The Barrel Roll
What is the Barrel Roll?
The Barrel Roll is a defensive manuever. It is a more complex manuever in that one needs to have a very
good foundation in the basics, particularly the yoyo, before you can master it. The Barrel Roll is very similar
to the lag roll, but it is defensive in nature. Hence it will be done with greater urgency.
The barrel roll is defensive because its goal is to force the overshoot of an attacker who is closing fast. The
idea is not so much to slow your plane down in airspeed, but to shorten the distance you cover in a straight
line by adding lateral movement.
Think of it this way. An attacker is closing on your six from altitude. He is traveling from point A (Your six
o'clock position) to point B (a position leading your flight path at 12 o'clock). By pushing your flight path to the
side in a barrel-shaped circle, you lengthen the time it takes you to travel to point B while your attacker is
already closing upon point B with great speed as it is. Also the complexity of the movements is able to
defeat a guns resolution in the short term.
How do you do the Barrel Roll?
Execute the Barrel Roll by:
1. To begin a barrel roll roll 45 degrees right or left and begin a shallow climb. This will create the lateral
movement you'll need to begin the roll. Many make the mistake of excluding this first step and they only
perform a corkscrew which is easy to gun down. You need this first step to the side to creat a larger, barrel
shaped, circle.
2. The next step is to roll back the opposite direction 90 degrees and pull again. So if you rolled 45 to the
right and pulled up into the start of a yoyo, you then roll 90 degrees (45 until you are level, and 45 more to get
set for a left yoyo) and pull (just like a yoyo) in the opposite direction. You will not need to be anywhere near a
stall as you want to conserve energy for a kill (Step 4 below). If you did Step 1 correctly you won't have to
work that hard at this.
3. Then you may watch for the overshoot. The attacker should shoot by like a seed being squeezed out of a
grape! To begin with you will move him from your dead six view to your six high view and finally to your
straight up view. Once he is in the straight up view, you have them. This is also your lift vector, and any time a
plane gets in front of that you are moving over to the offensive. Rotate around your enemy simply by using the
straight up view. Rotate so that you are rolling toward his flight path.
4. When he moves out of the up view to a more forward view, shoot the fool.
More on the Barrel Roll...
"Know that all gun defensives moves are sucker moves. But even the best pilots can be caught with a
barrel roll because it is so subtle and sudden. The counter is for your opponent to lag his rolls and stay on
top of the manuever."
"You will not master this move simply by flying offline with smoke enabled. You will want to have a trainer
in the back seat at some point, or a friend, who can watch your move and evaluate it. Be patient. It is an
extremely deadly move and very rewarding when you can reverse a situation from your six to your twelve
for a kill."
What is the Barrel Roll?
The Barrel Roll is a defensive manuever. It is a more complex manuever in that one needs to have a very
good foundation in the basics, particularly the yoyo, before you can master it. The Barrel Roll is very similar
to the lag roll, but it is defensive in nature. Hence it will be done with greater urgency.
The barrel roll is defensive because its goal is to force the overshoot of an attacker who is closing fast. The
idea is not so much to slow your plane down in airspeed, but to shorten the distance you cover in a straight
line by adding lateral movement.
Think of it this way. An attacker is closing on your six from altitude. He is traveling from point A (Your six
o'clock position) to point B (a position leading your flight path at 12 o'clock). By pushing your flight path to the
side in a barrel-shaped circle, you lengthen the time it takes you to travel to point B while your attacker is
already closing upon point B with great speed as it is. Also the complexity of the movements is able to
defeat a guns resolution in the short term.
How do you do the Barrel Roll?
Execute the Barrel Roll by:
1. To begin a barrel roll roll 45 degrees right or left and begin a shallow climb. This will create the lateral
movement you'll need to begin the roll. Many make the mistake of excluding this first step and they only
perform a corkscrew which is easy to gun down. You need this first step to the side to creat a larger, barrel
shaped, circle.
2. The next step is to roll back the opposite direction 90 degrees and pull again. So if you rolled 45 to the
right and pulled up into the start of a yoyo, you then roll 90 degrees (45 until you are level, and 45 more to get
set for a left yoyo) and pull (just like a yoyo) in the opposite direction. You will not need to be anywhere near a
stall as you want to conserve energy for a kill (Step 4 below). If you did Step 1 correctly you won't have to
work that hard at this.
3. Then you may watch for the overshoot. The attacker should shoot by like a seed being squeezed out of a
grape! To begin with you will move him from your dead six view to your six high view and finally to your
straight up view. Once he is in the straight up view, you have them. This is also your lift vector, and any time a
plane gets in front of that you are moving over to the offensive. Rotate around your enemy simply by using the
straight up view. Rotate so that you are rolling toward his flight path.
4. When he moves out of the up view to a more forward view, shoot the fool.
More on the Barrel Roll...
"Know that all gun defensives moves are sucker moves. But even the best pilots can be caught with a
barrel roll because it is so subtle and sudden. The counter is for your opponent to lag his rolls and stay on
top of the manuever."
"You will not master this move simply by flying offline with smoke enabled. You will want to have a trainer
in the back seat at some point, or a friend, who can watch your move and evaluate it. Be patient. It is an
extremely deadly move and very rewarding when you can reverse a situation from your six to your twelve
for a kill."
