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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0289.PDF
FEBRUARY 8TH, 1945 FLIGHT yawing moments, but because the fixed fins are small compared to the , partially floating rudders, the aircraft will have little if any tail yawing moment to neutralise the adverse yawing moment of the ailerons, and the nose will hesitate an instant be- fore swinging in the direction desired. With tight rudder hinges and linkage this hesitation should not exist. The second condition is that it seems that many experienced cross- country pilots use the practice of making slight course adjustments by rudder alone, allowing the bank to take care of itself as induced by slight skidding. Recently flight instruction has tended to%vards using the ailerons and rudders together to make perfect turns when performing course correc- tions, and the action in this practice is the same as that which occurs in well co-ordinated two-control flight. Almost all the pilots with considerable cross-country ^ time in Ercoupes appear to be satisfied with the handling characteristics while cruising ir. gusty air. They work the controls less under these "conditions than do the pilots with little Ercoupe experience, for with very little correction of attitude by the controls the aircraft will maintain a fair average course while undulating in gusty air. Turns.—Due to the instructive writings of students of flight and piloting, it is now becoming generally known by pilots that a turn is not made primarily with the rudder, but that the main requirement, is that the wing be banked so as to incline its lift to make the aircraft change its course direction, and that with conventional controls the aileron is used to maintain the desired bank, the elevator to maintain the proper speed, and the rudder merely to keep the aircraft flying a true course without slipping or skidding. With the rudder pedals eliminated and the entire control made by means of the control wheel, the co-ordination is automatically taken care of by the characteristics of the aircraft and there- is no opportunity for the pilot to co- ordinate the aileron and rudder controls incorrectly. The making of turns is, therefore, exceedingly simple, and satis- factory turns can be made with very little practice. High-wind Turns The elimination of the rudder pedals is a particular help in making proper turns in high winds close to the ground, *'*\*>tb.ere even the most skilful pilots find it almost impossible to co-ordinate their controls so as to make proper turns. The most significant thing about turns and Ercoupes, however, is that, as was mentioned previously, no one appears to have lost control in a turn, or come to grief from a turn. Other Air Manoeuvres.—The manoeuvrability of an air- craft depends mainly on its ability to turn quickly and sharply. Getting into a sharp turn quickly requires power- ful aileron control to attain the necessary bank, and quick response to the elevator to increase the angle \of attack. The ailerons of the Ercoupe are unusually powerful, for they are large and are also deflected further than usual. In addition, the elevator control, although limited in its upward travel, is sensitive and the aircraft responds to it instantly. Thus the controllability and manoeuvrability of the aircraft are exceptional. This condition does not appear to be generally under- stood, probably because the term "limited elevator con- trol" (initiated by the writer thirteen years ago to his present embarrassment) carries the unfortunate implication that the control responsiveness is sluggish and the manoeuvrability very meagre. Just the opposite is true, for in the opinion of the writer, safe operation requires ample control and manoeuvrability to overcome the effects of gusts and occasional misjudgments. The 150 h.p. Cirrus-engined General Aircraft Owlet which was a training developmentof the Cygnet cabin monoplane. There also appears to be a general misconception, prob- ably because the aircraft does not spin, does not sideslip with two-control operation, and has the upward travel of its elevator limited, that it cannot perform acrobatic manoeuvres. It is true that acrobatic manoeuvres depend- ing on stalled flight, such as the spin and the snap roll, cannot be performed, nor can good straight slow rolls be performed without rudder pedals. The manoeuvrability is such, however, that even without the rudder pedals, pre- sentable ailerpn rolls can be performed, as well as loops, Immelmann turns, Chandelles, etc. Glide Control Landing.—There seems to be no question in the minds of pilots that the tricycle gear simplifies the landing opera- tion largely because the aircraft stays on the ground by itself even though it is landed at well above minimum speed. There has been considerable difference of opinion how- ever regarding the Ercoupe's landing approach glide, for with two-control operation and no rudder pedals the con- ventional sideslip is not available for losing altitude rapidly to avoid overshooting. The problem of glide control for an aircraft without rudder pedals was explored fairly thoroughly in the W-i and W-iA aircraft experiments which preceded the Ercoupe. That work resulted in the opinion that a glide- control flap was a definite help in making a landing on a given spot, but that if the aircraft had a steep enough gliding angle and a tricycle gear, landing on a given spot was sufficiently easy even without a special glide control. When we started the Ercoupe the use of flaps was con- sidered, but extreme simplicity of flight from ordinary fields was taken as being more important than the ability to get in and out of very small fields with great ease. The original experimental aircraft was designed with ailerons covering practically the entire wing span with the idea in mind that, if a glide-steepening device was considered essential after some flight experience had been obtained, the inner portions could be cut oil and converted into flaps. After a substantial amount of flying had been .accom- plished, it was decided that the flaps would not be required because all the pilots agreed that getting the aircraft into ordinary landing fields was no problem at all. Further- more, any of several means for losing altitude could be used with a bit of practice. The first obvious one is merely to nose the aircraft down and land it at a higher speed, and this works quite satisfactorily if the altitude to be lost is not too great and if the landing field is smooth and not too small. If the excess height in the approach is noticed at an early enough stage, a relatively steep glide can be obtained by reducing the speed to the point at which the drag is high. In that case, it is well to nose down at an altitude of about 200ft. and pick up sufficient speed to flare off the flight path and reduce the vertical
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