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Olan Language Basics

The figures of olan are mostly one-letter. Here are the most common ones:

a	A half loop down. (Split-as)
b	Humpty bump, first element on up line, 2nd element down line
c	Half Cuban. first rolling element, A 5/8 loop, 2nd element on 45 line.
m	A half loop up. (Immelman)
o	rounded loop. Elemet is flown at the top, e.g., "o1"
v	Vertical line up
h	Hammerhead
t	Shark tooth
j	Turn ro roller (think of the 90 degree "turn" the letter J looks like)

These are base figure. To add rolling elements to them, you add numbers before (the 1st rolling element) and after (2nd element) the figure's letter. The most common rolling elements are:

1	full roll
2	half roll
4	1/4 roll
22	two half rolls (full roll with hesitation)
24	two quarter rolls (half roll with hesitation)
f	Flick (snap) roll
s	spin

When you combine the rolling element with the basic figures, the most common complete figures are as follows. You can enter them directly to the Olan software in the big text box just below the menu.

2a	Split-s. Half roll to inverted and loop down.
2b24	Humpty bump, with half roll up and 2/4 down
c2	Half Cuban with a half roll on the 45 down line
m2	Immelman. half loop up followed by a half roll
o1	roll on the top of a full loop.
of	avalanche: a loop with a snap on the top
v4	Vertical line up with a quarter roll
iv4	Vertical line down with a quarter roll
4h3	Hammerhead, quarter roll up and 3/4 down
2t1	Shark tooth with half rool on the 45 line and full roll vertical down
22,f	If no figure is given, a horizontal line is used: 2 point roll and opposite snap

Use space to seperate figures. If you entered to the software 2b24 o1 4h3 22,f you'd see:

You can combine multiple rolls on the same line, for example "2,24m48" is a half roll one direction, two quarters other direction, followed by a half loop up(immelman) and a 4 of 1/8s parts to complete a half roll. For same-direction rolls use ";" to seperate them, e.g., "mf;2" is an immleman with a snap roll and a half roll (same direction) on the top. The iv is an "inverted" v figure (vertical line), going down. Similarly, a "ic" figure is a half cuban down. Almost all figures have an "inverted" variety.

You can specify negative entry or exit lines with the "-" sign. So an immleman without a roll on the top, staying inverted, would be "m-".

You can enter half-snap rolls as "2f", one-and-a-quarter spin as "5s", an invrted (outside) snap roll as "if" and an inverted spin as "-is".

The language contains many more options for rolling elements and many more figures. The complete Aresti catalog is actually only a few letters and numbers.

Finally, some cosmetics: a plus "+" sign can also be used to extend entry/exit lines. The "^" force a figure to be drawn "below" the previous figure, and a "." (dot) before or after the rolling element extends the line itself. So to display a nice 2004 Sportsman enter: o h 2t. d 5s j m2+ ^2a 22 and you get:

A complete reference of the language itself is available . The software, language and this web site was designed and written by Michael Golan. The software is freely available for no charge.