Mike Lindsay wrote:
In article , bumper
writes

"Bert Willing" wrote in
message ...

As long as the pedals are spring-loaded (which has been the case in any
glider I've flown so far), there is no reason that the rudder should stay
centered after the failure of one cable.
--
Bert Willing

ASW20 "TW"


Even if there were no springs involved, if a rudder cable parted, and unless
the rudder or cable were somehow jammed (probably unlikely), then I think
aerodynamic pressure would tend to return the rudder to near neutral - -
assuming the pilot removed pressure from the opposite pedal.

bumper



There was an incident in the UK a year or so back with an ASK13 in which
one rudder cable became detached.

Glider made a safe outlanding.

In that incident, the rudder locked over to one side, so aerodynamic
pressure didn't centre it. The pilot wrote a piece for Sailplane &
Gliding explaining that he could only fly in large circles and
describing how he managed a safe landing.

From memory the K13 has springs on the rudder pedals, so that when one
cable snapped the springs pulled the other pedal to the floor and thus
the rudder to full-on in one direction. I suspect this is true for many
other gliders.