Help please with basic rudder aeronautics
Could the experts please explain to me the necessity of the rudder in regard to staying airborne ? I appreciate the wings / ailerons, and the elevators in regard to maintaining roll and pitch respectively. The rudder - I can see its use in adjusting yaw, coordinated turns and crosswind landings - but why did the snapped rudder on the AA 587 (and the loss of the vertical fin) ensure it would crash ? I presume the part of the tail with the elevators was still attached / working .
Thank you.
Last edited by aussiepax; 2nd December 2008 at 09:24.
Reason: punctuation to clarify question