of a vertical smoke trail above a control tower.

Please note that normal caveats apply - I am not advocating that you read the description and then try it in your PA-28 - that would be silly..

But the resulting "no wing" Pa28 would, I am sure, give yet another new aeros figure:}