Greg Esres wrote:

Can you specify on what basis you determine that the term is used
"correctly"?

Simply that it seems to be successfully used for both
meanings without any real confusion I can detect. CFI's
suggesting coordination exercises are using the OP's meaning
and aerodynamicists are talking about the dynamic
instability problem.

I suspect the OP had never heard the aerodynamic definition,
and the first reply he got assumed the same thing, so in
this group, it's likely to have the coordination exercise
definition. If you think it's "incorrect" while I think
it's "correct" that's interesting, but I suspect it's too
late to stop it from being used the way it is currently
being used, even if we wanted to.

Language has a tendency to go its own way and get labeled as
correct or incorrect after the fact :-)

BTW, do you think the coordination exercise label was
initially adopted by someone who'd heard of the aerodynamic
usage, but didn't understand it, or do you think they
developed independently?

It's true that the piloting community uses "Dutch Roll" in the way the
OP did, but the piloting community uses lots of words with implied
meanings at odds with the aerodynamic literature. This usage
interferes with their ability to gain a more sophisticated
understanding later on, due, I suppose, to the law of primacy.

I didn't have any problem when I first learned of another
usage. I'd already learned the nautical usage, so the two
aviation usages were just added into the mix. I believe int
h law of primacy, but we're talking intellectual stuff here,
not how to react when your wing falls off :-)


I agree with Bob Moore (and Bill Kershner, et al) that Dutch Roll
shouldn't be used in this context.

Todd Pattist
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