Rolling Gs?

Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

Wednesday, October 25, 2023 at 01:12 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Many flight instructors and examiners lack understanding of "rolling Gs," a dangerous phenomenon where applying significant G-forces during a roll can fatally overstress an aircraft, despite its relevance to common maneuvers and past accidents.
*Aviation Safety* has addressed rolling Gs and related G-loading principles in past articles, emphasizing the importance of applying load to only one axis at a time to prevent structural failure.
The FAA's recommended traffic pattern entry, which includes crossing the field and making a right turn, is clarified as occurring *outside* the established pattern to facilitate joining a standard left-hand downwind, thus complying with regulations requiring left turns within the pattern itself.

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I’m writing to ask if Aviation Safety has ever done an article on the dangers of rolling Gs? During a recent DPE/CFI video conference, one CFI queried why do we still teach Lazy 8s and Chandelles and why are they still a requirement in the Commercial-Airplane Aircraft Certification Standards? I popped in and said because of the dangers of rolling Gs…and then there were crickets among the other DPEs and CFIs—no one knew what I was talking about. I felt like a dinosaur.

I mentioned the recent YouTube video of a Mexican accident where a pilot of a Piper Pawnee tore his wings off during a “gender reveal” flight that went tragically wrong. But still no one knew the term rolling Gs.