It's Possible to Roll This Airplane

It’s Possible to Roll This Airplane

Peter Garrison

Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

While professionally executed barrel rolls are technically non-hazardous, most general aviation aircraft are not legally permitted or designed for such aerobatic maneuvers.
A pilot, referred to as "Joe," disregarded warnings and his aircraft's limitations, attempting a barrel roll in his non-acrobatic Baron with passengers, including children, on board.
This attempt resulted in the aircraft's mid-air disintegration, with the NTSB concluding the cause was the pilot exceeding the plane's design stress limits during aerobatics.
The incident highlights the critical dangers of untrained pilots attempting complex, illegal, and unfamiliar maneuvers in unsuitable aircraft, especially when entrusted with the safety of others.

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“It’s a one-G maneuver. It’s absolutely nonhazardous, but it’s very impressive.”

So Tex Johnson explained himself to Boeing president Bill Allen after performing an impromptu barrel-roll in the 707 prototype before a Seattle gathering of IATA bigwigs. Equally impressive, but more subtle, was Bob Hoover’s demonstration, watchable on YouTube, that he could smoothly pour water from a pitcher into a glass while rolling an Aero Commander, and people sitting back in the cabin might be unaware that anything unusual had occurred.