Acrobatic
category, means an aircraft certified for aerobatic manoeuvres in accordance
with relevant design rules (see Aircraft Standards below).
Aerobatic
aircraft must be highly manoeuvrable, yet tolerant of G loadings.
In the 67 years since the first of the World Aerobatic
Championships in 1934, aerobatic aircraft designs have progressed
considerably. In the beginning, any airplane capable of moderate aerobatics
could be entered with a reasonable chance of a good placing.
In the 60's the sport was redefined and the standards
rose with the introduction of the S1-S Pitts Special, a small, powerful and
agile biplane that dominated the sport during the period, aerobatics had never
seen an aircraft like it in the cense of performance. The tiny Pitts were a
complete contrast to the large Yak-52 monoplane used by the USSR and other
eastern block countries.
A transition
began to the modern era when aircraft designers started looking at monoplane
designs for aerobatics. They were a result of new designs using new
construction methods and materials. As more and higher performance monoplanes
became available, the biplane was gradually replaced. Today's remarkable array
of airplanes are designed specifically for one goal: World Aerobatic
Supremacy.
CESSNA-150
Which aerobatic plane to use is almost a religious
question but the most common aerobatic trainer would in defiantly be the
Cessna-150. Cessna has sold more planes than any other company in the world,
and is world renown for quality and safeness. The C-150 is basically as some
would like to say a C-152 with the winds glue on stronger, but the differences
are not visible but are extensive. It looks so much like the C-152 that Cessna
was afraid that they looked so much alike that someone would mistake the too
and try to do aerobatics in a non-aerobatic C-152, which would result in fatal
consequences. So the original paint jobs that were given to the two makes were
make distinctly different. Although the C-150 is very limited in the type of
aerobatic manoeuvres it can perform it is a very stable platform to learn
from. The C-150 is also cheap to run compared to other trainers, it costs
about 120 Australian dollars an hour to run. The C-150 isn’t used in
aerobatic competitions much because of its limitations but satisfies most
pilots in what they want to achieve and they don’t usually what to move to a
more powerful and competitive level.
C-150
C-152
THE PITTS SPECIAL
The Pitts
Special is a very popular small bi plane and has a very good record for its
time. It is still used extensively today but doesn’t go in any of the world
class competitions any more. This is because it is out classed by the newer,
more powerful, agile planes.
The
Extra aircraft is a monoplane as used in the current world aerobatic
championships. It is at the forefront of modern technology. It is manufactured
in Germany using the lightest and strongest materials eg. It has a thick short
propeller made of Kevlar and the
fuselage is steel tube and extremely strong.
It has a top speed of around 220 knots and it has a roll rate of 400 degrees
per second. It has a wingspan of 25.25' and an overall length of 22.83'. A
Lycoming six cylinder, 300 HP engine with a composite 3-blade MT propeller,
powers it. The engine is
supplied with a Christen inverted fuel and oil-system to assure fuel flow and
oil pressure is maintained when flying upside down.
Ref: http://www.aerobatics.nl/aerobatics.htm