I: Welcome back to Radio Action. I'm here with champion air-race pilot, Thiago Silvo Corbera. Now, Thiago, can you tell us a little about aerobatic manoeuvres?

I = interviewer, T = Thiago

I: Welcome back to Radio Action. I'm here with champion air-race pilot, Thiago Silvo Corbera. Now, Thiago, can you tell us a little about aerobatic manoeuvres?

T: The two basic manoeuvres are the loop, which is where you fly a vertical circle. You can fly an inside loop, where you pitch up into a circle, or an outside loop where you pitch down into a circle. And there's the roll, either a half roll - where the wings turn 180⁰ to inverted flight so that you fly upside-down, or a full roll, where you rotate 360⁰

I: And what about the more complex manoeuvres?

T: The barrel roll is where you complete one loop and one roll at the same time, making a flight path similar to a horizontal corkscrew, like when you open a bottle of wine. A more complex manoeuvre is the Cuban eight, which again is a combination of loops and rolls. This manoeuvre makes a shape like a number eight. My favourite manoeuvre is the tail slide. That's a straight vertical climb up until you lose momentum. You then fall backwards, tail first, until the nose drops through the horizon to a vertical down position, and then you drop back into level flight. Moves like this are fun, but the most important thing in an air race competition is completing the course as fast as you can.

I: What aeroplane are you flying today?

T: I'm flying an Extra 300s

I: And how is this different from normal aircraft?

T: Well, they are quite different in that they are much lighter than normal aircraft and they have more power for their weight. This aircraft only weighs 672 kg but is has a 300 HP engine. Another key difference is that the control surfaces, the ailerons, rudder and elevators, deflect at least 25⁰, which is much more deflection than conventional aircraft. This is so you can make the hard manoeuvres at high speed.

I: Do you ever get scared?

T: The scariest moment I've ever had was doing a manoeuvre called the hammerhead. You start by flying vertically, but then slow down and apply full rudder and full opposite aileron. You then yaw 180⁰ to a nose-down attitude. But this time the aileron didn't release properly, and I almost went into a spin and crashed. Luckily, I got control, and when I landed, I checked the control systems and found a leak in the hydraulic lines.

I: And how are you feeling about the air race today?

T: I've done a lot of training, and I'm feeling positive.

I: Well, good luck, and thanks for talking to us.

T: My pleasure. Thank you.

Word List

Aerobatic maneuver

Barrel roll

Cuban eight

Flight path

Full roll

Half roll

Hammerhead

Horizontal corkscrew

Inside loop

Inverted flight

Leak

Loop

Momentum

Outside loop

Pitch down

Pitch up

Roll

Tail slide

To apply

To roll

To rotate

Upside-down

Vertical circle

Loop	Tail slide
Outside loop	Hammerhead
Inside loop	Full roll
Half roll	Barrel roll
Cuban eight	Horizontal corkscrew

Pitch	Flight Path
Yaw	Momentum
Roll	Rudder
Aerobatic maneuver	Elevator
Inverted Flight	Level Flight

Дата добавления: 2015-09-29