Crash Course in areobatics 2: loops

Welcome! to the second in the series of 'crash course in areobatics' and today we're doing loops!
But first an apology, as this article comes a lot later than i would've hope due to certain 'technical difficulties',namely a computer crash resulting in the loss of all my prepared articles so i am now steaming away at the keyboard writing the next ones. Throw on top of that the troubles of day-to-day life and you have the delay that we have now. With that behind us lets start article 2!

 Now a loop isn't just as simple as yanking the stick back, although it can work that way just doing that isn't guaranteed to give a nice, round, loop. So here is how to get a perfect loop out of your model. (with many more pictures than the last one).

ENTRY AND EXIT

Now imagine a perfect circle. No need, here's one for you! Now this is what your loop should look like.

Now let's go back to what happens if you keep the same amount of elevator throughout the manouvre,with most models, it will often look something like this, even if you don't realize it.

Notice especially how the exit point is higher than the entry point, this is a very common problem and one that can be so easily remedied by simply slacking off the stick a little as you come down the loop until you know you are going to level out of the loop at the same altitude as you entered it. Your aim should be to make sure that the entry and exit points of your loop should be at exactly the same altitude.This may take a little while to get used to, especially if you have got used to doing it by using the simple 'stick yanking' method. But eventually you will get used to being able to accurately judge where to exit the loop, so, under perfectly still conditions it looks more like this.

Thing is, it still looks a little oval doesn't it?

EVENING OUT THE LOOP

Now every plane is different, but every plane will lose speed as it goes up the loop and gain speed going down, that's gravity, and unfortunately you can't get rid of that, but you can do something about the speed increase/decrease in the loop just by adjusting the throttle like so: 

Hopefully this will cure the oval, if it doesn't then all you have to do is to ease off the stick for perhaps half a second or two when it's at the apex of the loop, before pulling it round.

 So that was my tutorial of how to do the loop perfectly, now you know the two key manouvres (rolls and loops)to do things like cuban eights and the like. Once again feel free to adjust the instructions here to suit your plane and the conditions, as every day, and plane, is different. Remember, as a general rule, to always practise new manouvres into the wind. And as a suggetion, get a simulator as well as these can let you crash, time and time again without letting you destroy your precious model,whilst you can get a cheap one for £20( i'm afraid i don't know what that is in dollars).  If I have missed anything out that you would like me to revisit, or you know some tips to aid the learning of the manouvres then please don't be afraid to comment and share it with the rc community.

Next time:

Stall turns!