Hammerhead

[SunKing]

I want to learn and practice the hammerhead in the MA. What is the best plane to learn this on?

[Xjazz]

Any fighter is good.

Pull up about 80 degree with full gas and continue untill your speed is dropped to 100-150mph. Kick full rudder left or right and keep it down. You maybe need give some counter Ail stick. Wait untill your plane nose drop down and come off from rudder in easy manner.

Practise first in off line then in TA, after that use it in MA IF you have enough E to do it and sucker follow&stall below  you.

Remerber that during your slow turn you are easy target for the near by higher E cons.

[Andy Bush]

Let's put aside the question of whether or not the hammerhead is tactically sound and just deal with the mechanics of how it is flown.

First, the usual statement that what applies to real life may or may not apply to a sim...it all depends on how "realistically" the sim flight model is programmed.

Putting that aside also, now let's consider what is going on when we try to fly this maneuver. The hammerhead is not your "normal" aerobatic maneuver in the sense that you can just point the aircraft where you want it and expect everything to work out more or less as expected. This is especially true of prop driven aircraft.

In a prop aircraft, two forces are acting on the aircraft and must be accounted for. One is engine gyroscopic precession...this produces something that is often called "torque". The second is the effect of the prop driven airflow ("propwash") on the aircraft itself. These two forces produce distinctly different results and depend on which way the prop rotates. When you choose which fighter you want to fly, make sure you note which way the prop rotates. Most US, Brit, and German engines rotate clockwise.

Let's take propwash first. A clockwise rotating engine will produce a propwash that will try to push (yaw) the nose LEFT. This is a main reason why we need right rudder when taking off. It will be much easier to yaw the plane left than to the right for a clockwise rotating engine.

Now, gyro precession. This effect produces a pitch movement when yaw is applied to the aircraft. For a clockwise rotating engine, left yaw cause the nose to pitch UP...right yaw causes the aircraft to pitch down.

One more thing happens in a hammerhead that is not usually seen in other maneuvers...the wings produce different amounts of lift. In a hammerhead, one wing is going "down", and the other is going "up". The "up" going wing produces more lift than the other wing. This creates a tendency to roll and must be corrected for in the hammerhead to keep the plane from rolling over on to its "back".

All right! Back to the maneuver! Tactically, I suggest that you not pull the power off when starting the climb. The idea here is to gain or maintain vertical separation on the bandit chasing you. Pulling the power off is contrary to maintaining this separation.

Next, you want to fly a vertical flight path. To do this, once you have the nose pointed straight up, you are going to have to unload your G to zero...otherwise you will pitch over on your back. Holding G in our sims is hard since we can't "feel" the seat pressures. Sometimes an external view that allows you to see the horizon helps you maintain your vertical attitude. Either that, or set the time at 12:00 noon and fly at the sun!

Then fly that attitude until below 100mph...that's just technique and will keep you from beginning the maneuver too soon.

Now you are ready to begin the maneuver. The hammerhead is flown as a three part maneuver. Step one, then step two, then step three. NOT a simultaneous maneuver!

Step one is to use rudder to yaw the aircraft in the desired direction. Which direction? The one that your engine rotation propwash makes easiest...for most planes, LEFT! How much rudder? All of it. How do you put the rudder in? Smoothly and quickly...BUT DO NOT "KICK" THE RUDDER PEDAL!!! This is a common expression and is pure BS...there is no maneuver flown where the pilot "kicks" anything! Push the rudder completely forward to the stop aggressively. This should start the aircraft into a yawing motion.

Step two is to use aileron to counter the tendency of the "up" wing to try to roll you over on your back. How much aileron to use? All of it. How should you put it in? Smoothly and aggressvely, but do not slam the stick sideways!

Step three is to use pitch (stick pressure) to offset gyroscopic precession. Which way do you move the stick? Depends on engine rotation direction! Let's stick with our clockwise rotating engine! Forward (nose down) for a left hammerhead...backstick (nose up) for a right hammerhead.

OK. Here it is for a clockwise rotating engine and a left hammerhead:

1. Push and hold full left rudder.

2. Push and hold full right aileron.

3. Then a little bit of forward stick as needed to prevent any pitching movement.

4. Hold these controls in until you approach about 45 degrees from straight down. Then smoothly reverse the rudder completely...in a left hammerhead, you now want to go full right rudder to stop the yaw as you reach a vertical attitude. Once the rudder is reversed, then neutralize your pitch input as you also neutralize your aileron.

Whew!!

Give it a shot and see how it works out!

Andy

[Vector]

S!
Wow Andy, that was one heck of the description!

I think P-47 (D-11) is one of the best plane to do hammerhead. No need to cut power and you can hang with your prop forever. Really good slow speed handling. I like to do it with 90° climb (straight up) and hold there until by speed goes below 100mph, then full right rudder with little aileron help if needed and WHOMP! your nose points to the ground. Also due the jug's weight, it accelerates pretty good with its nose straight down. Try iy out!

[illo]

 well i just suspect you want to know how to reverse from vertical climb and kill con at your 6.

1. Climb vertically.
2. Check that your wings are level. (horizon)
3. When you are running out of speed or  con at your 6 is stalling... cut the throttle.
4. When your speed is gone, push smalll amount of rudder then adding full throttle. (adding throttle will flip your plane around faster, if you go with full thr all time you will hang too long at the top)
5. Practice this few time and youll be able to reverse 190 in 2seconds.

Here was little debate about fairness of this move after i killed anonymous person in 109 few times in row with this maneuver.
When i was flying my free trial at AH main arena i got around 1/4 of my kills this way. I flew 190a8 or 190f8 mostly.

So it will be very effective. 190s and mb p47 will do it nice and easy.

[qts]

Andy, perhaps you can help with an extension of this: a number of times I've followed a con into the vertical and turned before him, then broken half-left or half-right, so that when the con completes his hammerhead, he'll overshoot me. Despite successfully forcing the overshoot, I've yet to manage a kill - I can't quite manage to get right on his six. Thoughts?

[Andy Bush]

qts

I really don't have much here to work with! I'll assume the problem is one of getting in gun range and not one dealing with gunnery skills.

If you find that, once you have avoided the descending attacker, he seems to outrun you, it may be a simple matter of who has the best ability to extend. It's very likely the attacker does, disregarding aircraft differences. He's coming down with a full head of steam while you are sort of wallowing around!

Solution...don't follow folks up into the climb. Instead, level off to maintain your speed and circle around their position while you wait for them to come down.

When they do descend and approach you, you will have the speed to easily avoid their attack by making a hard turn away. Once you have done this, then the key lies in a good LEAD TURN.

The lead turn will help offset any speed differences. One way to visualize the initiation point, is to start the lead turn when the attacker approaches your 10:30/1:30 position...about a 45 degree look up angle prior to the attacker passing your altitude.

At that point, roll to align your lift vector with the attacker's extended flight path and begin your pull down. You may even be inverted and pulling before the attacker passes your altitude. This is not cause for alarm and may well be the evidence of a really well timed lead turn.

Remember, before you do the lead turn, you must assure that you have taken away any possibility of a head on shot from the attacker.

Coming out of the lead turn, use lead pursuit to further close the distance as needed.

Andy

[FLS]

If you take off in a single engine tail dragger you'll notice yaw from gyroscopic precession just as the tail comes up adding to the yaw from spiraling slipstream.  When you pitch up you'll see yaw from gyroscopic precession opposite the yaw from spiraling slipstream.

It's nice to see these forces modeled in an online simulation. Of course if you hammerhead in a P-38 you won't have to worry about them so you might consider the P-38 the best fighter for your initial hammerhead practice.


--)-FLS----
Musketeers

[MANDOBLE]

Be careful with this move. If you do it right, most of the time you'll be reversing very fast but too early, forcing a HO with the pursuer. These kind of HOs usually end with both planes destroyed, but only the pursuer will get the kill. Also, consider that this move doesnt imply any horizontal displacement of your plane, so you'll be centered in the sight of the vertical climbing pursuer all the time while you will need two or three seconds to align the enemy in your sight.

If you have a lot of room, go for the hammer, else sometimes is better to try to level after the zoom and then put yourself in a inverted flight before going nose down. This move will force the enemy to keep the climb for 2 or 3 more secs and will force him to move his nose to keep you centered in his sight (due your horizontal displacement), hopefully burning all his remaining E.

[maddog1]

Took Fu4 last night offline and spun everytime..... have done in real life and in game with P51 but has anyone done it in F4u-4.... maybe (i went) too slow or something.
doc

[Andy Bush]

maddog

I have found that maintaining a vertical attitude is the key to success...and the failure to do so often results in a spin.

If you are not vertical when you push in the rudder, the aircraft will not "pitch over'...instead it rotates and as a result, you are likely to enter a spin.

Keeping vertical is not easy in the forward view...use a side snap view or an external to help hold the correct attitude.

Andy

[FLS]

Maddog if you were flying the F4U-4 I think the problem is the bottle of Jack Daniel's on the floor next to the seat.  Did AH model Pappy Boyington's aircraft?

Edit: On further exploration I find the F4U-1 is similarly equiped.

The F4U has a lot of torque and a nasty spin, you might try reducing power a little for the rotation and watch the speed you enter the rotation with.

The hammerhead has questionable utility as a combat maneuver, particularly in a challenging aircraft like the F4U, but it is fun to fly.

--)-FLS----
Musketeers

[Kweassa]

I think the most challenging plane for the hammerhead is the P-51.. Geez, once this plane stalls, it's pure hell.....

[FLS]

The P-51 is well mannered and recovers easily as long as the aux fuel tank is mostly empty. The aux tank was added to increase it's range but changed the center of gravity. Pilots were advised to empty it first and AH does this automatically. If you load 75% fuel the handling and stall/spin recovery is noticably better then it is with 100%.

The F4U is difficult even with light fuel and no ammo but it will hammerhead.

--)-FLS----
Musketeers

[Dingy]

Originally posted by Kweassa
I think the most challenging plane for the hammerhead is the P-51.. Geez, once this plane stalls, it's pure hell.....

I dont think I've EVER used a hammerhead during combat especially in the 51.  That plane is balanced so perfectly, that I find that a little back pressure at the top of a zoom climb points the nose back down quickly and effortlessly.  Its kind of a lazy loop.  

Its a great move to use to reverse on a lower E-state plane on your six, which you've suckered into following you into a climb.