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Inverted harrier, how do you conquer it?

To be totally honest I tend to enter inverted harrier - by accident...normally coming out of a manoevere the wrong way :eek: it is the most uncomfortable flying for me....I can do it - but tend not to as I always fear the worst....
 
inverted is reaaaally scary for me too, altough lately i find myself trying at least a bit of it every battery... on a sim i can harrier pretty good inverted but on a real aeroplane im still too scared lol... one thing wich helped me in upright harrier keeping constant AOA and altitude is dancing with elevator slightly...
techniccally if you can harrier upright, inverted should be easy.. only thing to remember is when you fly from yourself, rudder is inverted but aelerons normal but when you fly to yourself rudder is normal but aelerons reversed... but takes WAAAY too much concentration to do that lol...
 

Santi8

70cc twin V2
Inverted is ballsy! It's actually much more stable, but the giblets interfere!

It's easiest done low so you can see your corrections and quickly adjust as needed. My biggest tip is to first make sure you are using a plane that does it well, then constantly blip or pulse the throttle. That pulsing makes sure your corrections are getting good airflow of the surfaces. Angle of attack is different with every plane, but once you find it, it just takes lots and lots of practice!

I learned inverted pretty recently and it's what I do the most on the sim right now. At first it was extremely difficult, but like everything else, it seems much easier now that I've logged a few hours of constant inverted harrier on the sims in outside!
 

Steve_B

70cc twin V2
It's easiest done low so you can see your corrections and quickly adjust as needed.

Not forgetting that when 'done low' you get to see (and hear the sickening crunch of) your mistakes nice and quickly too:(
 
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Santi8

70cc twin V2
Not forgetting that when 'done low' you get to see (and hear the sickening crunch) of your mistakes nice and quickly too:(

Correct- that why a sim is the best place to start. Even if it's not the best sim, just getting your fingers and brain used to the corrections is the most important part! The sim and crack yak were vital while I was learning! The EF edge and My slicks are the best at it though!
 

teookie

70cc twin V2
A durable, cheap balsa airplane flown about 1 foot off the ground is also a valuable tool when learning to inverted harrier. What I did was to fly an upright harrier just high enough to not drag anything on the ground and then roll it inverted. Starting with the upright harrier lets you see the correct angle of attack for the speed your going, and then you just match that same angle once your inverted.

Don't forget top rudder half way through the roll or you'll likely scrape something. ;-)
 

Turnerm

50cc
I just recently got really comfortable with inverted harriers and like you said in your first post it was just dogging me for the longest time. I actually set out to nail inverted harriers several months ago but it lead to a crash that kinda shook my nerves so it took me a while to get back to seriously trying. Now... I'd say I'm about 95% comfortable with them and my confidence is quickly growing! I've made some significant progress in the last month. Basically all I did were a few simple things to get there:

  • First and foremost... simulator, simulator, simulator and MORE freakin' simulator. I can't stress this enough. A sim isn't perfect practice for a few things but it IS perfect practice for orientation-type things. It is THE perfect practice tool for inverted harries.
  • When using a sim - pick a model that's a little finicky in inverted harrier. Somethign that likes to snap out if you're not careful. For me it was a slightyl modded Yak 54. That thing will snap out of harrier both upright and inverted in a heartbeat if you're not on your game. The reason I say to pick a difficult plane is because it will make your transition to your real planes WAY easier.
  • Keep this rule in mind - Push your rudder stick to the side that you want the closest part of the plane to go towards. So if the nose is coming at you, which ever side you point the rudder stick to, that's the direction the nose will go. When it's going away, which ever side you point the rudder stick to is the way the tail will go. At first I tried to learn without this little "trick" because I thought it wouldn't work. It DID work for me. Big time.
  • In the sim start out by flying inverted but using the rudder to turn (not in harrier, just normal inverted flight). Practice circles first. Then practice figure eights.
  • Once you are starting to get comfortable with that, start trying to get into inverted harrier. From here just practice, practice practice until you are very comfortable.
  • Practice transitioning from inverted to upright, inverted to hover, and upright to inverted. I have three basic inverted harrier enty manuevers. One is coming out a blender which is easy because you're alreayd inverted! The next is to go over the nose to inverted. You'll have to use rudder to keep the nose straight (again - this is where the tip I mentioned will help you immensely). The last is where I go into an upline, stall and kick full left rudder and once the wings start to get perpendicular to the ground I give full down elevtor. The plane will rotate and end up inverted. Looks cool to me.
  • Right now I'm working on going into rolling harriers (straight and turning) from inverted harrier. It can be trickier than you think because to smoothly transition you have to start your stir in a different spot than you normall do while upright. Again - the sim is critically important.

Here's a video from yesterday that has a fair amount of inverted harrier. You can see my transitions to inverted that I just talked about as well. I'm be no means an expert as I've only really been working on this for about a month but I'm making good progress!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyuS8zcX204&list=UU1GgaD7WlM40qG9bUNV2EiQ&index=1&feature=plcp
 

rcmergler

New to GSN!
a huge piece of advise for anyone learning just about anything on a sim including inverted harrier, dont let yourself get comfy with crashing on the sim, yes thats what they are there for...howerver if you wreck all the time on the sim you loose confidence and confidence in you equipment and pilot skills is vital when doing low 3d including inverted harriers. so practice just like you would with a real plane and not smack the ground.....as you learn yes you will hit the ground but dont let it become habit! hope this is coming out right so everyone can understand lol
 

stgdz

30cc
So after splitting my little slick in two for the second time and gluing it back together, I'm starting to get the hang of it.




But how do I do a right turn? I can do a left pretty easy and tight but right the plane wants to either roll or climb. Add some left rudder-aileron and mess around with it.
 

Santi8

70cc twin V2
This one's tough, I had to get my brain wrapped around it on the sim first, once I did that, I was able to avoid the wing rocks that plagued me at the beginning.
Having to think about it, gives the plane that much time to start rocking! Just like everything else, with practice, you won't have to think about it anymore!
 
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