Immelman turn

Immelman turn

i. A combination aerobatic maneuver that consists of the first half of a loop followed by a half-roll to level flight. In this process, the aircraft gains height and reverses direction. The maneuver is named after the German ace Max Immelman (1890–1916).
ii. A repositioning maneuver in air combat or aerobatics in which the vertical plane is used to change direction in the smallest possible horizontal plane. It comprises a vertical climb or half loop, possibly an aileron turn during the climb, and then a rollout into level flight at the top.

An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved