Now is the time to start some basic aerobatics, particularly if you have moved on from a basic trainer.

If you haven't already, we would recommend that you check out our page When's the fun begin? to have a look at the kind of aircraft more suitable for learning aerobatics. While a basic trainer is capable of flying many of the manoeuvres shown, an aerobatic or good sports model should be capable of flying them all easily.

The two main aerobatic manoeuvres are the loop and the roll , the majority of all other manoeuvres being some combination of them. In all the illustrations below, the manoeuvres are carried out into the wind direction as this is the easiest way to learn the new manoeuvres.

Aerobatics have a universal set of readily understood diagrams named after the Spanish pilot Aresti which we will attempt to explain just some of the basic manouevres - there are over 800 recognised manouvres! Any aerobatic schedule can be broken down into a set of manouvres, which in turn can be broken down into their constituent components - for example, an Immelmann Turn is a half loop followed by a half roll and so on.

Firstly, a word of warning!

Make sure that you attempt any new manoeuvre three mistakes high. Having plenty of height gives you a lot more time if things get out of control. Remember that you are now going to see your model at a load of unaccustomed attitudes. Generally, you can fly low and you can fly slow, just don't do both at the same time: Out of speed, out of height and out of ideas!

A quick note about the drawing convention used in the diagrams. The model shown is red on it's top surfaces and yellow on the underside. The flight path is represented by red corresponding to the top side of the model while blue represents the underside. The wind direction arrow shows the direction from which the wind is coming.