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Old October 9th 06, 08:39 PM posted to rec.aviation.piloting
Walt
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Posts: 98
Default Coordinated turns and the little ball


Dudley Henriques wrote:
"new_CFI" wrote in message
...


I guess he means precession. If you roll fast enogh, your aircraft
acts as a gyroscope. Now apply a force perpendicular to the roll axis,
and the result will be a precession motion which can be pretty

impressive.



ok, I knew it must have soemthing to do with a gyro....I couldnt reason it
out...but this makes sence. I hope your right...or else ill just have to
go back to being confused again.


That's a shame it makes sense, as its not correct, and understanding all
things related to flying are worth knowing as a flight instructor. There's
really no reason for any instructor to be "confused" when a little research
will enhance understanding.
If you are actually interested in inertia coupling, perhaps a little bit of
research might bring you up to speed on it. If not, please accept my sincere
apology for having mentioned it.
Dudley Henriques


Googling "inertia coupling" I found this, which cleared things up a bit
(at least for me):

A few of the experimental aircraft encountered a new type of behavior
known as inertia coupling, a behavior that was not fully appreciated
until the F-100 and F-102 also encountered it. Inertia coupling
resulted from the tendency of the new generation of high-speed aircraft
to concentrate most of the weight in a long thin fuselage, a departure
from the distribution of subsonic fighters. The X-3 configuration is an
excellent illustration. Even though its high-speed performance was
disappointing, the X-3's unanticipated susceptibility to loss of
control from inertia coupling contributed to understanding the problem.
With much less weight in the wing and tail, the dynamic motion in a
maneuver could cause the inertia of the fuselage to overpower the
aerodynamic stabilizing forces of the wing and tail. In the worst cases
the pilot lost control and the resulting abnormal air loads caused
airframe structural failure. The early F-100A models are remembered as
a classic example of susceptibility to inertia coupling, although the
initial F-102A models also encountered the problem.

--Walt
Bozeman, Montana