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Old 07-22-2010 | 10:21 AM
  #29  
HarryC
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Default RE: Rudder question

ORIGINAL: basimpsn

Try knife edging a F-18 or Eurofighter.
Don't know how the model reacts because I built my Eurofighter without a rudder, but in the full size at high angles of attack the flight control system uses the rudder as the aileron control but not in the direction you might at first expect - pilot applies right stick so the FCS minimises the aileron travel and applies left rudder. Think about it - with a rudder all above the centreline, left rudder is the same as right aileron. fly-by-wire fighters tend to have short moment arms for the tail fin/rudder, which reduces the rudder's yawing effect compared to a longer moment arm on a conventionally stable aircraft.
H