In article ,
W.J. \(Bill\) Dean \(U.K.\). wrote:
I was told that Eric Hamill when he was on the staff of the London Club,
Dunstable once did a complete circuit in a 150hp Super Cub without touching
the stick, to see if he could. Done of course on throttle, flaps, trim and
rudder. He was very, very current at the time.


I read about some wiring getting stuck in a 172 elevator
control and the CFI flying it to landing, so I experimented
with throttle, flaps, trim, and rudder only landings.

After three 172 flights, I and another CFI could land
without touching the elevator. A few more flights and
we could take off AND land without ever touching the
yoke or trim. The next flight we did it without
moving the seat either (weight shift for trim). Finally
we were able to takeoff and land without moving the seat,
without yoke, trim, or flaps (only using the throttle
for oscillation dampening, and the rudder for turns).

It was scary: we'd over-rotate on takeoff and have to reduce
throttle to keep the stall horn just on the edge of stall (5
knots over stall airspeed). On landing, because the trim
had to be so nose down for a "safe" takeoff, the perfect landing
was very flat (3-point). And this was only if the last oscillation
was nose down, then a touch of power to flare. Too much power and
the nose would come up again and then try to slam back
down. Too little power and we'd get a nose first arrival.



I wonder if the trim required for a survivable aerotow
would result in too much speed if not re-adjusted for
landing (in most gliders). Although putting C.G. further aft
reduces the need to retrim for landing, this creates
more radical oscillations for landing, so it's a
tough tradeoff/that might not be a good option...
From the very enlightening posts of others, it seems the
location of the tow hook and the angle of incidence
of the wing vs. horiz. stab would be important factors.
It also seems that winch is more forgiving (glider
ends up at high altitude with surprised pilot) of
no elevator than aerotow (where the glider just
pulls the towplane tail up, and then the glider
is off tow with a surprised pilot very close to
the ground).

Since the three assembled aircraft I've soloed have
easily inspectable external elevator hookups, this is a bit
academic, but I'd love to try dampening the oscillations with
spoilers, and then try it using rudder only. Very interesting
and perfectly suited to that calm winter air :-)