BernieG,

I have not done any experiments or analysis that tell me the sideslip is the main recovery mechanism, I am just believing Simons. His assertion is that the side slip is indeed caused by the non-aligned lift vectors resulting from a banked wing with dihedral, as you say, and that it also ends up being a stronger roll recovery mechanism than the "projected area" mechanism we have discussed. I agree entirely that wings with dihedral would correct from rolls without the sideslip mechanism, but I am inclined to accept Simons' assertion that, in practice, the sideslip mechanism is the primary mechanism. My preference is to be able to sit down and "prove" these things to myself using a piece of paper and a thought experiment, but sometimes an accurate analysis requires some data that I don't have, and then I have to trust the most credible source I can find. This is one of those times, for me.

Thanks,

banktoturn