With any aircraft that is not specifically designed for Aerobatics, it is not G that concerns me most (you can either do a 4g pullup or you can’t, if you can’t it’s generally best not to try to loop!!), the major consideration is more usually the narrow range of safe operating speeds.
The more narrow that is, the greater the risk that VNe will be reached should the manoeuvre not be performed correctly.
Any aircraft (with the possible exceptions of the Wright Flyer and the Fokker Eindekker) is perfectly capable of barrell rolling, which is not to say they are SAFE to do that in….I’ve always maintained that aerobatics is not dangerous…but making mistakes whilst doing them can be exceedingly so!
A great deal of aerobatics/EMT training is (out here at any rate) devoted to “recovery from unusual attitudes” and in marginal aerobatic or “non aerobatic” aircraft that must be almost an automatic skill, as seconds can be vital.
Unfortunately there are still those around who do things in aeroplanes that are dangerous by virtue of the fact that the margins are tight. These people are usually NOT formally trained (those who are, know better!!).
It is the old argument that anybody can drive a car at 200mph in a straight it’s just the corners that get tricky!
So, could DC3 (C47) etc etc do a barrell roll…sure could. For my own part I won’t be trying it any time soon. Give me an Extra 300 and I’ll go all day.
Ask me to roll a C172 and, although I am quite happy that I could do it perfectly and safely, you will get a polite refusal every time. (well, OK, you’ll get a POLITE refusal the first couple of times 🙂 )
That is the domain of test pilots or those unfortunate enough to find themselves upside down accidentally in a C172, B747, Duchess, Baron, etc, etc,etc
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