Rudder issues
 

Hi,

I am a PPL student with just 6 hours on my logbook and it seems I havent still grapsed the Rudder usage fully. I constantly forget to use a bit of rudder when increasing or decreaseing engine RPM during commencing the climb or descent. Would anyone advise on any exercise I can perfom in order to get the rudder usage right? I just dont feel the need for rudder and my instructor keeps reminding me that the Balance ball is not centered. I hate letting my teacher or instructor down so I need to find a way to sort this out! Any help would be much appreciated!

It will come eventually, don't worry. Just practice.

cheers,
Jake.

The best way to neutralise yaw is to look straight ahead and see if the nose is tracking left or right against the horizon (or against clouds or any visible texture when in a climb). You can also feel it without looking but it will take a good number of hours in the air before you get used to using the "seat of your pants" as it is called to identify any unwanted yaw.

As I am sure you know the rudder is a primary control.
In your early lessons you will have been shown that increasing power causes a pitch up and left roll/yaw, and reducing power right roll/yaw (with American engines)

Admitedly with the low power of he typical trainer the effect is not huge. You will probably first realise how significant it is when you try to climb on a constant heading, eg a navex, and wonder why your heading keeps drifting left,.or in the circuit doing touch and gos when you drift towards the left of the runway when applying full power, .....the reason, insufficent right rudder.
Unforunately the typical trainer often has the ailerons designed to reduce the need for rudder in turns to counter the adverse aileron yaw, so it is very easy to get lazy feet. Try to get the feel for the correct use of rudder as it will benefit you enormously

"The best way to neutralise yaw is to look straight ahead and see if the nose is tracking left or right against the horizon (or against clouds or any visible texture when in a climb)."
What if the wind is across your heading?

It will come. It would come sooner if spamcan trainers didn't mask poor 'pilot rudder use'.

As others have said it will come.

Just try to check the ball regularly, it`s very easy to be settled flying with yaw on believing the aircraft is straight.

Any uncommanded roll with a change in power is a prompt to check the ball until you gain that little extra experience.

Best of luck !

Well if you are crabbing, ahead will be somewhat displaced to one side. You will still see translation due to yaw.

Bingo, Shaggy Sheep Driver ...

That is exactly what I think is happening. I am training in C152 and it "masks" the need for rudder and I am developing "lazy feet". I repeated the lesson on climb and descend for two hours and while managed to get a strong PAT, APT and anticipation skills, I still have trouble with rudder compensation due to increase or decrease of engine power. I just don't feel it and yet when I look at Balance, the ball is reclining either left or right but not in the centre. Perhaps i need to train my vestibular apparatus with more lessons spent in the air and be patient.

Also I am thinking of using a Flight Simulator in order to strengthen my airmanship, PAT, APT, FREDA and DABLE. Do you think Flight simulator would be of any help?

Thanks everyone!

Oh dear.
But a novel intro l must say.

You just need more time, don't fret about it. I've known experienced pilots take more than your 6 hours to get used to light aeroplanes that really need regular use of rudder.

Yes! More time in the air, and regular glances at the ball.

No, at your stage, it'll just teach you bad habits. Practice checks with a photo of the cockpit.

G

My instructor says don't think about using a sim untill doing nav. You need to get used to the feel of flying the plane and all a low cost sim will do is confuse you once you really are flying.
Better to just think your way through it - maybe see if you can get time sitting in the plane when on the ground and practice going through checks or sit in a chair and go through the motions but as I say - a sim won't help.

Once you've mastered the feel then a sim might be useful for instrument flying or nav - but you are still a long way from that.

What checks are you talking about Genghis that need a mockup ?

Tommy Tickled Mary For Fourteen Glorious Hours. Don`t confuse the poor simmer.

AucT,

I'm not sure, if you are Apt to Dable with Pat and Freda. Concentrate on planes for now....

The next time you're out in the venerable 152 try the following:

Clearing turns, safe altitude, watch for traffic etc.

Feet flat on the floor. Roll the plane into about a 30 degree bank in about two seconds. As soon as you reach about 30 degrees of bank (precise angle not important), at the same rate roll it back through level to 30 degrees the opposite direction, then back through level to the first direction, and so forth. Keep going. Once you've got a nice rhythm going (it'll only take two or three full cycles), glance at the ball. It'll be slamming from side to side in the turn co-ordinator. (the other person in the plane will be too, and they'll have a foul look on their face).

Watch out the front, and notice the plane sliding sideways through the sky. Keep doing this, until you really feel you're going to loose control, or the plane is going to end up going backward through the sky (it won't, don't worry).

Now you know how not to fly.

Now repeat the traffic lookout, and do the same thing again ('cause you'll be more eyes in this time). Use the pedals with gusto, and co-ordinated with, or slightly leading the aileron, to keep the ball no more than halfway away from centered at all times. Continue practicing until you can do it.

What you will find, is that if you very slightly lead the turn with a noticeable amount of pedal, you can crank the ailerons as quickly as you want, and the ball will stay in the middle. As long as all of this is done slower than maneuvering speed, and the angle of bank remains within 30 degrees or so of level, there is no safety concern in any of it.

As for power... Haha! in the 24 years I've owned my 150, I have never noticed that it has "power". It just happily gets airborne, and gets where it's going, in it's own time. It is very unlikely that pedal use is required to compensate for power in a 150/152, it's more likely compensating for wind, or other asymmetry (that you induced).

It's good to consider it though. You will notice a need for lots of pedal in a 300HP or more propeller aircraft, particularly a taildragger.

Anticipating control inputs needed to correct for things like power, flap, landing gear changes is wise, though perhaps a little premature for a new pilot to get too worried about. Just concentrate on being aware of what the plane is doing, and should be doing, and assure that it is doing what you want it to do.

Checks are time consuming, and that's all money to a student pilot.

Sitting in front of a cutout/mockup/cockpit poster (typically about £15 from a pilot shop) with a checklist, repeatedly practicing checks until particularly the airborne / emergency checks are second nature, can save a great deal of time, and thus money in the air.

It does make your family think you've gone mad and should be left safely alone, which is another advantage.

G

Rudder shyness is a common trait even amongst experienced pilots. Don't be worried.

Just a suggestion, but try flying in very thin soled shoes. You might find that with an old pair of well worn soft shoes you become a little more aware of the rudder pedals and you might be able to feel the pressures more easily.

Balanced Flight
 

AucT:

Think of the rudder as a" Balance " control, it will come to you over time.

Another help is to do a series of left and right turns to about 30 degrees of bank, each way, only looking at the nose position relevant to the horizion. As soon as you bank the aircraft, the nose should start moving around the horizion ( by rudder use / pressure ). The same in the other direction.

Hope this helps.

Tmb

My experience is that rudder control will never totally become 100% intuitive. Only once you've flown a specific manoever in a specific airframe dozens of times will you be able to apply rudder more or less instinctively, and correctly.

But every time you go from one airframe to another you need to "reset" your feet for this new airframe, and that takes conscious thought initially. Going from glider to power and back, for instance, always requires me to do a few S-turns before I'm adjusted again to the amount of rudder input needed. And I once had a mighty surprise in a motor glider with a prop that turned the "wrong" way. The take-off roll must've been funny to watch...:eek:

I don't think there are pilots who can go from one airframe to another and fly the aircraft in perfect balance without glancing at the balance ball every so often. And you don't have to: The balance ball is right next to all the other primary flight instruments so it's perfectly legal to use it.

I agree with you Backpacker.

This morning I flew an aeroplane I know well - with 100+ hours on it, and which I occasionally instruct on, to a meeting. I hadn't flown it for some months however. I found myself having to actively monitor and manage the ball/sideslip/rudder.

This would only be a bad thing if I was unaware of the need, or couldn't cope - neither of which is true. But it is also true that I still had to work at it.

G