Pull up or push down

Posted by No-Possession-7343@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 19 comments

When fighter jets are upside down, to maneuvre back into the sky, do the pilots pull up the controls or push down?

I mean it makes sense to push down as you're flying upside down but I am unable to visualize the airflows in either case.

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niklaswik@reddit

Whatever aircraft you are in, flying upside down reverses the controls for "up/down".

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For clarity, the controls don't invert because you are inverted. In reference to the plane the direction of the stick is where it will go. In reference to the earth pushing "down" on the stick will make the plane go "up"

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Longjumping_Panda531@reddit

Push, but unless you’re on an aerial demonstration team it’s extremely unlikely you ever find yourself in a situation that would necessitate a negative-G climb.

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BonChance123@reddit

That, or facing off against a MiG-28.

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ComesInAnOldBox@reddit

Sometimes a guy just needs to keep up foreign relations.

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Isssaman@reddit

Us non-Thunderbird fighter pilots would look for a cloud layer flat on top to practice inverted flight near the artificial ground. It's not as easy as it looks but lots of fun. Unfortunately the T-Birds never called me.

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Frederf220@reddit

Push is toward the bottom of the plane. Bunting (pushing) out of an inverted dive is no fun. Roll and pull.

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JJohnston015@reddit

I've flown along upsidedown in a Super Decathlon. Because of the asymmetric wing (more curve on top), you have to force it to a higher angle of attack when you're upsidedown, so you have to push forward on the stick. It flies noticeably nose up.

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joebbrown@reddit

Point it where you want to go

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Dave_A480@reddit

Either ... Pushing down will perform a half outside loop in a skyward direction.....

Pulling will perform a half inside loop towards the ground.

Both will result in the plane flying right side up in the opposite direction..... Unless you are too low and do the pull option, then you crash ...

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martianfrog@reddit

Everything is the opposite upside down, could think of it like that.

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CircularCircumstance@reddit

Or is it push up and pull down and why the f didn't you roll!

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Kuchington@reddit

Can’t speak to fighters or anything fly by wire, but when you’re inverted you generally need a lot of forward stick just to maintain level flight. A whole lot of forward stick to climb while inverted.

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Salty224@reddit

Roll upright, then pull up.

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Careless-Resource-72@reddit

An outside half loop is performed by pushing on the stick but the negative G’s would be excruciating. Unless you are an aerobatic stunt pilot you would probably perform a half roll followed by pulling up while upright. For a minor correction in pitch to get the nose up while inverted, a slight push.

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