Biplanes

Biplanes are popular in all but the highest category of aerobatic competition. Most of the biplanes you will find at a regional contest such as the Kathy Jaffe Challenge were designed by one man, Curtis Pitts, and are generically referred to as “Pitts Specials.” The wing construction uses wooden spars and ribs with steel wire reinforcements all covered with fabric. The fuselage is welded steel tubing. The fuselage from the engine to the cockpit has sheet-metal covering. The remainder of the fuselage and tail has fabric covering.

Monoplanes

While the Pitts dominated aerobatics in the 1960’s, world class aerobatics is now dominated by high-performance monoplanes. There are many different monoplane models. Some of their names are, Sukhoi, Yak, Zlin, Extra, Cap, Edge, and Giles. Most have a welded steel tubing fuselage. Some use fabric covering; some use sheet steel. The latest models use lightweight carbon composite material.

Pitch, Roll, and Yaw

Most airplanes, and all airplanes in aerobatic competitions, are controllable in three dimensions. The names of the three dimensions are “pitch,” “roll,” and “yaw.”

Pitch is motion of the airplane’s nose up and down. An airplane will generally climb as the nose (pitch) goes up and descend as the nose (pitch) goes down. When an airplane rolls the wingtips move up and down. Yaw is motion of the airplane’s nose side-to side.

An airplane turns by coordinated use of pitch, roll, and yaw. An airplane that has rolled into a turn is sometimes described as being “in a bank,” or “banked,” as if following a banked, high speed curve in a road.

Point your web browser to the EAA Young Eagles Web site at www.youngeagles.org for an excellent interactive demonstration of pitch, roll, and yaw.