Plane and Pilot

MARCH 25, 2025

The Texas winds were gusting anywhere from 15-25 knots, and like other aerobatic airplanes, the canopy can be easily blown off. After a few seconds, Ill lift the tail and then add full power. Within a couple of seconds, I could feel that the tail was ready to come up, so I added just a touch of forward stick pressure.

Knot 111

Knot Airplanes Runway Rudder 111

CFI Academy

MARCH 28, 2025

Heres what they are and what you need to understand about each: Crossed-Control Stall What It Is: This stall occurs when the aircraft is in a skidding turn, typically with ailerons applied in one direction and rudder in the opposite direction (e.g., left aileron, right rudder). 65 knots in a Cessna 172).

Aileron 96

Aileron Rudder Checkride AGL 96

Plane and Pilot

JANUARY 12, 2025

Many years ago, while working my way through college pumping avgas at the local airport, I discovered that one of our university deans owned a diminutive two-seat, twin-tailed airplanean Ercoupe. ERCO), Weick refined the design into the low-wing, twin-tailed beauty whose distinctive looks are unmistakable.

Rudder 105

Rudder Tail Crosswind Airplanes 105

Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 20, 2025

At first glance, ailerons look like ordinary hinged panels on the wings, but don’t be fooledthey’re important for keeping an aircraft both stable and maneuverable. But theres much more to ailerons than just rolling left or right. Or how do modern airplanes reduce dangerous effects like aileron flutter or adverse yaw?

Aileron 90

Aileron Weight-Shift-Control Rudder Longitudinal Axis 90

Aerotime

JULY 19, 2024

The aircraft was powered by three General Electric CF6 turbofan engines, with one mounted under each wing and a third located above the rear fuselage in the base of the tail. On scanning the engine instruments, it quickly became apparent that the number two tail-mounted engine had failed.

Runway 294

Runway Horizontal Stabilizer Airline Airlines 294

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

Missing its tail, pointing almost straight down, a Van’s RV-7A single-engine, two-seat homebuilt plummeted out of the blue and into the rocky ground. This wasn’t the first Van’s homebuilt to experience an in-flight tail separation. I did my first aileron roll in an RV-4. The listed entry airspeed range is 87 to 97 knots.

True Airspeed 89

True Airspeed Indicated Airspeed Horizontal Stabilizer Aileron 89

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

Missing its tail, pointing almost straight down, a Van’s RV-7A single-engine, two-seat homebuilt plummeted out of the blue and into the rocky ground. This wasn’t the first Van’s homebuilt to experience an in-flight tail separation. I did my first aileron roll in an RV-4. The listed entry airspeed range is 87 to 97 knots.

True Airspeed 88

True Airspeed Indicated Airspeed Horizontal Stabilizer Aileron 88