Barrel roll
A barrel roll is an aerial maneuver in which an airplane makes a complete rotation on both its longitudinal and lateral axes, causing it to follow a helical path, approximately maintaining its original direction.
Sometimes rudder input is applied to help assist the roll through the yaw axis (nose rotates sideways), by swinging the tail over the top.
At the midpoint (top) of the roll, the aircraft should be flying inverted, with the nose pointing at roughly a right angle to the general flightpath.
He was flying a glider owned by John Joseph Montgomery during an exhibition show, which was lifted by balloon and then released.
During this particular show, Maloney did a very hard turn, causing the wings to warp, performing the maneuver quite by accident, but was quickly followed by his companion flyer, David Wilke, who did two barrel rolls in a row; one to the left and the other to the right.
The Boeing 367-80 was rolled twice by Tex Johnston in an unauthorized maneuver while demonstrating the aircraft to the International Air Transport Association over Lake Washington, Seattle.
As the nose passes through the horizon, the pilot begins to apply aileron input, which is accomplished by easing the stick to either the right or the left.
Still keeping the nose 45 degrees off the reference point, the plane should roll into level flight along the same flightpath and at the same altitude at which the maneuver began.
If properly performed, the reference point should appear to remain in a fairly stationary position, relative to the plane, while the horizon spins around it.
Correct placement of the lift vector during the maneuver is crucial to keep from moving ahead, relative to the opponent.
There are many optical illusions that affect the pilot's ability to determine the relative position of the opponent, and mistakes can easily be made.
If the aircraft have a thrust-to-weight ratio of less than one, each consecutive roll will be lower than the previous, and the pilots can quickly find themselves at ground level.
[10] A high-g barrel roll is a last-ditch defensive maneuver, performed when the attacker has achieved a suitable firing solution.
The sudden change in the relative forward speed may cause a surprised attacker to fly out in front of the defender.
The maneuver begins like a normal barrel roll, but when the plane is nearly inverted, the pilot places the elevators and ailerons close to the neutral position.
Similarly, if following outside the turn of a defender that is much more maneuverable, the attacker may be unable to pull the nose up into a suitable firing position.
[14] The 1966 World War I-setting air combat film The Blue Max shows a canopy roll being performed by one of the pair of German Luftstreitkräfte pilots (the characters of Bruno Stachel and Willi von Klugermann), both flying Fokker Dr.I fighters, just before the tragic "daredevil" under-bridge flight sequence in the film.
Upon completing the roll, when the aircraft's lift vector points directly at the enemy, the pilot pulls back on the stick, reentering the turn with the ability to achieve a better firing position.
It is the three-dimensional equivalent of a 90-degree turn, and the attacker finishes the loop, having completed three quarters of a roll, with the nose pointed along the defender's flightpath.
When inverted, the pilot then uses the assistance provided by gravity combined with rudder control to bring the fuselages of both aircraft into alignment.
The roll will tend to be more effective if the stick is pulled back until the point of buffet (the turbulence that precedes a stall), and often to the maximum that the elevators will allow.
[21] The rudder roll is a basic maneuver used by air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles for providing in-flight course corrections, often giving them an erratic-looking flight path that oscillates around its target's track.
