We’ve been doing a lot of inverted flying in formation recently. The goal is to explore different formations and manoeuvres with various aircraft to incorporate into our airshow routine.

It was not love at first flight

When I started flying aerobatics 30 years ago, I found inverted flight very uncomfortable. You hang in your straps, are pushed out of your seat, and blood rushes to your head. It feels as though your eyes are going to pop out, after which you’ll be ejected from the cockpit and fall to your death. Back then I quickly realised that flying inverted was going to be a skill I had to master, rather than one I necessarily wanted to. So what changed?

Embracing inversion

Well, I can’t pin it to just one factor. Maybe it took me a while to grow a pair or, after years of upright formation flying, it was just time to change it up and push the envelope further. Either way, these days I can’t imagine why anyone would want to fly the right way up. Hell, flying inverted is like being in a glass-bottomed boat, and we all love those!

After a while, you realise you can trust your straps because they definitely won’t break. You get used to all the weird sensations that suggest your eyes will pop out and your head will explode. Eventually you won’t notice them at all.

Lessons in leading

Learning to fly formation upside down is actually easier than learning to lead a team through a series of inverted manoeuvres and fly-pasts close to the ground, with good positioning relative to the crowd. Leading requires a little more RAM!

The formation part, although needing a lot of practice to perfect, is simpler to grasp. The principles are exactly the same as positive formation flight. Keep your station by gently using the rudder to move in and out on the leader, and keep your wings parallel to your leader’s wings. To move towards your leader, push the rudder closest to the lead aircraft, and to move away push the rudder furthest from it.  Move forward and aft by either opening or closing the power, and up and down with the elevator. Push to fly up, pull to fly down. Opposite elevator inputs are required when inverted.

The challenge of left or right

From a leading point of view, at first I found that once I was inverted distinguishing my left and right, which should be simple, is actually quite challenging. Once you’re inverted your left becomes your right and vice versa. It’s difficult to express which way you want to turn, so I don’t.

I just decide where I want to go and tell the formation that I’m turning. Which direction is irrelevant to them as they’re also inverted and don’t know their left from right. They’re so busy trying to keep station and dealing with all the foreign sensations that they couldn’t be bothered whether you’re going left or right. I just tell them I’m turning and slowly start applying bank in the direction I want or need to go. Once the wingmen have established that their leader has started the turn, you can increase the rate of roll.

Achieving balanced flight

The application of stick and rudder when inverted is different to upright flight. Once established in level inverted flight, decide the direction you’d like to turn and apply opposite aileron to the direction you want to go. Maintain balanced flight by applying rudder in the direction in which the aircraft is turning. In other words, apply opposite rudder to aileron, making sure your ball is in the middle to establish and maintain balanced flight. For a level inverted turn, forward stick is applied to maintain level flight, contrary to an upright turn, which requires back pressure to maintain level flight.

Embrace the discomfort

A fair amount of practice is required for inverted flight to become second nature. Everything seems to be accelerated and magnified when you’re upside down. Maybe it’s because all your blood is being pushed into your brain and eyes, heightening and sharpening your senses and vision. Or perhaps having your head pointing at the ground with only a canopy between it and Mother Earth kicks your sensory system into high gear.

Either way, go upstairs, roll your machine inverted, hang in your straps and start training your brain. Your goal should be to become as comfortable upside down as you are the right way up. Getting to a point where you no longer have to think about your actions before you implement them, when you go where you desire without conscious thought is enormously satisfying.