Soviet pilots, fighting the Nazi vultures during the war, made more than six hundred rams. This feat, protecting the Moscow sky, was performed by pilot Viktor Talalikhin, becoming an example to other heroes. The so-called “dead loop” was also widely used as a maneuver allowing one to escape from an attack from the rear hemisphere. The author of these widespread and classic aviation techniques is the Russian pilot Pyotr Nesterov. The loop and ram were made by him for the first time in the world. Not everyone remembers this today.
What was the "safe flight" in the view of the British and French
At the dawn of aviation, the theory of aeronautics was dominated by the concept of safe flight, according to which all maneuvers made by an aircraft should be carried out in a horizontal plane. Vertical movements were allowed only during climb and descent. Natural fear of heaven was dominant both in theory and in minds, any inclination was perceived as an emergency and required immediate measures to be taken to eliminate it. But the officially adopted concept also had an adversary. He wanted to fly boldly, “lay” turns with a roll, and even turn his airplane “upside down,” as the Russians say. This did not fit into the minds of venerable foreign aviation specialists. There was nothing surprising in the fact that the Russian pilot officer Pyotr Nesterov, a graduate of the Gatchina aeronautical school, dreamed of "figured" piloting.
Education
The fate of Peter Nesterov can serve as an example of enthusiasm for one's work and selfless devotion to the homeland. The loop he completed became the pinnacle of his skill, but it was preceded by enormous labor. Hereditary military, he first received an artillery education. The level of the higher command school of Imperial Russia can be judged by how well the future pilot was well versed in mathematics. It was this knowledge that enabled him to perform the necessary theoretical calculations, justifying the need for rolls on bends and the possibility of vertical maneuvers that previously seemed deadly tricks. Engineering skills contributed to the implementation of numerous of their own designs and changes in the schemes of serial airplanes. All this was inaccessible to most of the pilots of that time, armed with courage and aerobatics, and nothing more.
How it was
The theory is good, but its propositions need practical proof. Having made several long-distance flights, the brave aviator came close to realizing his main idea. In 1913, everything was ready. The aircraft "Newport-4", equipped with a seventy-strong engine "Gnome", stood on the Kiev Syretsky field. The audience, gathered here, was expecting the main character of the upcoming action, the pilot Nesterov. The loop was then called "dead" because of the extreme riskiness of this "deadly number." August 27 was the date that this aviation term changed. He received the name of a man who defeated the eternal fear of humanity and gave freedom of maneuver to the pilots of the future. Now the aircraft air has become a reliable support, regardless of its spatial position.
What is the dead loop, named after Nesterov’s loop after 1913
The loop is a vertical maneuver of the aircraft in the form of a vicious circle, hence the name. It can be ascending and descending, depending on the position of the starting point relative to the end along the ordinate. Currently, the sporty performance of the figure provides for the maximum approximation of its shape to the circle (the “rounder” it is, the higher the pilot’s qualifications). In real air combat, this rule is not respected, too “clean” execution allows the enemy to predict the position of the target, which facilitates its defeat, therefore most often it is oval, elongated vertically or horizontally. In the days of Nesterov, the loop was upward; its form did not have much significance. It was an admiration for the fact that at a certain moment the pilot, together with his airplane, was hovering over the ground in an inverted state.
Abroad
History teaches that Russian priorities are recognized abroad reluctantly. A zealous attitude to one’s own superiority (most often imagined) manifested itself in respect to the feat of the Russian pilot. After 12 days, the French aviator Pegu was able to repeat Nesterov’s loop. Of course, this was a desperate act, the ace’s courage cannot be denied, but for some reason, even in Russia, the press paid more attention to this follower of our pilot than the pioneer and the aerobatics theorist himself. Abroad, and now they prefer to call the Nesterov loop “dead” or a loop (Loop The Loop). However, they still believe that Marconi invented the radio ...
Nesterov's loop in Worthunder
There is such a computer game “War Thunder”. Nesterov’s loop in it is a rather complicated aerobatics figure that requires a certain level of a “pilot” gamer. For its implementation, it is important to gain the necessary speed (usually up to 400 km / h) and smoothly take the control stick towards you, maintaining this position until the horizon is leveled. It is important to prevent a critical roll leading both in the game and in the conditions of real aerobatics to stall into a horizontal uncontrolled corkscrew. Nesterov’s loop in War Thunder is beautiful and complex, but sitting behind a monitor it is impossible to fully imagine the whole complex of sensations of a pilot who turns upside down for a moment. In addition, in case of failure, the consequences of incorrect actions will be limited to a feeling of frustration. The sky is not a computer, it doesn’t forgive mistakes ...