[Fictionary] SNATTOCK results!

[Jean-Joseph Cote]

On 1/15/2014 11:31 PM, Jim Moskowitz wrote:
>> *JIM: 2 = 2 for correct guess
>> snattock (n.)  An aerial maneuver in which an aircraft uses the 
>> gyroscopic
>> precession of its propeller to rotate about different axes while at 
>> the peak
>> of a steep ascent.
>>
>> Jean-Joseph:  I think I would have heard of this, and I think the 
>> propeller itself doesn't actually have enough angular momentum to 
>> make this happen, as opposed to the rest of the drive train.  There 
>> were WWI era planes that had engines with a lot of rotating mass that 
>> allowed them to do a very quick turn, but only in one direction (to 
>> the right, I think).  But from what I know about hammerhead turns, 
>> Immelman turns, and Lomcovaks, I don't remember precession coming 
>> into play.
>>
>> Elliott:  Is this really a maneuver, or a failure mode?
>
>
> Actually, Jean-Joseph, this *is* a Lomcevak.  When I ran across this 
> wacky aerobatic maneuver I couldn't resist repurposing its definition 
> as a fictionary entry.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lomcevak
> http://www.charlesriverrc.org/articles/flying/donstackhouse_whatisalomcovak.htm 
>
>
I didn't realize it was that organized.  Based on the footage I've seen 
of it, I thought it was just, "fly straight up until you stop climbing, 
and then let everything get all chaotic".  The one time I had the 
privilege to get a ride in an aerobatic plane (Bellanca Decathlon), we 
did pretty much every maneuver I had ever heard of -- except this one, 
because the plane wasn't rated for it.