Originally Posted by
Bell_ringer
Can piston engines develop sufficient torque to make rpm transitions (usually spinning up not down) tricky?
would think a normally aspirated engine would have all the torque of a wet noodle thrown at a wall.
There's plenty of torque in an R22 or R44. Under normal circumstances not so much that one has to take special precautions. But on low traction surfaces there's enough to cause issues. On ice there's enough so that if you let the governor automatically take over (which occurs at 80% engine RPM) the governor will open the throttle fast enough from there to very quickly spin you 90 to 180 degrees if you leave the pedals at neutral. In an R44 I've even had it spin me 10 degrees or so on a slippery ramp (hot day, melty pavement, probably some oil on the ramp surface, too). I've also had the opposite: skids stuck in soft tarmac crack-sealant on a hot day. One skid stuck in crack-sealant is a dynamic rollover waiting to happen. Ice and snow op's I've had formal training on. Tricky asphalt was never trained and I've had to learn that on my own, thankfully without any serious issues.