Is a real hammerhead possible?

[DCCBOSS]

Effect taught me how to do the hammerhead in the P38. Here are the steps.

1.) Get speed and climb directly up using full power.
2.) Once airspeed is slow enough, deploy 3 notches of flaps and keep it in the vert.
3.) Right before stall happens give it maximum left rudder.
4.) Hopefully, if you've done it right, a hammerhead manuever will be executed.

It takes some practice to work on this manuever. But this is how I was taught the manuever. Hit me up in the MA if any of you guys want a demonstration.

<S>

You are correct in the method you describe, a hammerhead manuever is a tail slide with full left or right rudder. I think the planes with less rudder surface area will be the harder ones to try this manuever with.

[Oleg]

This is not correct method, afaik. Steps 2 and 3 are wrong, you dont need flaps and you must apply full rudder only when your speed becomes zero or negative, no stalls happens during hammerhead. Generally, you will want to cut throttle when speed becomes too low to prevent rotation (isnt necessary for p-38 though).

Method described by TwentyFo will result wingover.

[Halo46]

I know I have done them in the RV, P51,SPIT, KI,A6M5, not sure I have had any It could not be done, some are much more difficult than others.

Also can you describe exactly what you think a Hammer head is?

I guess this post has no merit. I have heard he is suspect as a source of information about the game....

[Tr1gg22]

You are correct in the method you describe, a hammerhead manuever is a tail slide with full left or right rudder. I think the planes with less rudder surface area will be the harder ones to try this manuever with.

  remember a real HH u dont stall or slide back at all u cartwheel almost instantly in the same path u were flying....DOWN

[Saurdaukar]

Got really close in an F6F, once.

[Shuffler]

I guess this post has no merit. I have heard he is suspect as a source of information about the game....

    

[hitech]

A hammer head does not result in a tail slide.

Tail slides with most real aircraft are very very bad things to try. Most planes are not built to have air flowing backwards over them, things like flaps bending and control surface rods bending do to reversed airflow are real possibilities.

A properly done Hammer head does not start at Zero airspeed. Rudder kick happens when still traveling up and Zero Airspeed happens when about Perpendicular to the world, I.E. 1 wing down.

Normally almost full Opposite aileron is applied as you push the rudder, and more forward stick is also applied as the plane wants to sorta of twist on its back. And learn the manuver to the left on American planes, Last year when I was flying a Yak in the Ukraine, forgot the prop went backwards, and they go much slower against the slip stream. Still can not believe the pilot not knowing me put me in an inverted spin.

Rudder kick speed is fairly critical and varies between planes, when I do them for real ( and i have done a lot of hammer heads) you only have about a 5 knot window for the Hammer head to work, to fast and the plane sorta just hangs with the rudder over for a while, then the nose comes down, to little speed and you do not have Roll control of the plane and it normally ends up on its back.

With the most AH planes start by doing them at 50% throttle or less. Full throttle you will have to do them at to high of speed and the top of the arc will not have the correct speed.

I also find them harder to do in a sim vs real life do to feel and the visual you get. But even in a real plane it took me about 20 tries to do one with out ending on my back or nose up in the exit. There is a lot of elevator inputs to keep the plane slicing instead of flopping one way or the other.

HiTech

[Tr1gg22]

A hammer head does not result in a tail slide.

Tail slides with most real aircraft are very very bad things to try. Most planes are not built to have air flowing backwards over them, things like flaps bending and control surface rods bending do to reversed airflow are real possibilities.

A properly done Hammer head does not start at Zero airspeed. Rudder kick happens when still traveling up and Zero Airspeed happens when about Perpendicular to the world, I.E. 1 wing down.

Normally almost full Opposite aileron is applied as you push the rudder, and more forward stick is also applied as the plane wants to sorta of twist on its back. And learn the manuver to the left on American planes, Last year when I was flying a Yak in the Ukraine, forgot the prop went backwards, and they go much slower against the slip stream. Still can not believe the pilot not knowing me put me in an inverted spin.

Rudder kick speed is fairly critical and varies between planes, when I do them for real ( and i have done a lot of hammer heads) you only have about a 5 knot window for the Hammer head to work, to fast and the plane sorta just hangs with the rudder over for a while, then the nose comes down, to little speed and you do not have Roll control of the plane and it normally ends up on its back.

With the most AH planes start by doing them at 50% throttle or less. Full throttle you will have to do them at to high of speed and the top of the arc will not have the correct speed.

I also find them harder to do in a sim vs real life do to feel and the visual you get. But even in a real plane it took me about 20 tries to do one with out ending on my back or nose up in the exit. There is a lot of elevator inputs to keep the plane slicing instead of flopping one way or the other.

HiTech

  ok can u perform 1 for us and post it on film if u have time?

[2fly]

  ok can u perform 1 for us and post it on film if u have time?

I second that request....please.

[mechanic]

here are the best 2 of 5 that i just tried. they are maybe not perfect. they are almost as good as Patty Wagstaff's demonstration in MS flightsimulator from years back - heh. It is very hard to eliminate horizontal travel aswell as vertical during the turn. throttle work might clean that up. notice no use of flaps. the second one has a poor exit.
 
http://www.freeroleentertainment.com/almost.ahf



I think Murdr was telling me the other day he got a nice dual throttle hammer head on film, i hope he will post it, his previous p38 film was the best example of an AH2 HH i have seen.

[CHECKERS]

Also can you describe exactly what you think a Hammer head is?

 In AcesHigh....? sure , "Leviathn" 

  <S> CHECKERS

[Yeager]

But even in a real plane it took me about 20 tries to do one with out ending on my back or nose up in the exit.

HiTech

Careful up there dude, we need you here in AH 

[Vulcan]

You can do it in AH but it is hard, you've got to work the torque rudder, elevator, and ailerons hard. Tiffies were always good at it, same with 190s and 109s.

[ShrkBite]

Done it in the RV-8 tons of times! its possible

[OOZ662]

  ok can u perform 1 for us and post it on film if u have time?

If you had gone to the last convention (or heard the recording), you'd know HiTech doesn't play AH.