At 15:27 05 May 2009, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Mon, 04 May 2009 09:13:01 -0700, unclhank wrote:


I prefer yaw to make coming tight of rope more gentle. 11000 glider
flights without a broken rope. UH

A method we were encouraged to try during annual checks a few years back

was to waggle the rudder rapidly so it added drag and to waggle it fast
enough to prevent the glider from reacting. It took the slack out very
nicely and slowly enough that the jerk was minimal. However, that *was*
in a Puchacz, which has an enormous rudder. I've not tried it in any
other type.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |
This idea makes me recall the American airlines Airbus accident in New
York several years ago when the copilot's overzealous ruddering managed
to flutter the composite tail right off her, with disasterous results.
Whether correctly or incorrectly, I have always felt the vertical tail
combination is the least strong of the control surfaces. Probably silly
but it just has always seemed so to me.