The Rumor Mill News Reading Room Not a 'Joystick' or 'Stick' on Airliners - Maintaining Stability of Yaw Axis With One Eng...
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Not a 'Joystick' or 'Stick' on Airliners - Maintaining Stability of Yaw Axis With One Engine
Posted By: Infoeditor [ Send E-Mail]
Date: Monday, 9-Feb-2015 16:40:42
Not a 'Joystick' or 'Stick' on Airliners - Maintaining Stability of Yaw Axis With One Engine
Posted By: Infoeditor [ Send E-Mail]
Date: Monday, 9-Feb-2015 16:40:42
Not a 'Joystick' or 'Stick' on Airliners - Maintaining Stability of Yaw Axis With One Engine
I was just going to call attention to the term used here for the aircraft's 'CONTROL WHEEL' OR 'CONTROL COLUMN', which is not a 'joystick' or 'stick' in airliner cockpits, when I noticed in the comments section of the article at the link they covered that. In fact, many pilots may find the control wheel vastly superior to a stick. Even in a small single engine Cessna aircraft I find the control wheel enables a more clearly defined attitude of the aircraft.
One of the main problems during 'engine flameout' or engine failure of one engine during flight of fixed wing aircraft is the trim on the yaw axis. If one engine is pulling and one is not it tends to swing the aircraft off to the side opposite the torque of the remaining operable engine so some trim needs to be applied immediately and actively to offset the change in flight aerodynamics. Modern, large aircraft might have some auto-trim capabilities to deal with this.
With any half-decent airspeed, say for example, enough airspeed to maintain an above stall airspeed, the vertical stabilizer just ahead of the rudder in the tail section can generally provide much of the needed stability on the yaw axis, the critical line of attitude centering between left and right. The problem here is loss of airspeed causes less airflow over the vertical stabilizer control surface making it ineffective which can lead to severe loss of stability on the yaw axis which can actually result in cartwheeling, god-forbid, of the aircraft, a complete loss of control. Such conditions, probably, are mostly related to stall-spin, low airspeed conditions - very dangerous.
Learning to fly a plane requires flying in the reverse power curve where enough thrust is applied at low airspeed, just near stalling, to actually half-hang, half-fly through the air with the nose up. I find this a very discomforting (nerve-racking) exercise and once practiced I don't see the necessity of doing it again! Any problems with wind or engine performance in this reverse power curve configuration can be fatal, especially without enough altitude to drop the nose and recover airspeed!
Airspeed is critical in maintaining proper flight operations of fixed-wing aircraft.
Remember the 'yaw axis' and how it relates to all forms of travel - boat, plane, auto, etc..
Yaw (rotation) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaw_(rotation)
Infoeditor
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http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-02-06/news/58879115_1_plane-pilot-mayday-mayday
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: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/pilots-body-found-still-clutching-joystick-of-crashed-taiwan-plane-media-reports/articleshow/46140276.cms
