ORIGINAL: siclick33
Ok, i'll ask another question then.
When you fly a perfect loop in front of you (as if I do) why do the control inputs differ depending on where the wind is coming from?
As a former full-scale aerobatic competitor, this quite sensible Q is close to my heart.
The answer is that u are adjusting the path thru a moving body of air to make the loop LOOK round from your perspective. But what the airplane is actually DOING is not a round loop at all, it's flying an elliptical loop that has been "squished down". Note that the wind affects the VISUAL SHAPE of a loop from YOUR perspective as you remain
fixed to the ground. The wind does not affect the "feel" or aerodynamics of the loop from the airplanes perspecive. It is YOUR PERSPECTIVE that is changed, not the aerodynamics :-)))
Draw a loop on a piece of paper. Then do it with your eyes closed till you can consistently make a fairlt round loop. THEN do the same thing as someone else slowly pulls the paper sideways.