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Old 02-13-2004 | 11:14 AM
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From: Missoula, MT
Default RE: OPPOSITE RUDDER

ORIGINAL: JapanFlyer

It's a long time since I've flown small aircraft, but regarding the use of rudder in full scale in flight it's only required to be used in light aircraft to counter P (propeller) effect, i.e., the effect on the rudder of the twisting airflow generated by the prop. The wash from a propeller is much wider than the diameter of the propeller. Opposite rudder can be used to sideslip in flight to increase the descent rate.
Japanflyer, have you flown full scale airplanes? All the jets I fly and twins and turbo props use the rudder a lot. I come back with sore legs at times in the light twin if I am doing low level slow work. In any full scale, if you have passengers in the back and you don't use the rudder in your turns, they are all going to be puking when you land. Our jet has a Yaw damp that you turn on as soon as you lift off. If the pilot doesn't use the rudder correctly in a turn, the yaw damp takes care of it for you.

P factor isn't the airflow around the airframe hitting the tail, that is spiraling slip stream. P factor is pretty easy to see if you take a model plane prop and put it on a stick. Hold the stick horizontally and imagine it spinning. Both blades take the same bite of air. Now, tip it back like it is climbing. The plane doesn't climb at the same angle that the stick is pitched up, so the relative wind going through the prop is at a flatter angle. From the back, you can see the blade on the right takes a larger bite of air, and the left blade is almost flat compared to the relative wind.