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Old 09-08-2008 | 01:28 PM
  #37  
Red B.
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From: Jonkoping, SWEDEN
Default RE: Right thrust and 3D

ORIGINAL: DarZeelon

...
But, what happens if the plane is a tail-dragger and is in the normal three-point attitude, on the runway, in the beginning of the take-off run? The prop-wash obviously cannot go into the runway... so, it deflected, becoming runway-hugging and parallel...

But where does the 'under' prop-wash go now???
It hits the vertical stabilizer and the rudder from the right, causing the plane to veer to the right; the exact opposite to what it does with the plane in level attitude (the 'over' prop-wash will hit nothing, now going over the vertical stabilizer and the rudder...
(The bold face is added by me, Red B.)

Dar, your comment quoted above is IMHO not correct. For the warbirds mentioned, to the best of my knowledge there is no tendency for them to reverse their veering tendencies during take-off. As I previously stated, right rudder trim and often right rudder input as well is required during all parts of the take-off (tail-wheel on the ground, rotation, lift-off and climb), presuming of course that there are no significant crosswind components. Even though the amount of trim and/or rudder input may vary during the different phases of take-off there is no "reversal" that require left rudder or rudder trim.

Here is an excerpt from an article in an old issue of AOPA Australia magazine by an author who was a Merlin Seafire pilot:

"The propeller of the Merlin powered Spitfires and Seafires rotated clockwise, viewed from the cockpit. The rotating slipstream pushed against the left side of the fin and rudder, also the torque of the propeller was trying to rotate the aircraft anticlockwise around the propeller shaft and increasing the load on the left undercarriage wheel, consequently the aircraft wanted to swing left during take-off. Also the gyroscopic precession effect of the heavy spinning propeller, when the tail was raised on take-off, also wanted to make the aircraft swing left. [Any applied force which changes the axis position of a gyroscope causes the axis to move 90° to the applied force and in the direction of rotation]. The pre-take-off drill was to wind on full right rudder trim and start moving with right rudder applied. However the Griffon engines in the later models rotated in the opposite direction, for some unknown reason, and imparted an even more pronounced tendency to swing because of the larger propeller and greater torque, but to the right. Reputedly there were some rather amazing departures by bold pilots, flying a Griffon engined model for the first time, who didn't absorb the fine print in Pilots Notes, and who applied full right rudder trim and booted in plenty of right rudder! The Sea Hornet's Merlin engines were 'handed', one rotated clockwise the other anticlockwise."

And here is an excerpt from the Mustang III Pilot's Notes:

"39. Check list for take-off ...
T - Trimming tabs: ... Rudder 5 degrees right ..."

"40. Take-off ...
(v) There is a tendency to swing to the left which can be easily held on the rudder."

There is no mention of any veering to the right or reversal effects during any part of the take-off. Because the Pilot's Notes was intended for pilots preparing for their first flight in the Mustang, I find it highly unlikely that any reversal effects as described by you would be omitted in the description of the take-off and flying procedures.

Edit: Added excerpt from Pilot's Notes