PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Rudder Control
Thread: Rudder Control
View Single Post
Old 25th November 2003 | 00:30
  #9 (permalink)  
Flyin'Dutch'
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,414
Likes: 2
From: Europe
SSD you write:
Motorcyclists are very aware of it, because with the much heavier and faster-turning wheel of a motorcycle this gyroscopic effect is very obvious,
But this is already evident on a (push)bike and explains why cycling home after a booze up on the whole is more succesful than a walk.

Cycling is inherently stable due to the gyroscopic effects of the spinning wheels whereas walking is in itself an unstable activity requiring much more coordination of the (intoxicated) cerebellum.

I have, of course, no experience myself but have noted this many times when drunken friends tried to walk home without succes but after negotiating the mounting phase of the bike-ride managed to get home safely.



FD
Flyin'Dutch' is offline