On Tue, 17 Feb 2004 16:00:26 -0500, Todd Pattist
wrote:

Jim wrote:

Will an aircraft actually turn, that is,
change its direction of flight, if it is not allowed to bank at all?

Yes. The turn is produced by "lift" in the horizontal plane
by the AOA of the fuselage (and some wing dihedral). The
"AOA of the fuselage" is just the yaw angle produced by the
rudder. The "lift" is caused by the sides of the fuselage.
It's certainly not a turn that anyone makes intentionally,
unless they are playing around to see one. A modern glider
will produce very little sideways lift from the fuselage, so
the turn will take a while. :-)

I know that a clumsy kind of turn might be accomplished by use of
rudder only but I thought that was because the yaw would eventually
lead to a bank - due to the increased lift of the 'outer' wing caused
by the yaw.

You have to prevent the roll by using opposite aileron to
reduce the lift on the faster outer wing to equal the lift
on the slower inner wing. Otherwise, you are right, it will
roll, but then it's not a "wings level" turn.


Todd Pattist - "WH" Ventus C
(Remove DONTSPAMME from address to email reply.)


Wonderful stuff. Thank you.