yaw damper for light twin

[Frank Ch. Eigler]

Hi -

Can someone share some personal experiences of flying small airplanes
with a yaw damper? In particular, does the slipping crosswind landing
technique require the yaw damper to be shut off on final? Does it
significantly aid passenger comfort? When installed in a light twin,
does it mask the normal immediate yaw/roll signal of an engine
failure? Does it make sustained single-engine flight easier? Is it
just an overkill?

- FChE

[Mike Rapoport]

"Frank Ch. Eigler" > wrote in message
...
>
> Hi -
>
> Can someone share some personal experiences of flying small airplanes
> with a yaw damper? In particular, does the slipping crosswind landing
> technique require the yaw damper to be shut off on final? Does it
> significantly aid passenger comfort? When installed in a light twin,
> does it mask the normal immediate yaw/roll signal of an engine
> failure? Does it make sustained single-engine flight easier? Is it
> just an overkill?
>
> - FChE

A yaw dampener will fight you if you try to slip or skid. More advanced
ones will start trimming the rudder against you too, so yes, you turn off
the dampener for takeoff and landing. Basically a yaw dampener coordinates
turns. On some airplanes (V tail Bonanzas) the tail has a tendency to wander
back and forth and a yaw dampener is said to make passengers happier. It
doesn't mask an engine failure enough to notice the difference.. If you had
no rudder trim, it would make single engine flight easier but I have never
seen a twin without rudder trim.

Mike
MU-2

[john smith]

The best response to a complaint about the Bonanza "squirm" was:
"If you don't like the way my airplane flies, you don't have to ride in it."

Mike Rapoport wrote:
> A yaw dampener will fight you if you try to slip or skid. More advanced
> ones will start trimming the rudder against you too, so yes, you turn off
> the dampener for takeoff and landing. Basically a yaw dampener coordinates
> turns. On some airplanes (V tail Bonanzas) the tail has a tendency to wander
> back and forth and a yaw dampener is said to make passengers happier. It
> doesn't mask an engine failure enough to notice the difference.. If you had
> no rudder trim, it would make single engine flight easier but I have never
> seen a twin without rudder trim.

[[email protected]]

Frank,

It depends on the airplane. On most the yaw damper (not dampener, you
don't want a device that applies moisture to yaw) is not activated
until you are in the air and it's shut off at some point during the
approach. On the twin Cessnas I flew that had yaw dampers installed it
did significantly improve passenger comfort in turbulence, in fact it
made a big difference, especially on hot, turbulent days at low
altitude. It did not mask the effects of an engine failure as we had
it on during training and the yaw from an engine failure is far more
than what the unit is set up to handle in turbulence, so there is no
question whatsoever that an engine has taken the day off.

Depending on the type of aircraft, the yaw damper may be used to help
retrim after an engine failure and can simplify matters quite a bit.
Depending on the capability of the unit, in some airplanes you can
punch on the yaw damper after an engine failure in cruise and it will
get rid of the need to retrim the rudder. On other units there is just
some assistance and you still have to roll in rudder trim. It's
airplane and unit specific.

Because of a number of factors, one of which is handling a crosswind,
the yaw damper is shut off on approach to landing.

All the best,
Rick

[Dan Luke]

> wrote:
> (not dampener, you don't want a device that applies moisture to yaw)

Thanks for that (pet peeve of mine).

How about that phenomenon that comes out of storm clouds and makes
things weigh less?
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

[Darrell S]

Most yaw dampers have very limited authority. They are only to reduce yaw
oscillations. If you make a crosswind landing the damper will slightly
reduce your initial input but your rudder displacement will "win" the
battle. You normally can't feel the difference in rudder pressure if you
make a crosswind landing with the yaw damper on or off. If you are holding
constant rudder the yaw damper will still operate to reduce yaw oscillations
that would occur. In other words it resists yaw CHANGE, not steady yaw.

--

Darrell R. Schmidt
B-58 Hustler History: http://members.cox.net/dschmidt1/
-

"Frank Ch. Eigler" > wrote in message
...
>
> Hi -
>
> Can someone share some personal experiences of flying small airplanes
> with a yaw damper? In particular, does the slipping crosswind landing
> technique require the yaw damper to be shut off on final? Does it
> significantly aid passenger comfort? When installed in a light twin,
> does it mask the normal immediate yaw/roll signal of an engine
> failure? Does it make sustained single-engine flight easier? Is it
> just an overkill?
>
> - FChE