Immelmann

[ im-uhl-mahn, -muhn ]

noun

1. a maneuver in which an airplane makes a half loop, then resumes its normal, level position by making a half roll: used to gain altitude while turning to fly in the opposite direction.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Immelmann¹

1915–20; after Max Immelmann (1890-1916), German aviator of World War I, who is said to have devised it

Example Sentences

The two-minute-long ride will feature a barrel roll and a sweeping Immelmann loop named after a German pilot who used the distinctive flying maneuver in World War II. Each of the floorless ride cars will hold 18 riders in three, six-person rows.

From Los Angeles Times

It barrel-rolled, made Immelmann turns, inside and outside loops, and turned over and flew over the field upside down.

From Literature

Martin Kaymer might prove too formidable to overtake, but if he’s not, it might be instructive to recall what Compton was thinking when he defeated Trevor Immelmann to win the Rolex Junior Championship in 1997.

From Golf Digest

Immelmann bogeyed two of the last three holes in Canada to miss finishing in the top 10 for the first time since 2008, the year in which he won the Masters.

From Golf Digest

Before long, he is in the hands of an ultramodern devil named Art Immelmann, who claims to be the liaison man for the somehow still-functioning Rockefeller-Ford-Carnegie foundations.

From Time Magazine Archive