How do YOU do your KE spins?

[MadMonkey]

My method that works for several planes...

From a 45 degree climb, cut the throttle and as the plane slows, roll right to knife edge. Hold left rudder until it's juuust about to stall, the give it full left rudder and aileron, full down, and full throttle. Works every time and has a FAST spin rate. I haven't really tried going into it any other way.. LOL!

[RollingHarrier]

Here's a video FlyingKlown did of me flying. @1:14 in is a knife edge spin. I started with a waterfall then ruddered over to start the spin.
http://www.flyinggiants.com/gallery/...hp?photo=37282
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.

[BOSSIER_ROB]

The way I start mine??? I start by grabbing someone elses transmitter and gassing up their plane, then............. Seriously, I power down in a vertical, just before the stall shove the nose over with full down and immediately go to full right rudder and left aileron. After the plane rotates maybe two times go to full left rudder. It doesn't get into a full flat spin, but adds a little extra to the entry. After going to full left rudder, still holding full down and full left aileron, start adding power. It will go from a 45% knife edge spin to full out knife edge and as it does I ease off the ailerons as much as needed to keep the knife edge 90% to the ground. If you add a lot or full throttle, it gets pretty wicked to the point were I think my wings are going to explode, my fuselage is going.....somewhere, and the motors going to go somewhere else. Hasn't blown apart yet, knock on wood. Thanks for glueing everything down right Aeroworks!

[8KCABrett]

In the full scale Pitts type aircraft the entry is pretty much a left hammerhead, then right rudder after about 90 degrees of rotation and full forward stick. Aileron is generally held a little to the right in a left wing low KE spin (and left when right wing low) though it is variable in different aircraft. KE spins in particular require constant adjustment to keep it dialed in, and it takes practice to get them to really tighten up and stay KE. Because gyroscopic action of the prop isn't helping to keep the nose high in a left wing low KE spin, these are "accelerated" KE spins. The biplanes do not really like KE spins much when done right wing low though, and many Pitts pilots thought that you simply couldn't do them in the Pitts, but that is because they were trying them as the monoplane pilots do them. Which brings me to the comment that I wanted to add initially, which is my take on the best looking knife edge spin entry, as I do it in full scale monoplanes, and the method I usually use in my RC aircraft as well simply because I think it's the most esthetically pleasing and gives nice stabilized KE spins.

So, in this case, pull to vertical as in a hammerhead, when you want to initiate the spin, reduce power to around 25% (in most of our 3D planes that's enough throttle for a goood pivot, if you are REALLY overpowered or underpowered it will vary of course-the objective is to have just enough airflow over the tail, but still a large power reserve available), kick full left rudder to pivot and perform a normal hammerhead, except that instead of stopping the pivot after 180 degrees of yaw, you keep the full left rudder in, and at around the 150 degree point of the pivot as the nose nears the vertical downline quickly add throttle to somewhere around 50%-80% (or however much you can carry without flying out of the figure). This blast of power will drive the pivot more strongly past the 180 degree point, and back up towards the "2nd horizon," or 270 degrees of pivot. As the yaw rate starts to decrease (around the 240 degree point) you are ready to come in with full forward stick and some left aileron. . .once in the spin, you should be holding full left rudder, full forward elevator, and whatever aileron it takes to keep it KE.

Depending on the aircraft, kicking just a moment earlier than you would for a hammerhead may help the pivot go beyond 180 degrees. Also, the amount of throttle you need to add back in towards the end of the pivot to drive the spin will depend on the model and powerplant, and once you get a nice KE spin going you can practice adding throttle to see how much you can add before it wants to spiral out of the spin, it may not do this, and in that case, going to just about full throttle will help to really bring the nose up towards the horizon, and to get a nice tight spin right around the CG. In full scale aircraft, and large scale RC models the gyroscopic action of the prop is important for driving the nose up, so right wing low, and forward stick is the ideal. (The same goes for flat spins, if upright, use left rudder, if inverted use right)

And now some really cool videos on the subject:

14 seconds into this video is an excellent helmet cam view and an external view of a KE spin in an Edge540, done as I prefer. . . oh and at the very end is an awesome view of another KE spin!:

Right click here to save the video

At 3:15 in the 2005-2006 Demo video (and the video archives page) there is a helmet cam view and an external view of a longer KE spin. There is lots of cool tumbles, snaps, torque rolls, tailslides and such in Bill's other videos so check them out at: http://www.billsteinairshows.com/BSADemoVideo.html


Go here to see the KE spin in the Pitts S-2C from a cockpit mounted camera:
http://www.tutimaacademy.com/video_spin.html

[sprice50]

	Quote: Originally Posted by 8KCABrett
	And now some really cool videos on the subject: 14 seconds into this video is an excellent helmet cam view and an external view of a KE spin in an Edge540, done as I prefer. . . oh and at the very end is an awesome view of another KE spin!: http://www.billsteinairshows.com/Video/20062007Video/BSA20062007DemoMedium.wmv At 3:15 in the 2005-2006 Demo video (and the video archives page) there is a helmet cam view and an external view of a longer KE spin. There is lots of cool tumbles, snaps, torque rolls, tailslides and such in Bill's other videos so check them out at: http://www.billsteinairshows.com/BSADemoVideo.html Go here to see the KE spin in the Pitts S-2C from a cockpit mounted camera: http://www.tutimaacademy.com/video_spin.html

Awesome! The videos are exactly as you described! I'll give it a try when the ice melts off my plane.

[ULTIMATE1]

That waterfall in the first video is totally awsome!!!!!!!!!!!

[cdallen]

	Quote: Originally Posted by BOSSIER_ROB
	The way I start mine??? I start by grabbing someone elses transmitter and gassing up their plane, then............. Seriously, I power down in a vertical, just before the stall shove the nose over with full down and immediately go to full right rudder and left aileron. After the plane rotates maybe two times go to full left rudder. It doesn't get into a full flat spin, but adds a little extra to the entry. After going to full left rudder, still holding full down and full left aileron, start adding power. It will go from a 45% knife edge spin to full out knife edge and as it does I ease off the ailerons as much as needed to keep the knife edge 90% to the ground. If you add a lot or full throttle, it gets pretty wicked to the point were I think my wings are going to explode, my fuselage is going.....somewhere, and the motors going to go somewhere else. Hasn't blown apart yet, knock on wood. Thanks for glueing everything down right Aeroworks!

I really like this entry. Same way I go into inverted flat spins. However it takes a lot more altitude for me to get out of a KE spin.

[Wingin' Wayne]

Many good ideas! What works will vary from plane to plane. I do a vertical downline with no throttle and full left aileron like I was going to do a blender. After a few rotations, full up elevator and full left aileron and full right rudder simultaneously, you get a cool snap transition, then come up on the throttle and start crossing the ailerons to neutral to get it to flatten out. Works for me!

[VooDoo 3]

Amazing Video!!!!!!! Thanks for posting it.............Doug

[VooDoo Child]

	Quote: Originally Posted by jaguar bone
	RollingHarrier -video? (I know its a pain - but please!) thnxs

Mark,ya still needin a Vid..........

[mflander]

That rolling circle with full rolls rotating left and right from the knifeedge position were awesome.....

[skrednik]

You guys are awesome! I've done it by "mistake" a couple of times but couldn't repeat it. Went out today with the Yak and did one right off the bat after watching a couple of the vids in this post! Kept doing it all day! fun. Thanks!

Rich