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

I will go now and then to stay at people's houses, but not to their parties—le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle.

From The Life, Letters and Work of Frederic Leighton Volume II by Barrington, Mrs. Russell

It was a curious meeting, and, as Orloff said just now, "je lui devais une fameuse chandelle."

From Italian Letters of a Diplomat's Life January-May, 1880; February-April, 1904 by Waddington, Mary Alsop King