Infinite variations of figure of 8

[srinath]

How do you do your figure of 8 ?

I started with nose pointing away, but now the nose follows the contour of the curve. The best is when you make a banked turn and avoid using the yaw stick. Then it's something beautiful imo

[Max]

I would consider the 1st a "true" figure-8 and the other 2 as "cheating." And I agree, banked turns are prettier than simple yawing. With an airplane you pretty much have to bank.

-Max

[JussiH]

Truest form would be nose in flight direction and banking turns. That is actually part of the official UAV pilot certification flight programme here. And you have to be able to do it manually...

[srinath]

Yep manual flying is where all the fun is
In fact banking turns use much lesser control effort and reduce the chance of motor saturation.

For a perfect banked turn, the forward speed is related to turn rate by the relation
V = R*w where R is turn radius and w is turn rate (approx yaw rate)
If you are flying fast and try to do a yawing turn with little or no roll, you will overshoot and probably the craft will fly behind you and it's messy and ugly.

[Max]

Now if you could pull off the #2 or 3 pattern in an airplane, THAT would be impressive. With or w/out banking.

-Max

[srinath]

Could be done in a fixed wing plane too, if the Aerodynamics and control was perfect.
Watch this clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_-iomt2AUQ

[kinderkram]

There were some WWI fighter pilots like Ernst Udet who could turn the tail of their Fokker triplanes more or less on the spot without banking. Looked more like drifting - amazing.

[Max]

Plus thrust vectoring engine nozzles. But yes, impressive flat spin for sure.

-Max

[srinath]

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