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Thrills and Skills from Eurofighter’s Flying Display
Eurofighter comes to Le Bourget with its biggest ever show presence and a flying display that it says is the most impressive and spectacular ever. Alenia and the Italian Air Force are supporting Eurofighter at Paris, with the deployment of Italian aircraft and pilots.
Test pilot Maurizio Cheli describes the 2005 flying display: “The Typhoon will demonstrate its superb maneuverability flying its display inside a volume of airspace that is so small and always in front of the crowd. The display starts with a performance takeoff, in less than 300 m, into a vertical climb [1] and then a cloverleaf [2] that shows the impressive excess power of the aircraft. Next, the pilot performs a tight turn [3] followed by a high angle-of-attack roll [4] in front of the crowd showing how the aircraft can maneuver around three axes. The routine continues with a half Cuban eight [5].
“Next comes a break turn followed by another high-Alpha roll [6] seen from behind this time, with a right turn to position for a loop [7] toward the crowd. Coming out of the loop there’s a break turn and a horizontal eight [8 & 9] so you can see how the aircraft can reverse the turn and maneuver in extremely little space, in the horizontal plane.
“Turning in front of the public, the aircraft positions for a high-Alpha defensive barrel roll [10], again showing how it can rapidly rotate around the three axes and decelerate from combat speeds to minimum speed in an instant. After a low-speed pass [11] there’s a maximum performance turn [12] to show the aircraft’s unrivaled ability to accelerate while turning tightly. At the end of that turn the pilot pulls up into a loop [13] followed by a break turn and a steep spiral [14] to show how the Typhoon can climb, turn and accelerate simultaneously.
“At the top of the spiral the aircraft rolls inverted, pulls in a split S [15] and then goes directly into a loop [16] away from the public. Coming out of the loop the aircraft enters a steep climb, performs two high-Alpha rolls [17] and, at the end, closes the maneuver with a breathtaking landing [18] from a vertical pullout.”
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