The tailslide is an

aerobatic maneuver Aerobatic maneuvers are flight paths putting aircraft in unusual attitudes, in air shows, dogfights or competition aerobatics. Aerobatics can be performed by a single aircraft or in formation with several others. Nearly all aircraft are capab ...

that starts from level flight with a 1/4 loop up into a straight vertical climb (at full power) until the

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...

loses momentum. When the aircraft's speed reaches zero and it stops climbing, the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

maintains the aircraft in a stand-still position as long as possible (this is greatly helped by

thrust vectoring Thrust vectoring, also known as thrust vector control (TVC), is the ability of an aircraft, rocket, or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine(s) or motor(s) to control the attitude or angular velocity of the ve ...

on newer fighter aircraft), and as it starts to fall to the ground backward, tail first, the nose drops through the horizon to a vertical down position and the aircraft enters a dive. A 1/4 loop (push or pull) recovers to level flight. Tailslides will transiently reverse the airflow on many aircraft surfaces, giving abnormal forces compared with forward flight. The control surface linkages must be able to handle these forces without damage or deformation. Not all airplanes capable of aerobatics are also capable of tailslide maneuvers.

"Bell" maneuver

The bell is a variation of the tailslide maneuver, with the only difference being that the pilot performs a

roll Roll or Rolls may refer to: Movement about the longitudinal axis * Roll angle (or roll rotation), one of the 3 angular degrees of freedom of any stiff body (for example a vehicle), describing motion about the longitudinal axis ** Roll (aviation) ...

in the longitudinal axis during the final 1/4 loop (push or pull) while recovering to level flight, out of plane.

Kvochur's bell

Kvochur's bell is a variation where the aircraft propels forward almost vertically while simultaneously braking and following the movement of its tail.Anatoly Kvochur: Perfection is his credo
Yelena Sizova, Iron Eagles, accessed 2009-12-22.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell Tailslide Aerobatic maneuvers