30-530: The Game Composites GB1 GameBird is a British single-engine, two-seat, aerobatic aircraft that was designed by Philipp Steinbach and the first prototype was built by Game Composites . Steinbach is a German aircraft designer, but not an aeronautical engineer , so he enlisted the aid of two engineers, Jing Dai and Robert Finney, to complete the design. The design work was done in the United Kingdom under Game Composites Limited of London . The aircraft
60-684: A light-sport successor, designated the Model 162 Skycatcher , although production ended in 2013. All Cessna 152s were manufactured with a Lycoming O-235 engine which has been in production since 1942. The Lycoming provided not only an increase in engine power over the Cessna 150, but also was more compatible with the newer 100LL low-lead fuel. Cessna 152s produced between 1977 and 1982 were equipped with Lycoming O-235-L2C engines producing 110 hp (82 kW) at 2,550 rpm. This engine still suffered some lead-fouling problems in service. In 1983, it
90-454: A broader set of piloting skills and exposes the aircraft to greater structural stress than for normal flight. In some countries, the pilot must wear a parachute when performing aerobatics. Aerobatic training enhances a pilot's ability to recover from unusual flight conditions, and thus is an element of many flight safety training programs for pilots. While many pilots fly aerobatics for recreation, some choose to fly in aerobatic competitions ,
120-492: A fully aerobatic helicopter, capable of performing loops and rolls, is the Westland Lynx . Most aerobatic manoeuvres involve rotation of the aircraft about its longitudinal (roll) axis or lateral (pitch) axis. Other maneuvers, such as a spin , displace the aircraft about its vertical (yaw) axis. Manoeuvres are often combined to form a complete aerobatic sequence for entertainment or competition. Aerobatic flying requires
150-473: A judged sport. In the early days of flying, some pilots used their aircraft as part of a flying circus to entertain. Maneuvers were flown for artistic reasons or to draw gasps from onlookers. In due course some of these maneuvers were found to allow aircraft to gain tactical advantage during aerial combat or dogfights between fighter aircraft. Aerobatic aircraft fall into two categories—specialist aerobatic, and aerobatic capable. Specialist designs such as
180-411: A maximum of 30 degrees. The rudder can move 23 degrees to either side and is fitted with a ground-adjustable trim tab . The elevators move up through 25 degrees and down through 18 degrees. An adjustable trim tab is installed on the right elevator and is controlled by a small wheel in the center of the control console. The trim tab moves 10 degrees up and 20 degrees down relative to
210-552: A stall. The 1978 model has a one piece cowling nose bowl that requires removing the propeller to remove it. The 1979 model introduced a split-nose cowling nose bowl that can be removed without removing the propeller. Dual controls are available as optional equipment on the Cessna 152 and almost all 152s have this option installed. The Cessna 152 is equipped with differential ailerons that move through 20 degrees upwards and 15 degrees downwards. It has single-slotted fowler flaps which are electrically operated and deploy to
240-444: Is a semi- monocoque with vertical bulkheads and frames joined by longerons running the length of the fuselage . The wings are of a strut-braced design and have a 1 degree dihedral angle. The tapered (outboard) portion of each wing has one degree of washout (the chord of the tip section has one degree lower angle of attack than the chord at the end of the constant-width section). This allows greater aileron effectiveness during
270-466: Is an American two-seat, fixed- tricycle-gear , general aviation airplane , used primarily for flight training and personal use. It was based on the earlier Cessna 150 incorporating a number of minor design changes and a slightly more powerful engine with a longer time between overhaul . The Cessna 152 has been out of production for almost forty years, but many are still airworthy and are in regular use for flight training. First delivered in 1977 as
300-507: Is applied by depressing both toe brakes and then pulling the "Park Brake" lever to the pilot's left. The toe brakes are then released but pressure is maintained in the system thereby leaving both brakes engaged. The standard tires used are 600 X 6 on the main gear and 500 X 5 on the nosewheel. There are hundreds of modifications available for the Cessna 152. The most frequently installed include: Taildragger conversions are available and have been fitted to some 152s. It involves strengthening
330-471: Is built under licence by Game Composites LLC in Bentonville, Arkansas , United States . The GameBird is a composite structure tandem two-seat, low-wing , cantilever monoplane powered by a 303 horsepower (226 kW) Lycoming AEIO-580-B1A piston engine. The GameBird has a fixed conventional landing gear with a steerable tailwheel. The prototype GameBird first flew on 15 July 2015. The GameBird
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#1732798089429360-413: Is connected to the rudder pedals through a spring linkage. The braking system consists of single disc brake assemblies fitted to the main gear and operated by a hydraulic system. Brakes are operated by pushing on the top portion of the rudder pedals. It is possible to use differential braking when taxiing and this allows very tight turns to be made. The 152 is also fitted with a parking brake system. It
390-468: Is due to the ability to limit blood pooling for positive g maneuvers, but it is generally accepted that +9 g for more than a few seconds will lead to loss of consciousness (also known as GLOC ). Aerobatics are most likely to be seen at public airshows in the form of stunt flying. Aerobatic competitions usually do not attract large crowds of spectators since the manoeuvers are flown at safe altitudes to avoid accidents. Cessna 152 The Cessna 152
420-424: Is one of the better-known of the latter. It involves fitting a more cambered leading edge cuff to increase the maximum coefficient of lift, fitting fences at the aileron/flap intersection and fitting drooped wingtips. Stalls with these modifications are almost off the airspeed indicator, since instrument error is high at high angles of attack. It has been said that landings can be achieved in two fuselage lengths with
450-470: Is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gliders for training, recreation, entertainment, and sport. Additionally, some helicopters , such as the MBB Bo 105 , are capable of limited aerobatic manoeuvres . An example of
480-659: The Farnborough Airshow in September 1957. Aerobatics are taught to military fighter pilots as a means of developing flying skills and for tactical use in combat. Many aerobatic manoeuvres were indeed developed in military conflicts, e.g. the Immelmann turn or Split S . Aerobatics and formation flying is not limited solely to fixed-wing aircraft; the British Army , Royal Navy , Spanish Air Force and
510-546: The Indian Air Force , among others, have helicopter display teams. All aerobatic manoeuvres demand training and practice to avoid accidents . Accidents due to aerobatic manoeuvres are very rare in competition aerobatics; most of them happen when performing formation flying or stunt flying at very low levels at airshows or air racing . Low-level aerobatics are extremely demanding and airshow pilots must demonstrate their ability before being allowed to gradually reduce
540-940: The Pitts Special , the Extra 200 and 300 , and the Sukhoi Su-26 M and Sukhoi Su-29 aim for ultimate aerobatic performance. This comes at the expense of general purpose use such as touring, or ease of non aerobatic handling such as landing. At a more basic level, aerobatic capable aircraft, such as the Cessna 152 Aerobat or the R2160 Acrobin , can be dual purpose—equipped to carrying passengers and luggage, as well as being capable of basic aerobatic figures. Flight formation aerobatics are flown by teams of up to sixteen aircraft, although most teams fly between four and ten aircraft. Some are state funded to reflect pride in
570-412: The armed forces while others are commercially sponsored. Coloured smoke trails may be emitted to emphasise the patterns flown and/or the colours of a national flag. Aerobatic maneuvers flown in a jet-powered aircraft are limited in scope as they cannot take advantage of the gyroscopic forces that a propeller driven aircraft can exploit. Jet-powered aircraft also tend to fly much faster, which increases
600-541: The 150, the great majority of 152s were built at the Cessna factory in Wichita, Kansas . A number of aircraft were also built by Reims Aviation of France and given the designation F152/FA152. Production of the 152 was ended in 1985 when Cessna ended production of all of their light aircraft; by that time, a total of 7,584 examples of the 152, including A152 and FA152 Aerobat aerobatic variants, had been built worldwide. In 2007 Cessna announced that it would build
630-446: The 1978 model year, the 152 was a modernization of the proven Cessna 150 design. The 152 was intended to compete with the new Beechcraft Skipper and Piper Tomahawk , both of which were introduced the same year. Additional design goals were to improve useful load through a gross weight increase to 1,670 lb (760 kg), decrease internal and external noise levels and run better on the then newly introduced Avgas fuel. As with
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#1732798089429660-729: The Olympic games, and are governed by the FAI Aerobatics Commission (CIVA) Competitions start at Primary, or Graduate level (in UK "Beginners") and proceed in complexity through Sportsman (in UK "Standard"), Intermediate and Advanced, with Unlimited being the top competition level. Experienced aerobatic pilots have been measured to pull ±5 g for short periods while unlimited pilots can perform more extreme maneuvers and experience higher g levels -possibly up to +8/−6 g. The limits for positive g are higher than for negative g and this
690-434: The aircraft. Due to safety concerns, the smoke is not a result of combustion but is produced by the vaporization of fog oil into a fine aerosol , achieved either by injecting the oil into the hot engine exhaust or by the use of a dedicated device that can be fitted in any position on the aircraft. The first military aerobatic team to use smoke at will during displays was Fleet Air Arm 702 Squadron " The Black Cats " at
720-520: The elevator chordline. The Cessna 152 is equipped with fixed tricycle landing gear . The main gear has tubular steel legs surrounded by a full-length fairing with a step for access to the cabin. The main gear has a 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) wheelbase. The nosewheel is connected to the engine mount and has an oleo strut to dampen and absorb normal operating loads. The nosewheel is steerable through 30 degrees either side of neutral and can castor under differential braking up to 30 degrees. It
750-442: The fuselage for the main gear being moved further forward, removing the nosewheel and strengthening the tail area for the tailwheel. This greatly improves short field performance and is claimed to give up to a 10 kn (19 km/h) cruise speed increase. The wings can be modified using a number of STOL modification kits , some improving high speed/cruise performance but most concentrating on STOL performance. Horton's STOL kit
780-463: The height at which they may fly their show. In the EU, flying aerobatics requires special training and a rating. In Canada, no licence is required to perform aerobatics, but to carry passengers during aerobatics a pilot must have at least 10 hours dual flight instruction of aerobatic manoeuvres, or 20 hours of total aerobatic experience. Aerobatic flying competitions are a worldwide phenomenon, rather like
810-466: The kit installed in addition to a taildragger modification, by balancing power against drag. Takeoff performance is also improved by varying degrees depending on the surface. The engine's power can be increased by various modifications, such as the Sparrow Hawk power package, increasing it to 125 hp (93 kW). The disadvantage of the Sparrow Hawk conversion is that it uses pistons from
840-416: The size of the figures and the length of time the pilot has to withstand increased g-forces. Jet aerobatic teams often fly in formations, which further restricts the maneuvers that can be safely flown. Aerobatics done at low levels and for an audience is called "stunt flying". To enhance the show effect of aerobatic manoeuvres, smoke is sometimes generated; the smoke allows viewers to see the path travelled by
870-875: Was certified by European Aviation Safety Agency in the CS-23 Aerobatic category on 12 April 2017 and by the US Federal Aviation Administration under FAR 23 on 29 August 2017. Game Composites received a production certificate from the FAA in June, 2019. As of 26 September 2021, there were 32 GB1 aircraft registered in the US. Data from European Aviation Safety Agency, Federal Aviation Administration, Flying . General characteristics Performance Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Aerobatic Aerobatics
900-424: Was succeeded by the 108 hp (81 kW) O-235-N2C which featured a different piston design and a redesigned combustion chamber to reduce this problem. The N2C engine was used until 152 production ended in 1985. The airframe is mainly of metal construction, being primarily of 2024-T3 aluminum alloy with riveted skin. Components such as wingtips and fairings are made from glass-reinforced plastic . The fuselage
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