Parabolic flights reproduce gravity-free conditions in an aircraft by alternating upward and downward arcs interspersed with level flight. They provide a microgravity environment for scientists to conduct research without going into space.
During a parabolic or zero-gravity flight, pilots make a specific maneuver, the parabolic maneuver, several times to recreate a state of weightlessness inside the aircraft for 22 seconds.
For scientific research gravity-free flights, this maneuver is repeated 31 times and reproduces lunar and martian weightlessness, depending on the parabolas.
The parabolic maneuver or ellipse arc during a Zero G flight is divided into three stages: the parabola pull-up, the parabola, and the parabola pull-out.
The pilot lifts the nose of the A310 Zero G airbus upward from horizontal flight to an angle of 50 degrees.
Passengers experience a pull of 1.8 times that of gravity on Earth. This is called hypergravity.
The parabola pull-up or “nose-up” lasts around 20 seconds.
The parabola starts with injection: as the aircraft travels upward the pilots reduce engine speed and the Zero G aircraft follows a ballistic trajectory.
Weightlessness begins when the aircraft enters a parabola during which it is in free fall for 22 seconds.
The nose of the plane is tilted back downward 42 degrees, before the pilots gradually level off the aircraft as they increase engine speed.
Passengers again experience a pull of 1.8 times that of gravity on Earth.
After 20 seconds, the A310 Zero G returns to a horizontal trajectory.
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Unlike commercial flights, the Airbus A310 Zero G is simultaneously piloted by three members of the flying crew during the parabolic manuevres.
Together, all three pilots maintain a near-zero acceleration level in the three axes to guarantee zero-gravity precision ± 0.02 g
Unlike in a standard aircraft, the pitching and roll control commands are dissociated. The two control column functions are dissociated by the use of an additional control column on one side and two small cables hung from the conventional control column.
Parabolic flights are operated in special flight zones where test flights are usually made. Air traffic is less dense in these “reception test areas” and an air controller is assigned exclusively to the aircraft.
To avoid turbulence during parabolas, parabolic flights are best made over the sea, away from terrain disturbances.
In practice, Novespace parabolic flights in the Airbus A310 Zero G are operated off the French coast, either above the Atlantic, between Gironde and Brittany, or above the Mediterranean.