A Lomcovák (or incorrectly spelled Lomcevak) is a family of extreme

aerobatic maneuver Aerobatic maneuvers are flight paths putting aircraft in unusual attitudes, in air shows, dogfights or competition aerobatics. Aerobatics can be performed by a single aircraft or in Formation flying, formation with several others. Nearly all a ...

s where the aircraft, with almost no forward speed, rotates on chosen

axes Axes, plural of ''axe'' and of ''axis'', may refer to * ''Axes'' (album), a 2005 rock album by the British band Electrelane * a possibly still empty plot (graphics) See also * Axis (disambiguation) An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics ...

due to the

gyroscopic precession Precession is a change in the orientation of the rotational axis of a rotating body. In an appropriate reference frame it can be defined as a change in the first Euler angle, whereas the third Euler angle defines the rotation itself. In othe ...

and

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational analogue of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). The symbol for torque is typically \boldsymbol\tau, the lowercase Greek letter ''tau''. Wh ...

of the rotating

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

.What is Lomcovak?
Djaerotech.com Questions. Retrieved 2013-06-05

Etymology

The word originates from a quote by the Czechoslovak aerobatic pilot

Ladislav Bezák Ladislav Bezák (1932 – November 2018) was a Czechoslovak aerobatic pilot, the first winner of the FAI World Aerobatic Championships in 1960, and first to win the Biancotto Trophy in 1965. In 1971, he defected by flying to West Germany. He loa ...

's mechanic at the 1958

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are trade fair, exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The ...

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

, Czechoslovakia. When asked by

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

s what Bezák's tumble maneuvers were, he jokingly called them ''Lomcovaks'' explaining it means

headache A headache, also known as cephalalgia, is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of Depression (mood), depression in those with severe ...

. The expression ''Lomcovat'' is commonly used in

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

to describe the rotating motions of someone who has had one drink too many of its infamous

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

ic drinks called ''

slivovitz Slivovitz is a fruit spirit (or fruit brandy) made from damson plums, often referred to as plum spirit (or plum brandy). If anyone else has a dictionary of some Slavic language that translates your word for slivovitz as "plum brandy", please ...

''. ''Lomcovák'' is the slang name for the shot of a strong drink. This expression comes from word "lomcovat" which means ''to jiggle; shake violently'' (violently move with short moves with something, what is attached hardly - e.g. the jail grille). The etymology origin is in '' Lomit'' which means "to diffract; to divide; braking (rod)," most likely a reference to the stick manipulation during the manoeuvre. In the 1940s Czech aerobatic pilots called this a ''Talířek'' which means a small

saucer A saucer is a type of small dishware. While in the Middle Ages a saucer was used for serving condiments and sauces, currently the term is used to denote a small plate or shallow bowl that supports a cup – usually one used to serve coffee t ...

, after the horizontal rotary movement of the aircraft.Miroslav A. Liškutín, Czechoslovak fighter pilot and RAF Personnel No. 787 424/158 235

Description

The Lomcovak is a family of freestyle maneuvers performed at

airshows An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are trade fair, exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The ...

. It is not in the Aresti catalogue and therefore may not be flown in

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

. Lomcovaks are very disorienting but otherwise fairly gentle for the pilot. However they are highly stressful on the aircraft structure and should only be performed by aeroplanes built for aerobatics. The worst effects are on the engine mounts,

crankshaft A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a reciprocating engine, piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating Shaft (mechanical engineering), shaft containing one or more crankpins, ...

and

. There have been quite a few cases of major damage to these components during Lomcovaks.

Flying techniques

Flying a Lomcovak will vary in technique from aeroplane to aeroplane and

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

to pilot. Perhaps the most difficult thing about flying them is to use the

throttle A throttle is a mechanism by which fluid flow is managed by construction or obstruction. An engine's power can be increased or decreased by the restriction of inlet gases (by the use of a throttle), but usually decreased. The term ''throttle'' ha ...

not as a speed control, but as a control of the

and

. There are at least five basic Lomcovaks, each one with several derivatives. These are the three most common types:

Main Lomcovak

: Intention: tumble the airplane continuously with each tumble's plane turned relative to the previous one. Enter from a near vertical climb then let the

airspeed In aviation, airspeed is the speed of an aircraft relative to the air it is flying through (which itself is usually moving relative to the ground due to wind). In contrast, the ground speed is the speed of an aircraft with respect to the sur ...

decay to near zero and initiate a

snap roll Aerobatic maneuvers are flight paths putting aircraft in unusual attitudes, in air shows, dogfights or competition aerobatics. Aerobatics can be performed by a single aircraft or in formation with several others. Nearly all aircraft are capab ...

by using full down

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

and, for a

clockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions or senses of rotation. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands relative to the observer: from the top to the right, then down and then to ...

rotating engine, full left

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

. The aircraft will rotate on all three axes and perform three end-over-end negative "g" tumbles, each tumble being at about 45° to the plane of the last. The maneuver ends when the aircraft runs out of

momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (: momenta or momentums; more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. ...

and begins falling with enough speed for the airflow past the control surfaces to stop the tumbling. Neutralising the controls then causes the aircraft to recover nose down.

Cap Lomcovak

: Intention: execute an

outside loop Aerobatic maneuvers are flight paths putting aircraft in unusual attitudes, in air shows, dogfights or competition aerobatics. Aerobatics can be performed by a single aircraft or in formation with several others. Nearly all aircraft are capab ...

of 360° with the lateral axis vertical to the earth. The pilot enters from a hammerhead turn (stall turn) and as the fuselage reaches knife-edge flight at the top, gives it full down

. The result will be the aircraft's pivoting about its

wing tip A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft. Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of sha ...

in a perfect

pirouette In dance and gymnastics, a turn is a rotation of the body about the vertical axis. It is usually a complete rotation of the body, although quarter (90°) and half (180°) turns are possible for some types of turns. Multiple, consecutive turns are ...

. The throttle is utilised to make the wing remain vertical.

Conic Lomcovak

: Intention: make the fuselage trace a

cone In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the '' apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines ...

inclined at 15° to the vertical. The ''positive'' variant uses the nose of the aircraft as the

focal point Focal point may refer to: * Focus (optics) * Focus (geometry) * Conjugate points, also called focal points * Focal point (game theory) * Unicom Focal Point, a portfolio management software tool * Focal point review, a human resources process for e ...

and has the tail describe a full horizontal circle. The bottom of the wing is

tangent In geometry, the tangent line (or simply tangent) to a plane curve at a given point is, intuitively, the straight line that "just touches" the curve at that point. Leibniz defined it as the line through a pair of infinitely close points o ...

to the surface of the cone during the entire maneuver. The pilot closes the throttle as soon as rotation starts and opens it to recover. Exit from the maneuver can be achieved via a Hammerhead or a

Tailslide The tailslide is an aerobatic maneuver that starts from level flight with a loop up into a straight vertical climb (at full power) until the aircraft loses momentum. When the aircraft's speed reaches zero and it stops climbing, the Pilot (aerona ...

References

External links

Diagram of a 45°-Up Lomcevak
Fighter Combat International
Videos of performances of Lomcovak
O V Guide. {{Aerobatics Aerobatic maneuvers