Immelmann turn
Encyclopedia
The Immelmann turn refers to two different aircraft
maneuvers.
of little practical use in aerial combat, and is a different maneuver altogether from the original dogfight
ing tactic of World War I from which it derives its name. Essentially, the aerobatic Immelmann comprises an ascending half-loop followed by a half-roll, resulting in level flight in the exact opposite direction at a higher altitude.
To successfully execute the aerobatic Immelmann turn, the pilot accelerates to sufficient airspeed to perform a loop in the aircraft. The pilot then pulls the aircraft into a climb, and continues to pull back on the controls as the aircraft climbs. Rudder and ailerons must be used to keep the half-loop straight when viewed from the ground. As the aircraft passes over the point at which the climb was commenced, it should be inverted and a half loop will have been executed. Sufficient airspeed must be maintained to recover without losing altitude, and at the top of the loop the pilot then executes a half-roll to regain normal, upright aircraft orientation. As a result, the aircraft is now at a higher altitude and has changed course 180 degrees.
Not all aircraft are capable of (or certified for) this maneuver, due to insufficient engine power, or engine design that precludes flying inverted (usually piston engines that have an open oil pan). In fact, few early aircraft had sufficiently precise roll control to have performed this maneuver properly. (Immelmann's Fokker Eindecker
certainly did not).
The Immelmann turn has become one of the most popular aerobatic maneuvers, being commonly used in airshow
s all over the world. However, the aerobatic maneuver is of little use in modern dogfighting, because modern high thrust fighters can quickly initiate sustained vertical maneuvering from level flight, and slow targets are highly vulnerable to air-to-air missiles. The aerobatic maneuver also involves rapid "energy loss" (loss of airspeed) even if the nose is pushed down sharply as the maneuver is completed (This maneuver, an aerobatic Immelman followed by a dive back to the original altitude is another aerobatic maneuver called the "Half-Cuban-Eight
").
Sometimes called a "reverse" or "inverted" Immelmann is the Split S
maneuver, which is a half-roll followed by a descending half-loop, resulting in level flight in the exact opposite direction at a lower altitude.
Max Immelmann
and is quite different from the historical fighter tactic originally named after him.
In any case, the World War I "Immelmann turn" was a far less polished maneuver. This attacking maneuver was quite possibly used by Max Immelmann
and may even have been originated by him. It was certainly used by other World War I fighter pilots, who called it after him.
After making a high speed diving attack on an enemy, the attacker would then climb back up past the enemy aircraft, and just short of the stall, apply full rudder to yaw his aircraft around. This put his aircraft facing down at the enemy aircraft, making another high speed diving pass possible. This is a difficult maneuver to perform properly, as it involves precise control of the aircraft at low speed. With practice and proper use of all of the fighter's controls, the maneuver could be used to re-position the attacking aircraft to dive back down in any direction desired. This form of "Immelmann turn" was called Renversement by French pilots. The modern aerobatic maneuvers that most resemble the World War I Immelmann are the "wingover", and the "hammer-head turn".
As a practical combat tactic, the Immelmann had already fallen somewhat into disfavor by 1917/1918, as it became obvious that the zooming aircraft presented an easy target as it hung nearly motionless at the top of the maneuver - provided the aircraft under attack was sufficiently powerful and well armed to follow his adversary, or was fitted with flexible forward and upward firing guns. In fact, its use in combat assumes an inferior opponent.
Especially among airmen who were not themselves fighter pilots the term "Immelmann" seems to have been loosely used to describe any maneuver producing a sudden reversal of flight direction - and after World War I came to be associated with the vaguely similar aerobatic "stunt" described at the head of this article.
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft 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 engines.Although...
maneuvers.
In aerobatics
In modern aerobatical parlance, an Immelmann turn (also known as a roll-off-the-top, or simply an Immelmann) is an aerobatic maneuverAerobatic maneuver
Aerobatic maneuvers are flight paths putting aircraft in unusual attitudes, in air shows, dog fights or competition aerobatics. Aerobatics can be performed by a single aircraft or in formation with several others...
of little practical use in aerial combat, and is a different maneuver altogether from the original dogfight
Dogfight
A dogfight, or dog fight, is a form of aerial combat between fighter aircraft; in particular, combat of maneuver at short range, where each side is aware of the other's presence. Dogfighting first appeared during World War I, shortly after the invention of the airplane...
ing tactic of World War I from which it derives its name. Essentially, the aerobatic Immelmann comprises an ascending half-loop followed by a half-roll, resulting in level flight in the exact opposite direction at a higher altitude.
To successfully execute the aerobatic Immelmann turn, the pilot accelerates to sufficient airspeed to perform a loop in the aircraft. The pilot then pulls the aircraft into a climb, and continues to pull back on the controls as the aircraft climbs. Rudder and ailerons must be used to keep the half-loop straight when viewed from the ground. As the aircraft passes over the point at which the climb was commenced, it should be inverted and a half loop will have been executed. Sufficient airspeed must be maintained to recover without losing altitude, and at the top of the loop the pilot then executes a half-roll to regain normal, upright aircraft orientation. As a result, the aircraft is now at a higher altitude and has changed course 180 degrees.
Not all aircraft are capable of (or certified for) this maneuver, due to insufficient engine power, or engine design that precludes flying inverted (usually piston engines that have an open oil pan). In fact, few early aircraft had sufficiently precise roll control to have performed this maneuver properly. (Immelmann's Fokker Eindecker
Fokker Eindecker
The Fokker Eindecker was a German World War I monoplane single-seat fighter aircraft designed by Dutch engineer Anthony Fokker. Developed in April 1915, the Eindecker was the first purpose-built German fighter aircraft and the first aircraft to be fitted with synchronizer gear, enabling the pilot...
certainly did not).
The Immelmann turn has become one of the most popular aerobatic maneuvers, being commonly used in airshow
Airshow
An air show is an event at which aviators display their flying skills and the capabilities of their aircraft to spectators in aerobatics. Air shows without aerobatic displays, having only aircraft displayed parked on the ground, are called "static air shows"....
s all over the world. However, the aerobatic maneuver is of little use in modern dogfighting, because modern high thrust fighters can quickly initiate sustained vertical maneuvering from level flight, and slow targets are highly vulnerable to air-to-air missiles. The aerobatic maneuver also involves rapid "energy loss" (loss of airspeed) even if the nose is pushed down sharply as the maneuver is completed (This maneuver, an aerobatic Immelman followed by a dive back to the original altitude is another aerobatic maneuver called the "Half-Cuban-Eight
Cuban Eight
A Cuban Eight or Cuban 8 is an aerobatic figure eight maneuver for fixed-wing aircraft both full-scale and radio controlled.Variations include the Half Cuban Eight and Reverse Half Cuban Eight, intended as directional changes and which are listed below.According to the Aresti Catalog, a Cuban Eight...
").
Sometimes called a "reverse" or "inverted" Immelmann is the Split S
Split S
The Split S is an air combat maneuver mostly used to disengage from combat. To execute a Split S, the pilot half-rolls his aircraft inverted and executes a descending half-loop, resulting in level flight in the exact opposite direction at a lower altitude....
maneuver, which is a half-roll followed by a descending half-loop, resulting in level flight in the exact opposite direction at a lower altitude.
Historical combat maneuver
The maneuver referred to nowadays as an "Immelmann," has in fact, no connection with the World War I German flying AceFlying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
Max Immelmann
Max Immelmann
Max Immelmann was the first German World War I flying ace. He was a great pioneer in fighter aviation and is often mistakenly credited with the first aerial victory using a synchronized gun...
and is quite different from the historical fighter tactic originally named after him.
In any case, the World War I "Immelmann turn" was a far less polished maneuver. This attacking maneuver was quite possibly used by Max Immelmann
Max Immelmann
Max Immelmann was the first German World War I flying ace. He was a great pioneer in fighter aviation and is often mistakenly credited with the first aerial victory using a synchronized gun...
and may even have been originated by him. It was certainly used by other World War I fighter pilots, who called it after him.
After making a high speed diving attack on an enemy, the attacker would then climb back up past the enemy aircraft, and just short of the stall, apply full rudder to yaw his aircraft around. This put his aircraft facing down at the enemy aircraft, making another high speed diving pass possible. This is a difficult maneuver to perform properly, as it involves precise control of the aircraft at low speed. With practice and proper use of all of the fighter's controls, the maneuver could be used to re-position the attacking aircraft to dive back down in any direction desired. This form of "Immelmann turn" was called Renversement by French pilots. The modern aerobatic maneuvers that most resemble the World War I Immelmann are the "wingover", and the "hammer-head turn".
As a practical combat tactic, the Immelmann had already fallen somewhat into disfavor by 1917/1918, as it became obvious that the zooming aircraft presented an easy target as it hung nearly motionless at the top of the maneuver - provided the aircraft under attack was sufficiently powerful and well armed to follow his adversary, or was fitted with flexible forward and upward firing guns. In fact, its use in combat assumes an inferior opponent.
Especially among airmen who were not themselves fighter pilots the term "Immelmann" seems to have been loosely used to describe any maneuver producing a sudden reversal of flight direction - and after World War I came to be associated with the vaguely similar aerobatic "stunt" described at the head of this article.
In popular culture
- In the Star Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
episode "The First Duty", the fictional "Yeager Loop" maneuver performed by the cadets resembles a group of spacecraft performing Immelmann turns while in a diamond formation. - Singer-songwriter Al StewartAl StewartAl Stewart is a Scottish singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician.Stewart came to stardom as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s, and developed his own unique style of combining folk-rock songs with delicately woven tales of the great characters and events from history.He is...
included a song entitled "The Immelman Turn" on his 2005 album A Beach Full of ShellsA Beach Full of ShellsA Beach Full of Shells is the fifteenth studio album by Al Stewart, released in 2005. Like most of Stewart's later works, much of the content of the CD alludes to people or moments in history.- Historical references :...
. - In the anime, Last ExileLast Exileis a Japanese animated television series created by Gonzo. It featured a production team led by director Koichi Chigira, character designer Range Murata, and production designer Mahiro Maeda. The three had previously worked together in Blue Submarine No. 6, one of the first CG anime series...
, Dio Eraclea nicknames Claus Valca "Immelmann" for his expert execution of an Immelmann turn. - In the climax of the 1983 movie Blue ThunderBlue ThunderBlue Thunder is a 1983 feature film that features a high-tech helicopter of the same name. The movie was directed by John Badham and stars Roy Scheider...
, main character Frank Murphy (Roy ScheiderRoy ScheiderRoy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
) loops his helicopter to defeat his arch enemy Col. Cochrane (Malcolm McDowellMalcolm McDowellMalcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
). - In the X-Files Episode "Deep Throat", Mulder asks Colonel Budahas if pulling an Immelmann at a sustained 8 g's is a possibility.
- In the PC video game H.E.D.Z.H.E.D.Z.H.E.D.Z. or Head Extreme Destruction Zone is a PC game made by Hasbro Interactive for Windows in the action/adventure genre. The player, whose character is an alien, selects heads and goes on a preset order of battlefields to fight other aliens for heads, as well as the right to be the MVP of the...
, the 'hed' player characters that possess the ability of airplane flight can perform an Immelmann turn using the special controls. - In the card game Wings Of War, Immelmann turn is one of the standard maneuvers the player can execute using special controls. This move is also present in the PC video game version.
- The 1981 picture-book dogfighting game Ace of Aces included the Immelmann turn as a combat maneuver.
- In the PlayStation game, WarhawkWarhawkA War Hawk is a person who actively supports a war.*Warhawk , a vertically-scrolling video game, released by Firebird software*Warhawk , a Sony PlayStation game...
, the Warhawk assault craft can perform an immelmann turn by doing a half loop and then pressing the L1 or R2 buttons to roll left or right respectively. - The Immelmann Turn is performed by one of the characters in Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's RainbowGravity's RainbowGravity's Rainbow is a postmodern novel written by Thomas Pynchon and first published on February 28, 1973.The narrative is set primarily in Europe at the end of World War II and centers on the design, production and dispatch of V-2 rockets by the German military, and, in particular, the quest...
. - The Immelmann turn (called a U-turn in the game) is one of the maneuvers available to the player in the Nintendo 64Nintendo 64The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
1997 game Star Fox 64Star Fox 64, known in Australia and Europe as Lylat Wars, is a scrolling shooter video game for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is a reboot of the original Star Fox, and the only game in the Star Fox series to be released on the Nintendo 64....
and the Nintendo GamecubeNintendo GameCubeThe , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
2005 game Star Fox: AssaultStar Fox: AssaultStar Fox: Assault is a third-person shooter video game for the Nintendo GameCube developed by Namco and published by Nintendo. It is the fourth released title in the Star Fox series. It was released on February 14, 2005 in North America, on February 24, 2005 in Japan, on April 29, 2005 in Europe,...
as well as the Nintendo DSNintendo DSThe is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
2006 game Star Fox CommandStar Fox Commandis the fifth game in Nintendo's Star Fox series which was published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS in 2006 and 2007. Released in Japan on August 3, 2006 and in North America on August 28, 2006, it was first announced at the E3 2005 conference, under the name Star Fox DS...
. Both moves are only available to Arwings in "all-range" mode, either manually or automatically when the Arwing reaches the end of the map. - The PlayStation 2 video game Ace Combat 5: The Unsung WarAce Combat 5: The Unsung War, released in the PAL region as Ace Combat: Squadron Leader, is a semi-realistic flight combat video game for the PlayStation 2. Like other titles in Namco's Ace Combat series, Ace Combat 5 features gameplay that is a mix between arcade flight and authentic flight simulation...
has a tutorial specifically for performing the modern acrobatic Immelmann turn and the Split-S; the turns must be performed manually but the autopilot (hold down both yaw buttons) feature can be used to assist in the return to level flight. For gameplay reasons, both may be performed in combat, and the acrobatic Immelmann turn may instead be extended to a KulbitKulbitThe "Kulbit" is an aerial maneuver developed by Russian pilots, in which the aircraft performs an extremely tight loop, often not much wider than the length of the aircraft itself. It is an example of post-stall maneuvering, a type of supermaneuverability...
if it is sufficiently maneuverable. - The popular multi-platform arcade game Lego Star WarsLego Star WarsLego Star Wars is a Lego theme that incorporates the Star Wars saga. The first Lego Star Wars, released in 1999, included model 7140, the first Lego X-Wing. Star Wars was the first intellectual property to be licensed in Lego Group history . The first few sets based on the original trilogy were...
features air/spacecraft that are capable of employing a simple Immelmann turn. - In the game of Blazing Angels, Squadrons of WOII your wingmen will advise you to exploit this maneuver several times: "Your bird will last longer when they dont hit you, an Immelman would work great," or "Now would be a good time for an Immelman."
- In the multi-platform game Star Wars: Battlefront 2, on Hoth and all space maps, it is possible to perform an Immelmann Turn in any fighter, bomber or fast fighter (X-Wing, ARC-170, Y-Wing and A-Wing, etc.), although it is not named during gameplay, it is described as 'Immelman' in the control settings on the PC version of the game.
- In "The Intruder," the second episode of season 2 on Stargate Atlantis, Lt. Colonel John SheppardJohn Sheppard (Stargate)John Sheppard is a fictional character in the Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis, a science fiction show about a military team exploring the galaxy via a network of alien transportation devices...
does an Immelmann turn out of the F-302 bay in an attempt to get a bead on a tracking hijacked fighter. - Blyth PowerBlyth PowerBlyth Power are a British rock band formed in 1983 by singer/drummer Joseph Porter, formerly of Zounds and The Mob.Blyth Power's music shows strong influences from punk rock and folk music, and the band members have described their sound as a cross between The Clash, Steeleye Span and The...
's song Animal Farm includes the following lines: "As he blackened the sky with his passing by/He made Immelmann turn around". - In the XBox game Crimson SkiesCrimson SkiesCrimson Skies is a media franchise and fictional universe created by Jordan Weisman and Dave McCoy. The series' intellectual property is currently owned by Microsoft Game Studios , although Weisman's new company, Smith & Tinker Inc., has announced that it has licensed the electronic entertainment...
, an Immelmann is a move frequently executed during dogfights.