...or in a Turbulent, to be precise. Last week I flew this little beastie for the third time and decided, at the end of the flight, to treat myself to a touch and go. Now I've done this in a Cub before (benign), a Jodel D150 (also benign) and a Tiger (less benign) so I'd no reason to suspect that this would be anything other than a doddle; particularly with the wind, which was about eight knots down the runway.
The trouble started when I opened up after landing and lifted the tail. Then she had a life of her own. I explored both sides of the runway like a dog let off the lead, and by the time I gratefully reached the sanctuary of flight I was so far off to the right I had to do a gentle left-hand clinbing turn to get back over the runway.
That was when phrases like 'gyroscopic precession', 'torque' and 'propwash on rudder' started hitting my brain. It would have been good if they'd hit it about a minute or two earlier, but better late than never.
So, what happened? The VW engine rotates anti-clockwise as the pilot sees it, but that's about all I know. Does anyone know precisely how these forces affect a small aeroplane like the Turb?