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Hello again. Summer is now in full swing and I have had the chance to meet many new people at the field. All of the people I have met have been extremely friendly. I want to thank those of you who have complimented me on this column. It is a great feeling to know that what I write actually makes an impact on someone. This year's NATS are over, and I was personally disappointed with my performance. I placed 15th out of 35 guys in the Masters class. Oh well. There's always next year.

The acrobatic focus for this month is slow rolls. These maneuvers are difficult to do with any plane, let alone a high wing trainer. It is best to learn on a plane with little or no dihedral and a symmetrical airfoil. The maneuver itself is self explanatory. One roll that takes between three and five seconds to complete. Less and it will seem too fast, and more than that is just about impossible. To begin the maneuver, start a roll in either direction. We'll hypothetically use right. Apply a small amount of right aileron, enough so that the desired roll rate will be achieved. As the plane begins to roll, the nose will start to drop. Counter this with opposite rudder, just like knife-edge. However, unlike knife edge, the plane keeps rolling through knife edge to inverted. You only need to apply rudder opposite the aileron to keep it up. (Whew)

As you pass through the first knife edge, it starts to get tricky. The plane is not knife edge any more, but it is not inverted yet. You need to slowly feed out the rudder as you slowly feed in the down elevator necessary for straight inverted flight. This must be done without moving the ailerons, as the roll rate must remain constant. This is a lot of stick movement and you may not get it your first few tries. I sure didn't. But stick with it and soon enough they'll be second nature. Anyway, now that you are passing through inverted, the rudder must be completely out and the plane is being held up only with down elevator.

If you've managed to keep the ailerons in the same place, the plane is now rolling through inverted to the other knife edge. Unlike the first side, as you feed out the down elevator, you must feed in rudder the same direction as the roll. Once the plane passes through the other knife edge, the elevator should be totally out and the plane is again being held up by rudder. The last quarter of the roll is the easiest. As you slowly feed out the rudder and the plane comes to level, you may need a little bit of up elevator to keep the nose from dropping.

So a quick review. Roll right, feed in left rudder. Pass through knife edge, feed in down and feed out rudder. Pass through inverted. Roll to other knife edge, feed in right rudder and feed elevator out. Pass through other knife edge, feed out right rudder, back to level. As a note, each plane has different characteristics, and might require a modification somewhere during the roll. This column is intended as a guideline, but please be aware that some planes need inputs not listed here.

One final note, learning how to do a slow roll in only one direction is sufficient to please crowds, but for a real challenge, try them both ways. Just inverse the right roll to get the left. Don't do the maneuver at less than full throttle. You can start upwind or downwind. Pattern competition requires them to be done downwind. Once you can do them "with your eyes closed", come blowin' down the field at about ten feet, do one, then yank up right before your plane is reduced to toothpicks by the trees. I claim absolutely, positively no responsibility whatsoever for any pile-ins that might result from such endeavors. Instead of wowing the crowds, they will say "What an idiot!" Anyway, 'till next month, see ya at the field.