Is rudder required for coordinated turns?

Darrell S schrieb:

That said, most aircraft require a pilot input of rudder to coordinate a
roll input. Little, if any, rudder is required once the roll stops and a
constant bank is maintained.

Ever flown a glider? You'd be surprized! A coordinated turn is *always*
a turn around all three axis.

If some powered airplanes don't require rudder, it's because a) the
rudder is somehow coupled to the ailerons, b) the weight of the engine
will cause the nose to drop enough without rudder or c) the pilot
doesn't care enough about being coordinated. My experience says that
power-only pilots tend to solution c). (Note: The ball is a pretty
coarse instrument.)

Stefan

Darrell S schrieb:

That said, most aircraft require a pilot input of rudder to coordinate a
roll input. Little, if any, rudder is required once the roll stops and
a
constant bank is maintained.

Ever flown a glider? You'd be surprized! A coordinated turn is *always*
a turn around all three axis.

If some powered airplanes don't require rudder, it's because a) the
rudder is somehow coupled to the ailerons, b) the weight of the engine
will cause the nose to drop enough without rudder or c) the pilot
doesn't care enough about being coordinated. My experience says that
power-only pilots tend to solution c). (Note: The ball is a pretty
coarse instrument.)

Stefan

I've only had one introductory flight in a glider and that was more than 20
years ago in a two place Blanick.

The most memorable thing, aside from being about the most fun a person can
have in daylight, is that turn cooridination is much more than rolling in
and rolling out. Due to the combination of slow forward speed (when
spiralling at minimum rate of descent) and long wing span, the wing toward
the inside of the turn is much closer to the stall and a noticeable amount
of cross control is required.

Typically, powered aircraft are rarely flown in that portion of the flight
envelope and many pilots regard turns at low airspeed as extremely dangerous
and an invitation to an unintentional spin. Most of us were taught that the
low end of the airspeed envelope is hazardous and to be avoided in flight,
with the result that very few powered airplane pilots maintain proficiency
in very slow flight. Also, since the wings are short and the stall speeds
are generally higher, I doubt that the effect is ever really noticeable.

As to "c", the yaw string is a lor more sensitive, but takes a little more
practice than I was able to give it--since the doggoned thing works
backward!

Peter
Just my $0.02

"Peter Dohm" wrote in message
...
Most of us were taught that the
low end of the airspeed envelope is hazardous and to be avoided in flight,
with the result that very few powered airplane pilots maintain proficiency
in very slow flight.

Probably true, but (as with everything else in the PP PTS) we're taught that
we *should* practice slow flight (just above stall speed) on occasion (if
for no other reason than to be able to recognize and properly respond to
very low airspeed should we inadvertently find ourselves in that situation
during normal flight).

--Gary

Most of us were taught that the
low end of the airspeed envelope is hazardous and to be avoided in
flight,
with the result that very few powered airplane pilots maintain
proficiency
in very slow flight.

Probably true, but (as with everything else in the PP PTS) we're taught
that
we *should* practice slow flight (just above stall speed) on occasion (if
for no other reason than to be able to recognize and properly respond to
very low airspeed should we inadvertently find ourselves in that situation
during normal flight).

--Gary


Hangar flying is not statistically usefull, but annecdotal evidence suggests
that more of us *should* practice slow flight, including turns and
configuration changes, at a safe altitude.

However, you're right and I was wrong to imply a statistic that can't be
documented.

Peter

"Darrell S" wrote in message
news:60eQg.26$rS.9@fed1read05...

That said, most aircraft require a pilot input of rudder to coordinate a
roll input. Little, if any, rudder is required once the roll stops and a
constant bank is maintained.

Without rudder input, the yaw required to change the heading of the aircraft
(as its flight path progresses around the turn) must come from the aircraft
being in a slip.

In an aircraft at high speed and/or with high directional stability, the yaw
rate required is low and the slip angle required is small, almost
unoticeable. The ball will be almost centered

In an aircraft at low speed and/or with low directional stability, the yaw
rate required is high and the slip angle required is therefore large. The
ball will be way off to the side.

Thus glider pilots learn to use their feet rather more than fast jet pilots.

Julian

On 2006-09-19, Mxsmanic wrote:
Is it always necessary to use the rudder to execute a coordinated
turn?

It depends on the aircraft. In something like a Piper Arrow, virtually
no rudder is required for the kind of gentle turns you might do when
flying IFR - you can practically fly it with your feet on the floor.

At the other extreme is something like most gliders which need
significant rudder input when initiating a turn. Somewhere in between
are aircraft such as the Cessna 140, which needs some rudder when
initiating any turn, but not boot loads of rudder.

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