Contact Flying

Oscar, Yes I have heard that. Haven't had a chance to fly one. Contact

Plum nelly ain't got that one figured out yet.

Garfly, Yes, in my country the Dutch Roll was taught as a coordination maneuver. I didn't worry about the video because he explained what he was doing well (side slip) regardless of what he called it. As Nev says the big iron boys have their own language. Nev, Does your Aviation Agency require a Type Certificate for big (12,500 US pounds) airplanes? I think the new little airplanes with weird control characteristics should have a Type Certificate requirement or old guys who have flown many, many, many small airplanes with really good control characteristics should not be allowed to fly them. The controls may not work and they don't crash well. Bad combination. Jim

Nev, That makes a lot of sense. Stinson and one of those Cub clones are the only spoiler airplanes I have flown. Both flew well. Much agree that we don't need to load the aircraft and bleed energy in the level turn. Zoomies, jet jocks, can keep putting in more thrust until they pass out, but not us little guys. Jim

Nev, Got it. I've got to teach you hillbilly or you've got to teach me Aussie. Jim

aro, The spiral you are talking about is the "graveyard spiral." The load factor occurs when the pilot attempts to pull up while still in the turn. We must level the wing first and then pull up wings level. Also this prevents putting a wing into a wire or terrain trying to get the turn in late going into a paddock while crop dusting. And yes, we do energy management turns very low to the ground hundreds of times a day while spraying. Level, high load factor, turns will kill us in low level work We need manage the energy available, power perhaps being the least important. After the wings level pull up to start the energy management turn, we bank keeping the load at 1g and allow the nose to go down as it wishes. We don't push it down with the wing still level. If you are worried about rapid unloading or anything strange going on with your airplane, turn loose. They really know quite a bit about flying on their own. Thanks for your comment/critique. We instructors need justify what we teach. Contact

Nev, I missed something. Pilots stall perfectly loaded airplanes all the time. Right. Take the pilot out and the airplane will not stall. It may hit the ground in a turn or in a dive regaining trimmed airspeed, but it will not stall and fall. Jim

djpacro, I like the idea that there is always a crosswind. Good emphasis of the need to control drift with bank angle and control longitudinal alignment with rudder, even in calm air. Good description of how the slip/skid ball instrument. To emphasize the need to contact fly a visual approach with our eyes outside, I teach slip/skid using the visual horizon. When we are late with rudder to start a turn, a slip, the nose first goes away from the bank and then hangs up, moving too slowly for the angle of bank. There is relative wind noise, vibration, and pressure in the butt toward the turn. This is a very common thing. We need to first have the student stomp a rudder in the desired direction of turn, a skid. We point out that the nose yaws quickly the way we pushed the rudder and the nose moves too quickly for the angle of bank. There is relative wind noise, vibration, and pressure in the butt cheek away from the turn. This is very uncommon. Thus we need to use the lead with rudder mind set. No, not so proper, but gets thing going in the right direction. We need to help the student keep his head out of the cockpit and use rudders to make the nose move across the horizon at the proper speed for the angle of bank. In steep turns, the nose should move quickly across the horizon and then across the earth below the horizon in the energy management turn. In a shallow turn, the nose should move slowly across the horizon. Thanks again for the lesson, Contact

aro, No, I started at age nine in my Dad's pardner's C-180. I was too short to reach the pedals or see over the panel. Press Maxwell, the golf architect, had flown B-24s out of N. Africa and Italy during WWII. He taught me instrument and by the time I soloed at age 16 I was a pretty good instrument pilot. I grew up building golf courses before going into the Army in 1969. By the time I finished Officer Rotary Wing Aviation Course, I had come to the realization that there are more similarities in the control of various machines, both land and air, than differences. Since 1974 I have taught flying, both military and civilian, with that in mind. The airplane is designed so that it cannot create the load factor that pilots cause when they pull the stick back in a level turn. If the pilot does not pull back but rather allows the nose to go down as it was designed to do in a turn, there is no load factor. The wings level load factor caused when the pilot pulls up from cruise to start the energy management turn is not as dangerous as that caused in a steep, level turn. The wings level load factor caused when the pilot pulls up after the turn is completed is not as dangerous as that caused in a steep, level turn. I appreciate the criticism. We all need to justify what we teach. Contact

IBob, You make a good point. I am on much shakier ground here than in the states, where the vast majority of airplanes were built long ago to very high standards of controlability. You would likely like Backcountrypilot.org. I am contactflying there and even the homebuilds are to high control standards. Your Savannah is a popular airplane there. For those flying airplanes that have poor stability and are controlled in unconventional ways, just ignore the crazy old crop duster. Contact

kaz3g, Thanks for the video. That was a very good lesson. In side by side airplanes, remember that we line up the longitudinal axis with the center line by looking straight ahead. Army helicopter instructors call it putting the center line between our legs. We can't look over the nose. We instructors are not always careful to point that out. On paved fields, notice that the tire marks are left of the center line because pilots sitting in the left seat are looking over the prop and squeeking it down a little crooked. Nasty in tail wheel, but most tail wheel airplanes are tandem here in US. Also in our western states, pilots occasionally run out of fuel in the afternoon trying to get to a runway more aligned with the wind during summer afternoons when winds often become extreme. A good solution to this problem is to land across the runway angled more into the crosswind. We still have to crab then slip or better side slip all the way down. And we have to use the apparent brisk walk rate of closure or some power/pitch approach to guarantee getting down in the 1,000 feet (300 and some meters) between the downwind corner of the runway and the upwind big airplane touchdown zone marking. Thanks again, Contact

Teckair, Crab to very short final is fine, but a side slip at the very last is necessary to counter drift as we touch down on the upwind main wheel. Otherwise we will just flop down with a side load. The crab changes nothing about the rudders ability to fine tune wings level, either crabbing on final or in cruise. Now we simply hold the wing level with aileron while walking the rudder just right, just left, etc. dynamically and proactively to keep a directed course of our butt (center of gravity) to the target. The target on final is the numbers or desired touchdown spot. The target in cruise is a distant feature or compass heading. Ailerons, because of adverse yaw, are a much less precise trim device than is the rudder. The WWII bombardier, looking through his sight while twisting the rudder trim, didn't care whether he was in a crab or not. The pilot had set up the general heading. He was just fine tuning the heading for somewhat precise bombing. We actually do much better hitting the numbers using rudder for directed course and aileron for wings level. Thanks for the comment/criticism, Contact

dutchroll, You are correct, of course. After many years and many hours flying normal airplanes that all flew well and crashed well, I lost my right eye when a windscreen blew out on my pipeline C-172. Rather than go for a waiver, I did the Light Sport thing. I crashed an Ultraflight Challenger II because at about 100' in a steep energy management turn I found out the rudder didn't work to help get the wing back up. In John Boyd's terminology, I came "unglued" and it didn't crash well. Broken back, crushed leg, etc. etc. I had lost engines low in spray and pipeline planes ten times breaking two without missing a beat or hurting myself in any way. This one got my attention. That said, we can expect and teach some common control techniques in certified airplanes and homebuilds built to certified standards. It is not responsible on the part of governments or instructors to just let the kids learn this stuff by hard knocks.

IBob, Everything I know is in the e-book, but I'm more of a talker than writer. I thrive on questions, comments, and yes even criticism. No medical, no license, no money, no airplane. From time to time I get to ride with a young Backcountrypilot.org guy here. As always, I could be wrong. Jim

Astute observation, whatever the source. I like a good quote, even if it has been passed around. You'alls Winston Churchill stole a good quote from time to time. Great leader, and teacher, anyway. Wolfgange said, "airspeed is altitude and altitude is airspeed." I usedthat as the basis of my explanation of what I call the energy management, no load factor, turn. Later I read, "Boyd, the Fighter Pilot who Changed the Art of War and learned that "Forty Second Boyd" had done the math and called it "Energy Maneuverability." Boyd had no use for credit. The first thing he asked anybody who wanted to work for him was, "Do you want to be, or do." Like him, I have no use for those who choose the former. You can't have it both ways.

You know you are a good instructor if other instructors are stealing your stuff. I got this question/answer drill from Robert Reser, in his book, How To Fly Airplanes. In the US, all pilots are indoctrinated to answer, "It exceeds the critical angle of attack. Bob points out that is when it stalls not what makes it stall. The design of the airplane is to fly. It cannot stall itself. It cannot even create load factor. Only the pilot can cause an airplane to stall by pulling back on the stick.

Kamloops, You are certainly right about airplanes flying better level or even down hill. A good technique at short fields with crooked departure paths is the rudder turn in low ground effect. Keep the wing level with ailerons while pushing the nose around with rudder. This misses high terrain and obstructions, keeps the wing from hitting something, and retains the kinetic energy of ground effect. C

I read back through the posts and figured out it his name. I think.

Kamloops, Write it down. We don't know when our time is up. As a young Air Cav pilot, I was shot down single ship without getting a call off. Wounded and three hours in the jungle. Chances go below 50/50 after twenty minutes. I knew God had given me a second chance and I tried to do something with it. Contact

Explain "Nev" to this dumb hillbilly.

Well said facthunter. Ground, or water, effect flying boats get 40% lift out of their ground effect because they stay in low ground effect. Our over emphasis on getting up quickly causes us pilots to waist most of our ground effect by not staying as low as possible. As you astutely said, the soft field takeoff is the most efficient short field takeoff. That is not true, however, if we allow the airplane to climb above a meter and struggle in a high pitch attitude. We need get off as soon as possible, but then we need push forward on the stick, especially in more powerful airplanes, to stay in low ground effect. The worst aircraft for teaching good technique are powerful ones.

I get the feeling from the posts here that Australia requires radio even at remote fields. In the US, and I think Canada is the same, radio is only required at tower fields. Uncontrolled fields are called uncontrolled because there is no Air Traffic Control personnel there. At uncontrolled fields, and even tower fields in Visual Meteorological Conditions, see and avoid is the rule. Hear and avoid is not possible when even one aircraft has no radio and hear and avoid does not satisfy the rule when all aircraft and the tower have radios. But there are greater issues than the rules, radio required or otherwise. To safely operate in any airspace requires that we give priority to what see and misstrust what we do not see, regardless of what we hear. We would be safer not to back taxi if we see an airplane in the area. We would be safer not to try to land on a runway with an airplane on it. This is just common sense.

I teach the basic low ground effect takeoff for all situations. Like diesel, I have seen too many fully loaded airplanes, like the Cessna 150, pitch up to either Vx or Vy pitch attitude too early and go behind the power curve while trying to overfly an obstacle by too much vertical distance. They have given up a lot of free kinetic energy in low (less than a meter) ground effect. They have bled off what excess engine thrust for climb they had at liftoff. Now the only safe option is to push forward on the stick to continue going up or at least stay level. This is something humans have a hard time doing. Especially when there are obstacles at the end of runway, we need all the energy (both engine and natural) available. If we get the nose wheel just off the surface or tailwheel airplane level as soon as possible, we have eliminated significant drag. If we get the mains off as soon as possible, we have eliminated significant friction drag. The design of the airplane is to fly, not to roll on the ground. Finally, and perhaps most important, airplanes accelerate best level in low ground effect. This, millimeters off the beach, is where test pilots set the max speed for airplanes. Like the crop duster in low ground effect in the paddock, we need not climb until near the obstacle. Now we can use both excess engine thrust for climb and kinetic energy of low ground effect to zoom just over the obstacle. No! This is not necessary on every takeoff, not even most. It is just needed when needed. Perhaps heavy, hot, and high. Perhaps here or there. If you cannot predict the future, do you want to be hanging on the prop when you need it? It has probably become obvious that the stuff I teach is not for the flight test. It is for the safety of the pilot. However, in the US, the Practical Test Standards have changed from no mention of low ground effect on normal and obstacle clearance short field takeoff to "accelerate to Vx or Vy as appropriate in ground effect." If you have had any experience with our FAA, you know that is real progress.

Rob, I read your article and totally concur with you on the need to teach proper rudder usage for yaw control in many situations in addition to adverse yaw control. Rudder is the best trim control on the airplane and the least used. I soloed in a 90 hp Super Cub. No ADF, VOR, GPS, etc. With my fists filled with Sectional map and E6-B wis wheel, learning to keep the wings level with rudders only was a snap. Before the Practical Test Standards made the flight test a basic instrument flight test, we were taught to maintain longitudinal alignment with rudder only on final. Later in Army Cobra Gunship School, I learned that we keep our pipper on the target using anti-torque pedals and fore/aft cyclic only. WWII bombardiers used the rudder trim only to accurately put the Norden bomb sight radical on the target. Finally crop dusters make rudder turns in ground effect using aileron only to keep the wing level. Like you, I have observed many students and flight review pilots wing wagging all the way down final approach. Unfortunately the rub our tummy while patting our head thinking that works so well for pilots using the side slip to counter crosswind drift doesn't easily transfer to the no wind or direct headwind approach. Pilots are fine with keeping the wing level with aileron while keeping the center line between their legs with rudder in a crosswind. But they go back to balanced turns on calm days. And what about those pilots using the crab to counter drift to round out and then put a wing down into the wind and use opposite rudder to the side slip. Many of those also wag the wings on final rather than keep the wing level with aileron and keep the offset pipper (directed course of butt to numbers) going down the center line. The same with gust upsets while cruising with or without a crab. Anyway, it was great to find another instructor working hard to teach students the fine finesse and many useful abilities of the rudder.

Thanks Rob, I emailed you for it and also sent you "Safe Maneuvering Flight Techniques." Best regards, Jim