Dear Burt

At 17:00 04 February 2005, Jim Vincent wrote:
³In reality ailerons and the rudder don¹t turn airplanes;
they allow the
pilot to bank the airplane, allowing the engine to
pull the aircraft around
in a circle. Once the turn is established, controls
are returned to almost
neutral and the elevators and engine do the work of
turning the airplane.²

Hmmm, I wonder what makes a glider turn. Maybe only
motor gliders can turn
and then only after the engine is started.

Lift is what causes an airplane or glider to turn.
Bank the wings and a
component of lift is then in the horizontal, causing
the turn. All the engine
does is control the rate of climb, typically to maintain
altitude.

Jim Vincent

Seems to me this picture is also inadequate. If the
aircraft is banked and a component of the lift is then
horizontal, why doesn't the aircraft just go sideways
over into the next county?

We need a good mental picture of what is happening
to cause the circling flight instead of just being
lifted sideways. We have to bring gravity, centrifugal
force, and the effect of the tail feathers into this
picture.