Originally Posted by
ehwatezedoing
Hello Chris, having them pre-selected into the wind is of course a good course of action. What I mean is your ailerons alone can counteract a swerve by themselves if used properly (they are the size of a Caravan’s wing)
On DC3’s wheels on the ground your ailerons are very effective for directional control. It’s a great arrow in your quiver of arrows things to use (like your rudder) to stay centered. And it is something that seems to seems to be more and more forgotten as new people embark flying this type. Turbine version included.
Again, while wheels are touching ground. Yanking them in the air at a speed that can barely sustain yourself will most probably have a poor outcome.
Hi ehwat,
This discussion about the use of aileron to help counter a swing - rather than helping prevent one happening in the first place - has been most interesting and enlightening for me, but I doubt it has much relevance in this particular case. I'm sure you'd agree that the primary means of directional control on take-off and landing remains the rudder. Judging from the information in the video linked above, the conditions were such that secondary techniques - such as aileron, asymmetric power, differential brake or the locked tail-wheel - would have been unnecessary to keep the a/c straight above taxiing speed.
Several posters with more (and more recent) experience of the type than I have experienced difficulty in getting the tail up, which would normally be at 40 kt IAS or soon after - well before flying speed. The public-transport, C-47 operation I was involved with consisted of five freighters and one passenger a/c, using a MTOW of 28,000 lb. A load and trim sheet was prepared for each take-off and, in my limited experience (500 hrs), I never experienced a take-off where the tail was reluctant to fly.
Yes, it goes without saying that the tail must be lifted well before the a/c reaches flying speed to avoid getting airborne prematurely. In any case, to state the obvious: if the tail remains on the ground, no pilot-commanded rotation in the nose-up sense is possible, so I don't understand your final point. The poor outcome is likely to happen because the a/c then flies itself off in a semi-stalled condition, which is what may have happened here.