Andy Durbin wrote:

The elevator does produce lift, but in the opposite direction as the wings
(most of the time anyway).




Ok, so let me see if I've got this straight now. I cruising along at
60 kts in trim and elevator close to neutral. I want to go 140kts so
I push the stick forward, the elevator goes down, which pushes the
tail up, which pushes the nose goes down, I go faster. And all this is
because the elevator is producing more lift in the downward direction?

It is confusing! Here's what happens, simplified:

*The horizontal stabilizer (with the flap we call the "elevator") is
pushing down (at least at "higher" speeds - maybe not at 60 knots -
dependes on the glider)
*You push the stick forward
*the elevator flap goes down
*this _reduces_ the downward force of the horizontal stabilizer, but
doesn't elimanate it
*this allows the tail to rise

There is more to it than that, of course.

--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA