PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Roll rate
Thread: Roll rate
View Single Post
Old 27th Mar 2011, 01:31
  #30 (permalink)  
Machinbird
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Not far from a big Lake
Age: 82
Posts: 1,454
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
What's roll-pitch coupling?
Envision an aircraft rolling at a high rate with some angle of attack.
The angle of attack displaces the nose above the roll axis and the tail below the roll axis. Centrifugal force from the roll tends to force these extremities away from the roll axis causing a potentially uncontrolled increase in angle of attack.

I didn't know a plane could roll fast enough to damage itself...
The A-4 wing fuel tank is a single tank spanning both wings, however if the correct conditions exist, pressure in one wing can exceed the structural strength of the rivets attaching the internal stringers to the wing skins and the stringers to the ribs. One squadron I was in had such an incident and the Blue Angels had one too. Normally it was the port wing experiencing damage. The starboard wing had the fuel dump/overpressure relief valve and was rarely damaged.
Each aircraft has different considerations, but under the right conditions you could overpressurize a wing or throw engines by generating a great enough roll rate.
Machinbird is offline