Originally Posted by
Jhieminga
A couple of quick points.
Ailerons are not kept deflected during a sustained turn. Once the needed bank angle has been attained, you keep the ailerons neutral to kill the roll rate.
That is not what actual WWII pilots did... You waited for the wing drop then deflected the ailerons,
and kept them deflected. In addition, the FW-190A had 3 different types of aileron chords available, and turn-oriented pilots chose the widest chord to have the greatest "bite" at low speed, precisely to "catch" the stall at low speeds. One pilot whose account I've read went further, and added spacers at the hinge to get the ailerons to "stick out" of his wing even more... The idea that a given speed and given bank angle will give a rigid and uniform turn rate is simply false...
Originally Posted by
Jhieminga
Wing drop is a behaviour associated with the stall. Once his occurs, you have exceeded your critical angle of attack on that wing and aileron input won't solve that.
He did not fully wait for the wing to drop: He must have been able to anticipate the warning of the behaviour properly... Maybe the above is true on some types, but not all, for the above reason.
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Originally Posted by
Jhieminga
If I'm reading your second paragraph right, you're assuming that a local flow at the wing is influencing prop loading upstream of that wing. I can't see that happening. Without delving into it, I'd hazard a guess that the influence of the wing is negligable at the prop. See my previous post, but also, consider the relative size of the speed vectors involved. A prop is essentially a bit of wing on a circular path, and you can look at the local speed vectors for that bit of wing to see what's happening.
I posted this very question on the Physics Forum, and this is the answer I got:
Quote: Question: "
It seems odd that something behind the prop could affect, asymmetrically, the airflow through the prop... Or, at least, the ability of the prop to generate thrust evenly, throughout its surface.
Answer: "The short answer is, yes, the changed position can change the airflow. Everything is inter-related. Pressures and flows behind the prop must come from somewhere before the prop. The flow from the prop must fit in with the other airflow around the wing. So changes in airflow behind will almost certainly change things before."
Source https://www.physicsforums.com/thread...irflow.972086/
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Originally Posted by
Jhieminga
-
I am of course aware that the
radius is always square root smaller with less speed, that is basic physics... But the highest
sustained speed turn
rate is the goal, which is the same as the lowest speed at which it can still be achieved, (I'll ignore unsustained speed turn rates)
Adding power does
not necessarily increase your speed...: It can simply prevent your speed from dropping further... More power WILL allow you to maintain a higher G at a given speed, because it prevents speed decay falling under the minimum allowable speed. That is true of jet fighters, and is the basis of energy tactics in general. The problem is that prop fighters, at
similar minimal speeds, seem to achive higher turn rates withless power...
WWII dogfighting was often described as a race to be slowest, but
more power should allow you to be slower still, until you reach 1:1 thrust to weight, and can hover and spin in place...: More power should not be detrimental to turn rate when the minimum speed for the maximum sustainable turn rate is achieved,
Gaston