PoF question

[i4iq]

Collective controls: starting, taxi speed and stopping

Cyclic: ground track and drift during crosswind

Pedals: your heading - keeping the nose where you want it


Maybe you're confusing heading with ground track?

[thecontroller]

MMm.... so if you are flying along, 100 kts say, heading 090, and you want to turn onto a new heading, say 040. do you use pedals or cyclic? Cyclic i think. So how can pedals control heading?

[whatsarunway]

Yeah, but being in the hover is flying....... no?:confused:

[R1Tamer]

I'm not sure I concur with i4iq.

However as with all JAA ATPL q's there often seems to be room for some interpretation.

If hovering and hover taxiing are considered flight then perhaps 'pedals' are your preferred method of heading control. If your rattling along at 100kts with zero wind to contend with then perhaps cyclic is your heading control of choice. Or maybe with 100kts and a 90 degree crosswind perhaps you'll be using cyclic and pedals to achieve a 'balance'

R1tamer

[i4iq]

(theController) Perhaps that would be considered changing your magnetic heading...?

[helopat]

I came across this while studying my JAA ATPL
During flight the yaw pedals are used to control:
a) direction of movement and heading
b) aircraft direction, slip and skid
c) aircraft heading, balance, slip and skid
d) turning, balance, direction & slip

The correct answer is c)
Can someone please enlighten me how the pedals control heading? I thought the cyclic did that in flight? (unless you're in a hover)
And what is "balance"?

Can we all agree that the only possible correct answer is 'c' here? Obviously pedals dont control direction of movement (a) unless you consider yaw a direction of movement, aircraft direction (b), or direction (d). Pedals control heading in the hover, balance in flight and slip/skid (also measures of balance in flight).

To answer your question, "What is balance"...thats when the little spirit level (balance ball) is in the center and your behind doesn't feel like its slipping out of the seat in flight (ie. "Gee, wouldn't it be nice if you'd get the aircraft in balanced flight so my arse wouldn't fall out the door." This would be a typical sarcastic instructor way of saying, 'step on the ball mate'.)

Can I ask a question of my own(i4iq)...how does collective control taxi speed and or stopping as one of your contributors suggests? Is that at typo? I thought cyclic controlled taxi speed. Also, since I'm being pedantic, collective doesn't really control stopping all by itself either, does it?

All the best men.

HP

[paco]

helopat

Stopping yourself with collective is a technique used in the mountains (you can affect power with the cyclic too), and why you slow down when attaining ground effect - something to do with the TR vector pointing backwards. Perhaps someone will come up with the excruciating detail! :)

Phil

[NickLappos]

These PoF questions that we have raked over the coals are astounding. Is there anyone who misses the Morse Code section, which must have been cake compared to the confused and confusingly vague "principles" questions.

Is THIS the vaunted "better" CAA training system that some ppruners crow about??

[C of G]

Maybe a bit simplistic, but lets assume you are in low speed sideward flight, your heading is controlled by your pedals and your aircraft direction is controlled by the cyclic and they are not co-incident. It might be easier to see the answer in this example.

[Disguise Delimit]

For those who wonder how collective controls starting, taxi speed and stopping, think of a helo on wheels.

You need a lift of collective to get going, helped a little by cyclic. Dump any lever and use brakes to stop. Don't use cyclic if you value your tail boom.

With a Chinook, which often taxies on its back wheels with nose in the air, you need to lower the lever to get moving and raise the lever to stop.:ooh:

[FlightOops]

Sadly Nick, you're absolutely right.

Having now suffered the pain of both the CASA and JAA question banks, it would appear that more often than not, these questions are designed in such a manner as to catch the unwary rather than simply test one's understanding.

That said however, in defense of these question types it certainly ensures the candidate studies both the question and the anwsers closely (not only to select the "closest" match" but also to reason why the other answers are NOT the correct answer) : 1) RTFQ; 2) RTFA and 3) ATFQ !!!

I feel that providing the full set of questions prior to an exam (in the FAA style) does not necessarily test a candidates knowledge rather their ability to remember the correct answer for a given question - entirely different.

I could simply remember by parrot fashion the answer to a fixed set of questions in a foreign language without being fluent or indeed even being able to answer a question that was worded slightly differently.

For this reason I fear that for all its flaws (and the fact I am a proud Brit!), the EUROPEAN (bear in mind the CAA only have a partial input into the JAA syllabus) system is still a good system - candidates still manage to study for and pass the JAA exams.

I, in no way, excuse the "trick" style questions and pity those candidates for whom English is not thier first language (my hat off to you all!) however it is my feeling that this system beats the "Kelloggs University" style FAA exams, which in my opinion undermines the effort of study that goes into obtaining pass marks.

Let us also bear in mind that it must be excrutiatingly difficult to devise a vast question bank across all the subjects with not only meaningful questions but appropriate yet subtly incorrect answers.

I hated both systems and was equally frustrated by the stupidity of some of the questions, however, I was fortunate to have learnt at two extremely good ground schools who pointed out where these tricks existed and it is to their credit that I passed both licences.

For what its worth.

FO

[Whirlygig]

Gee, wouldn't it be nice if you'd get the aircraft in balanced flight so my arse wouldn't fall out the door.

I can vouch for that being a typical sarcastic comment from an instructor!!

Cheers

Whirls

[Whirlybird]

I think this is a case of finding the only possibly answer, even if it sounds a bit odd.

a) clearly wrong, since the pedals won't affect your direction.
b) ditto
d) ditto

That only leaves c. In the air, the pedals control balance - or slip and slid, same thing really. You keep the little ball or the string in the middle, so you're in balanced flight, not going crabwise. But if you think about it, they also affect the aircraft heading. If, say, you were flying along, and you put in lots of left pedal, the helicopter would yaw left, and the altered heading on the compass would prove it. Your direction of travel, or track, would still be the same though.

This is a typical, nasty ATPL question that requires more in the way of exam technique than actual knowledge of helicopter principles of flight. :(

[Whirlybird]

Gee, wouldn't it be nice if you'd get the aircraft in balanced flight so my arse wouldn't fall out the door.
My version would be: "That's fine, but just a little bit of left pedal would make it perfect"

I'm obviously not a proper instructor. :{