PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Risk of spinning from a sideslip?
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Old 20th Nov 2009, 09:37
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Mark1234
 
Join Date: May 2006
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As is often said, perhaps a good idea to discuss your concerns with the instructor, however, In my opinion the risk is minimal, however, ther usual caveat applies - don't go and risk your skin based on what I write!

Firstly your nose angle shouldn't be any higher than it would be for that phase of flight without the sideslip. You may however require a more rearward stick position to achieve that nose angle (elevator blanking)

As per my understanding of the aerodynamics, a spin doesn't just require out of balance flight, it requires one of the wings to be travelling faster, i.e. an increasing yaw angle, not a static, large yaw angle - what you need is one wing to stall before the other, hence the speed difference (and this is limited to straight wings, not swept).

Theory aside, in practice it's harder than people would have you believe to get most aeroplanes to spin (my experience is in a/c certified for spinning, so limited to those with reasonable spin characteristics). Most will give you an attention grabbing wing drop at the stall, but it requires persistent effort (or mishandling) to create a spin - if you relax the back pressure after the wing drop you'll just fly out of it. Further, most types I've flown don't want to spin once stalled - you have to be pushing yaw in at the right time (just around the stall) to get the spin.

I also conducted an experiment in a decathlon to test exactly this question - I went up to 5000ft, crossed it all up into the biggest sideslip I could create, and stalled it. It dropped clean and straight ahead. Again the caveat - I've been trained, signed off, and have spun a lot - don't tempt fate if you're not familiar spinning.

All that said, even a straight stall near the ground is bad news. Realistically though, your approach speed normally gives a pretty decent margin over the stall. Cues like stick position and pitch angle should complete the picture. If the stick keeps coming back, that's bad - if it stays forward of a certain point, the a/c cannot stall.

Frankly it's a wonderful tool to have in your box of tricks, but be comfortable with it, before you need it

Edit to add:
Pegpilot: The a/c will spin either way quite happily - in fact the usual reaction to stall in a turn is that the a/c flicks away from the turn (I don't know why, sorry!); it's just that the over-ruddered final turn is the classic way to set up a spin in a glider - especially if you're stretching the glide a bit, are low, slow, and those long wings seem awful close to the ground.. (Yes, also a glider pilot..)

When I did sideslipping in a glider it was hammered into me to memorise the pitch angle before sideslipping, and maintain the nose at, or slightly lower than that - speed would then be bang on when you straightened up. Complicated by use of the noise lever in a powered a/c, but the basic principle still applies. (Power+Pitch=Performance).

Last edited by Mark1234; 20th Nov 2009 at 10:10.
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