chandelle

American  

[shan-del, shahn-] / ʃænˈdɛl, ʃɑ̃- /

noun

1. an abrupt climbing turn in which an aircraft almost stalls while using its momentum to gain a higher rate of climb.

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verb (used without object)

chandelled, chandelling

1. to perform a chandelle.

chandelle British  

/ ʃænˈdɛl, ʃɑ̃dɛl /

noun

1. aeronautics an abrupt climbing turn almost to the point of stalling, in which an aircraft's momentum is used to increase its rate of climb

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verb

1. (intr) to carry out a chandelle

Etymology

Origin of chandelle

1915–20; < French: literally, candle

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chandelle

Two weeks after telling Congress the F-22 "certainly" would be used, Air Force chief Schwartz pulled what pilots call a chandelle -- a 180-degree turn.

From Time ● Apr. 18, 2011

Just then the Navy plane made a chandelle, driving around back of me.

From Time Magazine Archive

For not only in New York but all over the land school children are speaking a strange new language, fazing their elders with terms like wobble pump, advection, burble, troposphere, chandelle, nacelle.

From Time Magazine Archive

And with your accustomed suavity forgive me, if I chance inadvertently to whisper above my breath, 'Le jeu n'en vaut pas la chandelle?'

From St. Elmo by Evans, Augusta J. (Augusta Jane)

He seemed to have expended his stock of French; for "Snuff the chandelle" is not pure Parisian.

From Black Forest Village Stories by Auerbach, Berthold