The Big Snap

The Big Snap

Ask pilots about their favorite maneuvers, and you’ll most likely get a different response from each one.  We wanted to know more about these big 3D throwdown maneuvers and how to perform them, so we solicited the help of Jason Shulman . This ace pilot helped us out by offering tips for performing this stunt so that you, too, can bring the “wow” factor to your 3D moves!

The Big Snap

I like to do a big 3D snap at the end of my program; it kind of has that Wow, holy cow, that plane should be in the dirt!  look to it. I have the plane come in low and level at full throttle, and with the plane on high rates, I pull back on the throttle and at the same time pull into a full positive snap. The plane quickly snaps around and comes almost to a complete stop. From there, I can go into a hover, an inverted hover, or an inverted stationary spin. This is a good maneuver for my Composite ARF because the ailerons squeal as you go into the snap and add to the drama of the move.

The key to the big snap is learning when to go from full throttle to low throttle to snap input. Flying at full throttle with the plane level, start the maneuver by cutting the throttle, and immediately pull into a full 3D hard positive left snap; that is, left rudder, left aileron and up-elevator. The plane should turn over just off center of the yaw and pitch axes. Try cutting the throttle at different times until you can get the plane to end up in a nose-up attitude, as in a torque roll. If you did the maneuver with full throttle, the plane would fly through the maneuver. The key to the big snap is the timing of the throttle cut. Other than that, there is no other special input to this maneuver. Just be sure to start out practicing it with some altitude until you know how the plane will react.

Updated: July 29, 2015 — 3:46 PM

2 Comments

  1. Like a snap to hover?

  2. Good explained!!! coming from a excellent pilot and a good person! thanks Jason and MAN.

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