Slow Flight - November 29, 2010
Too dark to fly after work, but not too dark to practice radio stuff, do a pre-flight in the hangar, and watch an interactive ppt on slow flight…
"Dunkel wars, der Mond schien helle,
als ein Auto blitze schnelle, LANGSAM um die Ecke fuhr!
als ein Auto blitze schnelle, LANGSAM um die Ecke fuhr!
Located in the speed zone between “max endurance” and the point just above stall speed, SLOW FLIGHT is a bridge crossed during both take off and landing. A good pilot recognizes the characteristics, or “symptoms” of SF, and acts quickly to recover, so that she avoids an unwanted stall.
During SF, the controls become sluggish, and there is an inclination of the airplane towards adverse yaw, so rudder skill is essential. (This will be a challenge for me in the actual plane!)
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Types of Yaw - Torque - P-factor/Assymmetric Thrust (due to nose-up attitude) - Gyroscopic precession - Slip stream |
HASEL Check Height (at least 2000 ft, for recovery) Area (not above houses, etc.) Secure (no loose pencils, POHs, etc.) Engine (rich mixture to cool the engine, carb heat on because engine not working hard enough to generate enough heat) Lookout (45 degrees, look around both sides) |
The only casualty of the evening was my white shirt, that I got pomogranate juice all over, from the seeds I was slowly working my way through during the lesson (long story, and totally irrelevant, but if you are interested, click here). Hopefully the actual flight lesson (next Sunday morning, weather permitting), will be equally uneventful.