Hurricane Aerobatics

[Dave Hadfield]

Aerobatics in the new Hurricane XII was a lot more fun than engine-reading and flap-cycling.
Cockpit-view and commentary from the Test-Flight series last June.

https://youtu.be/05pPpa8RzTw

[youtube]https://youtu.be/05pPpa8RzTw[/youtube]

edit -- not sure why the video link doesn't work

[Thomas_Mac]

Thanks for sharing as always Dave

On youtube if you click below your video on "share" then click on "embed". That is the what you need to cut and paste [youtube]here[/youtube].

It should look like this

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/05pPpa8RzTw" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Dave Hadfield]

When I click on Share there is no embed option.

But I appreciate the try.

[Pogo]

I ran across that video at lunch today, and have to say it went very well with a baloney sandwich! Seriously, thanks so much for making those vids, yours are the best I know of! I particularly relish your touches like "let's go back through that takeoff again, there's a lot going on there". They're the next best thing to tagging along with you.

[Dan K]

Dave, I only have two words for you in the Hurri vid:

"Thanks" and "Oshkosh?"

[Ken]

Thank you for sharing that flight! I fully echo your feelings on the value of a Lazy 8. The USAF method took it one step farther by asking the pilot to match bank with degrees of turn (10 degrees of turn, 10 degrees of bank, 90 degrees of turn, 90 degrees of bank) and to modulate the pitch such that you were on the horizon at the start, at your highest pitch after 45 degrees of turn, passing through the horizon at the 90, lowest pitch at 135, and back to the horizon at the 180. These targets are all fine and good, but the precision required takes a bit of fun out of the maneuver and really slows it down at the entry and exit- I much prefer your style.

Ken

[Sopwith]

Thanks for the video Dave, really good stuff, very enjoyable. I know you mentioned that it was lighter in roll than the Spitfire but what are your overall impressions of the Hurricane for aerobating?

[Dave Hadfield]

Thank you for sharing that flight! I fully echo your feelings on the value of a Lazy 8. The USAF method took it one step farther by asking the pilot to match bank with degrees of turn (10 degrees of turn, 10 degrees of bank, 90 degrees of turn, 90 degrees of bank) and to modulate the pitch such that you were on the horizon at the start, at your highest pitch after 45 degrees of turn, passing through the horizon at the 90, lowest pitch at 135, and back to the horizon at the 180. These targets are all fine and good, but the precision required takes a bit of fun out of the maneuver and really slows it down at the entry and exit- I much prefer your style. Ken

Yes, I was taught that too during my Citabria checkout when I was 18. Very much a precision maneuver. But with the warbirds I prefer to use it as a coordination exercise, and although the bank is steep at the 90 point, it's only 70 degrees or so.

I didn't do them all that well in this Hurri video -- still exploring the aeroplane and the way this one is rigged.

It's also my main airshow display maneuver for when I don't have an aerobatic card. (SAC) In my videos you can see me doing it the Lysander and the Spitfire -- same thing, different aircraft. It keeps you front-and-center, and for the crowd you're always changing the pitch, bank, and the engine noise is also always increasing or decreasing. Good for a low-show as well.

I stole it from Bud Granley.

Last edited by Dave Hadfield on Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Richard W.]

Super video.

Thank you for making it.

[Dave Hadfield]

Dave, I only have two words for you in the Hurri vid:

"Thanks" and "Oshkosh?"

Oshkosh is a possibility, but not a definite plan. The focus/theme there this year is on quite different things. They would love to have us there of course, but I'm not sure it's a good match.

[Dave Hadfield]

Thanks for the video Dave, really good stuff, very enjoyable. I know you mentioned that it was lighter in roll than the Spitfire but what are your overall impressions of the Hurricane for aerobating?

Better in roll, but less pleasant in pitch -- as per my remarks in the video when looping. Not a bad stall, which is a good thing; and if you accelerate the stall there is plenty of airframe warning unless you're quite slow. However it will flick more readily than the Spit.

It doesn't accelerate rapidly, so that's a limitation for vertical-plane maneuvers.

For an airshow display I'd do mostly rolling maneuvers and use it's slow overall speed to stay in front of the crowd.

[Sopwith]

Thanks for your reply Dave, good to hear the comparisons.

[Dan K]

Dave, I only have two words for you in the Hurri vid:

"Thanks" and "Oshkosh?"

Oshkosh is a possibility, but not a definite plan. The focus/theme there this year is on quite different things. They would love to have us there of course, but I'm not sure it's a good match.

Appreciate the response and will save you a seat near the beer cooler just in case!

[Michel Lemieux]

Great video Dave!

Love the narrative. It takes time to produce something of that quality level.

Cheers!

[BritHarvardDriver]

Nice video Dave, as always.

I haven't flown our Hurricane 1 for a couple of years, but your experience in the loop was pretty similar to my own.

You need a fairly hefty tug to get around the first quarter of the loop, then as you approach 10-15 degrees short of the inverted the aeroplane seems to want to stay upside down - the elevator feels a little dead, and, as you report, you have to honk back on the stick to keep the nose tracking at a constant rate.

Then as the nose heads towards the vertical, she heads for the earth with alacrity, requiring another firm pull to complete the figure.

My survey population is only one, but I believe most Hurris tend to be tail heavy these days, the Shuttleworth Sea Hurricane being even worse. The extra mass of the arrestor hook makes her only just longitudinally stable, and they don't, I believe, do vertical figures at all for that reason.

Just another quirk of vintage aircraft to get used to, but well worth it. The only thing I am wary of is ground tracking at the end of the rollout. On a couple of occasions, admittedly with a small crosswind component, she has made a fairly substantial dart away from the straight ahead at around 30kts, requiring judicious use of brake to stay on the straight and narrow, something the Spit never does.

Be careful out there!