The R/C Aircraft Proving Grounds - Knife Edge Animation

Aerobatic Maneuvers
What is Aresti ???
IMAC
NSRCA

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Knife Edge

Model rolls 90 degrees at a uniform rate. The center of gravity is held at a constant altitude during the intire maneuver. Downgrades:

Changing altitude, up or down.
Tucking to the belly or canopy.
Model does not maintain a straight line.
Enter and exit from manuever is not smooth and uniform.

This maneuver seems very simple, but it can be quite challenging. Most beginners try to perform a knife edge at a very high airspeed. This does help somewhat, but it gives the maneuver a very rushed appearance. It also makes timing extremely critical, with little margin for error. Since the maneuver must be centered on the judges, timing is critical under any circumstances. Lets talks about how to make it look better.

First of all, make certain you are parallel with the runway and flying straight and level. Don't even try to center the maneuver exactly at this point. One thing at a time. Proceed as follows:

Make sure to neutralize any climbing or diving tendancy of the plane with applied rudder.
Neutralize any roll tendeancy with applied rudder.
Ensure that you have 45 or more degrees of rudder throw.
Once the above has been accomplished, roll the plane (left or right) 90 degrees at 1/2 throttle.
Hold the knife edge at this throttle setting, controlling altitude with rudder and yaw with elevator.
Exit the Knife Edge and neutralize the rudder input.

That's all there is to Knife Edge flight. Now go out and PRACTICE until you get it right. You can do this looking at the caneopy or belly. (1 upwind, turnaround, 1 downwind, turnaround, repeat) to maximize your practice time. Continue to practice until you can fly knife edge without changing heading or altitude. Then start working on centering.

The only way to make it perfect is to burn LOTS of fuel!