Stick and Rudder
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 3,325
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From: UK
S & R is excellent! Another interesting read, if a tad more specialised, is 'The Concorde Stick & Rudder Book'. Some of the flying characteristics of this magnificent machine were quite unconventional. An oft-repeated mantra is "remember; you are not flying an aeroplane. You are flying a Concorde".
SSD
SSD
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 716
Likes: 7
From: London
It's a lovely book, but we rarely say why.
For me it's the simplicity. Too many books start off ok for about a paragraph, before you're suddenly buried in deep tech stuff without having a chance to assimilate the fundamentals.
I think sometimes authors of flying manuals (and posters on prrune!) over complicate flying, perhaps to make a stamp of 'authority'.
So people, why do you like Stick and Rudder?
For me it's the simplicity. Too many books start off ok for about a paragraph, before you're suddenly buried in deep tech stuff without having a chance to assimilate the fundamentals.
I think sometimes authors of flying manuals (and posters on prrune!) over complicate flying, perhaps to make a stamp of 'authority'.
So people, why do you like Stick and Rudder?
Not so N, but still FG
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 1,417
Likes: 0
From: London, UK
A good question, paulo. I used to dip into the book frequently but haven't looked at it for a while. There is an inspirational quality to the writing, although that quality is difficult to define. On the more technical level, I really like the explanation of how and why an aircraft turns in the air, and the description of the approach towards "the spot that does not improve" is pretty helpful too.
Langewiesche would have preferred aircraft to take off with tailwheel gear and land with nosewheel gear (now there's an engineering problem for Genghis), and was a big fan of the allegedly un-spinnable Aercoupe (I like the one in the hangar at Goodwood), but auto-ruddered light aircraft did not catch on.
Langewiesche would have preferred aircraft to take off with tailwheel gear and land with nosewheel gear (now there's an engineering problem for Genghis), and was a big fan of the allegedly un-spinnable Aercoupe (I like the one in the hangar at Goodwood), but auto-ruddered light aircraft did not catch on.
Last edited by FNG; 17th June 2004 at 07:58.
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 54
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From: Northern Hemisphere
Well, I'm only half way through it - I'm a slow reader - and I haven't read that many texts to compare it with. But certainly the way he presents the subject is clear, layman-like and humorous.
For me, the constant reminder that AoA is the most important thing a pilot should be aware of, and the idea that if you used a cheap bit of cable to prevent the stick from coming back beyond a certain point you'd prevent yourself getting into a lot of trouble situations was worth reinforcing.
I'm fascinated by the fact that the book was written 60 years ago and is so relevant now (obviously the laws of physics haven't changed that much since!). It's interesting to see, also, how widespread the idea seemed to be then that rudder was the main turning control and aileron was to make the 'turn comfortable'. He felt so strongly about this, as FNG says, that he thought it would be better if the rudder coordination were just made automatic.
MQ.
For me, the constant reminder that AoA is the most important thing a pilot should be aware of, and the idea that if you used a cheap bit of cable to prevent the stick from coming back beyond a certain point you'd prevent yourself getting into a lot of trouble situations was worth reinforcing.
I'm fascinated by the fact that the book was written 60 years ago and is so relevant now (obviously the laws of physics haven't changed that much since!). It's interesting to see, also, how widespread the idea seemed to be then that rudder was the main turning control and aileron was to make the 'turn comfortable'. He felt so strongly about this, as FNG says, that he thought it would be better if the rudder coordination were just made automatic.
MQ.
Not so N, but still FG
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 1,417
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From: London, UK
If you read instructional texts on flying from the 1920s and 1930s, it is apparent that the mechanism of turning was not yet fully understood, or at least not by Captain Blitherington, RFC (retd), flying instructor to the gentry, who wrote most of the books.
