| The Joy of Flying |
| 6. The Wingover |

Often erroneously described as a Chandelle, which is different. The Wingover involves a climbing turn with 90 degree bank established exactly at the point where the aircraft has also turned 90 degrees - in this case it will be to the right. The bank is then reduced as the aircraft naturally drops and turns - the idea being a quick way of turning 180 degrees without producing high positive G. We start with a climbing turn at around 100 knots |
As the climb steepens the bank is increased - the speed is decaying quickly, the ideal being that we are close to stall just before the next bit.... |
Continuing the turn and increasing the bank angle, the speed is very low now and the nose is beginning to drop. we let it do what it wants... |
..Here we are 90 degrees to the right of our original track and the aircraft has begun to “flop” downwards in pitch, with very light G forces. This is a lot more confortable than a tight turn with 60 degrees bank. In a matter of a few seconds we’ve efficiently changed direction by 180 degrees and in relative comfort... |
...followed by an equally comfortable shallowish dive. |

| back to the beginning
| ...now let’s go for a spin |