A very basic question

On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 22:22:22 GMT, Mike Rhodes
wrote:


A banked aircraft will not turn if, and only if, the wing is not
generating lift. A wing will not generate lift if its angle of attack
is so controlled by the horizontal stabilizer.

I was not quite right with the "if and only if". Of course the rudder
can also stop the turn, as in a side-slip. And the side-slip Peter
mentioned is what pushes the nose around in the turn by its push on
vertical stabilizer. I did not point directly at the vert stabilizer
as Peter did in his reply.

Because the banked aircraft is aligned less with gravity, it would
then want to accelerate 'up', as 'up' is relative to the aircraft.
But this would immediately change the angle-of-attack of the both the
wing and the horizontal stab. So the wing loses some lift, while the
horizontal stab increases its already downward push. This would tend
to push the nose 'up', and restore the angle of attack of the wing.

The turn is a relatively slow process (the pilot has time to make
adjustments), and maybe the mechanics are not so simple as I think my
post implied.

--Mike