In the early days of flying, some pilots used their
aircraft as part of a
flying circus to entertain. Maneuvers were flown for artistic reasons or to draw gasps from onlookers. In due course some of these maneuvers were found to allow aircraft to gain tactical advantage during aerial combat or
dogfights between fighter aircraft. Aerobatic aircraft fall into two categories—specialist aerobatic, and aerobatic capable. Specialist designs such as the
Pitts Special, the
Extra 200 and
300, and the
Sukhoi Su-26M and
Sukhoi Su-29 aim for ultimate aerobatic performance. This comes at the expense of general purpose use such as touring, or ease of non aerobatic handling such as landing. At a more basic level,
aerobatic capable aircraft, such as the
Cessna 152 Aerobat or the
R2160 Acrobin, can be dual purpose—equipped to carrying passengers and luggage, as well as being capable of basic aerobatic figures.
Flight formation aerobatics are flown by teams of up to sixteen aircraft, although most teams fly between four and ten aircraft. Some are state funded to reflect pride in the
armed forces, while others are commercially sponsored.
Coloured smoke trails may be emitted to emphasise the patterns flown and/or the colours of a national flag. Aerobatic maneuvers flown in a jet-powered aircraft are limited in scope as they cannot take advantage of the gyroscopic forces that a propeller driven aircraft can exploit. Jet-powered aircraft also tend to fly much faster, which increases the size of the figures and the length of time the pilot has to withstand increased g-forces. Jet aerobatic teams often fly in formations, which further restricts the maneuvers that can be safely flown. Aerobatics done at low levels and for an audience is called "stunt flying". To enhance the show effect of aerobatic manoeuvres, smoke is sometimes generated; the smoke allows viewers to see the path travelled by the aircraft. Due to safety concerns, the smoke is not a result of combustion but is produced by the
vaporization of
fog oil into a fine
aerosol, achieved either by injecting the oil into the hot engine exhaust or by the use of a dedicated device that can be fitted in any position on the aircraft. The first military aerobatic team to use smoke at will during displays was
Fleet Air Arm 702 Squadron "
The Black Cats" at the
Farnborough Airshow in September 1957. Aerobatics are typically performed in
aeroplanes and
gliders, but are not limited solely to fixed-wing aircraft, as they can also be performed in specific
helicopters, such as the
MBB Bo 105,
Westland Lynx and
Eurocopter EC120 Colibri. The
British Army,
Royal Navy,
Spanish Air Force and the
Indian Air Force have helicopter display teams.
Training Aerobatics are taught to military fighter pilots as a means of developing flying skills and for tactical use in combat. Many aerobatic manoeuvres were indeed developed in military conflicts, e.g. the
Immelmann turn or
Split S. Aerobatics demands extensive training and practice to avoid
accidents. Accidents due to aerobatic manoeuvres are very rare in competition aerobatics; most of them happen when performing formation flying or stunt flying at very low levels at
airshows or
air racing. Low-level aerobatics are extremely demanding and airshow pilots must demonstrate their ability before being allowed to gradually reduce the height at which they may fly their show. In the European Union, aerobatics requires special training and a rating. In Canada, no licence is required to perform aerobatics, but to carry passengers during aerobatics a pilot must have at least 10 hours dual flight instruction of aerobatic manoeuvres, or 20 hours of total aerobatic experience.
Competition Aerobatic flying competitions are a worldwide phenomenon, rather like the Olympic games, and are governed by the FAI Aerobatics Commission (CIVA). Competitions start at Primary, or Graduate level (in UK "Beginners") and proceed in complexity through Sportsman (in UK "Standard"), Intermediate and Advanced, with Unlimited being the top competition level. Experienced aerobatic pilots have been measured to pull ±5 g for short periods while unlimited pilots can perform more extreme maneuvers and experience higher
g levels -possibly up to +8/−6 g. The limits for positive g are higher than for negative g and this is due to the ability to limit blood pooling for positive g maneuvers, but it is generally accepted that +9 g for more than a few seconds will lead to loss of consciousness (also known as
GLOC).
Performance wingwalking team perform an
aerobatic maneuver with their
Boeing Stearmans Aerobatics are most likely to be seen at public
airshows in the form of stunt flying. Aerobatic competitions usually do not attract large crowds of spectators since the manoeuvers are flown at safe altitudes to avoid accidents. ==In popular culture==