What is a ground loop?

"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...
In a Piper Cub or another taildragger, the ground loop is most often
begun when sloppy rudder inputs, a gust of wind, or even P factor
causes the aircraft to veer. As with a VW Beetle with the engine in
the rear (or a Corvair, for that matter), once the vehicle begins to
swap ends, it happens very fast, and it's very difficult to recover
from.

I like the rear engine analogy. Difference between the Beetle and the
Corvair seems to have been that the Beetle didn't suffer from 'ground
loops' very frequently. The Corvair was looking for them. My father owned
3 or 4 of them. In #3, we did the classic Corvair 'ground loop' plus some.
I'm not sure to this day how many times we went around but I do know we
ended up upside down on the convertible roof. Unsafe at any speed indeed!
The Vdub bus seems to be immune too. Drove 3 of them in western PA snows
and never had them try to swap ends. Passed a lot of stuck people too. But
of course, they were one of the most lethal vehicles on the road. They
weren't in a lot of accidents, but you stood a good chance of buying it if
when they were.