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
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
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