PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Downwind turns equal disaster??
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Old 24th Feb 2004, 20:20
  #60 (permalink)  
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Overpitched - imagine you are in a steady 5 foot hover with no wind, the hover attitude is set with cyclic, the hover height with lever and the heading with pedals; you are in equilibrium with all forces balanced to keep you in a steady position over the ground.
Now consider 2 different scenarios:

1. A wind of 20 kts suddenly appears from the dead ahead and you, the pilot, do nothing with the controls - eventually the aircraft will be translating across the ground at 20 kts in the same attitude, at the same height and on the same heading. (purists will tell me the disc will flap back and pitch the nose up as the gust hits, and they are right, but I am trying to illustrate a concept).

2. A wind of 20 kts suddenly appears from the dead ahead so you correct the tendency to drift back with forward cyclic, correct the tendency to climb (due to ETL) with lever and compensate for all the yaw changes (ETL on the TR and reduced power required) with pedals. If the wind stays constant, you will be in a state of equilibrium again (still over your position on the ground) but with a different attitude, power setting and pedal position.

In situation 1 you are "going with the flow" as you are when you turn at constant speed, power and attitude in a moving mass of air - ignoring the resulting movement across the ground.

In situation 2 you are maintaining ground position and having to compensate for the changes in airflow to prevent the wind blowing you across the ground. If you now switch the wind on and off, you are in a constant state of change with respect to attitude, power and heading which is the same as encountering turbulence or windshear.
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