Controlled role

A controlled roll (English Slow Roll ) is an aerobatic figure from the Aresti catalog in which the aircraft is rolled once around its longitudinal axis while maintaining the direction of flight. The controlled role is often simply called a role . Although it is part of basic aerobatics training, it is not an easy maneuver.

It must be remembered that the wing has the angle of incidence with respect to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. In inverted flight, to put it simply, the longitudinal axis must then be pushed upwards by twice the angle of incidence so that the angle of attack, air flow in relation to the wing chord is such that the aircraft continues to fly in the desired direction. In side flight, the aircraft fuselage must provide the lift and be adjusted accordingly.

A Swift S-1 in a roll during an aircraft tow .

In order to fly a steered roll properly, it is not enough to simply put the aileron in the desired direction and wait for the aircraft to turn. Especially with less motorized aircraft and gliders, the nose must be raised before taxiing and the flight attitude and direction must be constantly corrected with well-measured elevator and rudder deflections during taxiing.

The controlled roll can be flown not only on horizontal, but also on vertical and 45 ° lines. Many of the more complicated characters also contain roles. A well-known example is the Cuban eight .

Only part of a role can be flown, e.g. B. half a roll in inverted flight.

If the role is divided into several sections in which the scrolling is briefly interrupted, it is called a time role . The term remote role is also common among aerobatic pilots. A whole roll that is flown as four quarter rolls is then called a four-time roll .

The steered roll is so called because in this figure the aircraft is steered "normally" at all times with the flow applied, in contrast to the torn roll , in which an auto-rotation is triggered by a deliberately induced one-sided stall.

The normal, simple roll is initiated by gently pulling it up (by about 10 °) to increase the angle of attack and then moving the aileron in the desired direction. Now the plane rolls into the supine position. Due to the previous pulling up, the angle of attack is now more or less correct for a straight flight. The aircraft then returns to normal and assumes approximately the normal angle of attack.