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Old 18th Dec 2008, 07:57
  #20 (permalink)  
zerozero
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
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Think about pulling g's in a steep turn.

A 2000 pound (kilos, whatever...) airplane in steady, unaccelerated flight (therefore pulling 1g) must produce 2000 pounds of lift.

But a 2000 pound airplane in a 60 degree bank will pull 2g's and therefore must produce 4000 pounds of lift.

It must produce DOUBLE the lift even though it's not climbing. And while we may say it's in a steady state, it's still considered to be "accelerating" (i.e. changing direction).

But if you were to take that same airplane in steady, level flight and simply yank back on the yoke, yes you'd climb (for a little while) but more importantly you just increased the lift in a really uncomfortable way--and you could feel the g's in your seat, the same way you can feel them in a steep turn.

But if you want to continue that climb, you're gonna have to add power, and when you do, you'll stop pulling so hard on the yoke, producing extra lift that's smashing you into your seat.

All of this will eventually translate into basic aircraft control.

Pitch + Power = Performance.

After you master the pitch and power relationship everything else is just details. Really try to understand this relationship the best you can.
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