Remove Airplanes Remove Rudder Remove Stability
article thumbnail

Alaska Airlines Flight 261: Investigating what caused the tragedy

Aerotime

The trim on the horizontal stabilizer – the rear wing of the aircraft – was not working. The airplane wasnt uncontrollable at this point, and was flying fairly stable at altitude, so the decision was made to continue on their route, burn more fuel, and divert to LAX. The aircrafts horizontal stabilizer had pitched to 3.6

article thumbnail

Examining over 100 years of flight automation and the history of the autopilot

Aerotime

Nowadays, modern aircraft are equipped with systems that can not only fly the aircraft but can also perform fully automated take-offs and landings and can even provide protection systems in the event of unusual flight situations that threaten the safety of the airplane and its occupants.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Trending Sources

article thumbnail

Understanding Left-Turning Tendencies in Airplanes

Northstar VFR

By Josh Page, CFI Ever heard your flight instructor say, More right rudder? One of the fundamental aerodynamic concepts in aviation isleft-turning tendenciesthe natural forces that cause an airplane to yaw or roll left, particularly in a single-engine, propeller-driven aircraft. Right rudder is your best friend.

article thumbnail

Mastering Stalls: How to Recognize, Prevent, and Recover Safely

Flight Training Central

A wing will always stall at the same angle of attack; however, weight, and bank angle, power setting and load factor may change the speed or the pitch attitude at which the airplane stalls. Also, the weight in the airplane must be properly distributed and balanced. The test standards divide stalls into power off and power on.

Rudder 96
article thumbnail

Game On!

Plane and Pilot

The school also offers spin endorsements, upset recovery, aerobatic training, and hourly instruction if youre just itching to check the GameBird off your airplane bucket list. The Sbach, a notoriously difficult airplane to fly, challenges even the hardest of hard-core aerobatic pilots. The four-blade MT propeller is the only exception.

Knot 111
article thumbnail

What Every Pilot Needs to Know about the Airplane Rudder

Northstar VFR

More right rudder!!” The airplane rudder is one of the most misunderstood of the primary flight controls. Yet the rudder is one of the most important and one of the most under-utilized. The rudder’s most important function is controlling the yaw of the aircraft, which moves the nose of the plane left and right.

Rudder 52
article thumbnail

Flight Review: Van’s RV-12 LSA—Singular Success

Plane and Pilot

How did any given airplane sell? In order to be flown by a sport pilot, the resulting airplane must still meet the current regulations—1,320 pounds maximum gross weight, 120 knots max cruise speed, for example—but how it gets there is up to the builder. But successful? Not at all. Was it profitable for the company?