Originally Posted by
parkfell
You may well get away with large rudder applications on light aircraft, but to use that control input on that Airbus simply demonstrated very shoddy training.......
SKY “accident investigation” program interviewed some of the airline’s trainers who comments were some surprising.....
Is it not so much the "amount" but rather the "rate of application" that leads to things heading South - with any control input? Even on a light aircraft, you rapidly apply a large rudder input (or any control input for that matter), you just compound any issues you may have with the associated secondary effects rapidly appearing from Stage Left to add to your woes as you now need to counter those too - that's what the first few lessons for even a PPL are all about. Was the NY Airbus "accident" more a product of repeated and rapid applications of rudder if I recall correctly? Was it also not a case of the PF applying a glider technique he'd picked up where secondary effects can be used intentionally and he was trying to counter the rolling induced by the wake by using the secondary effects of rudder?
Yes, you may need to apply a sufficiently large control input to get the aircraft to do what you want it to do - but, ideally, you should always be ahead of the plane/anticipating that eventuality so that you detect any deviation early before it fully develops and "emergency measures" are needed. True, the Law of Sod can apply (particularly with the weather) and a freak gust hit you out the blue at the worst possible moment (we've all been there, had that!!!) - but you should still be as gentle as you can in the recovery. And you can usually predict when something is likely to happen (eg look upwind from the threshold on short final just in case there are large buildings which may cause you some fun & frollicks over the fence) and so your reaction when it does should be more "Mmmm, took a while before it threw that trick in!" rather than "Blimey, what the
bleep was that???!!!".
Either way, in this case, it seems to be the zero use of rudder which assisted in the x-country roll-out. Anyway, just some thoughts FWIW!