Crunch Alert (USA) - hugely serious but (apparently) non-fatal
On 5/10/2012 6:32 AM, Martin RSA wrote:[color=blue][i]
Ramy;814097 Wrote:
Renny wrote:
Wow, thank god it happened at altitude!
Isn't it that virtually all our rudder pedals mechanism are spring
loaded, and if one cable breaks the result is instantaneously full
rudder? I always thought this is a receipt for disaster. A glider
without rudder control may still be flyable and even landable, but not
with full rudder!
Ramy
This is sort of true, but not in this case. The spring is just strong
enough to ensure the pedal does not fall forward when the pilot climbs
out. Also, if one spring is off, it is not strong enough to allow yaw to
initiate.
In the accident of the JS1, the glider was in a right hand slip (full
left aileron required). We can assume in this case that the left hand
rudder cable broke. In the accident photo’s the right hand cable is off,
which probably happened during impact.
Are the accident photos online?
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