Puchacz New Cautionary Tale/Tail

"danlj" wrote in message
:

On Sep 7, 7:46*am, JC wrote:
On Sep 7, 1:09*am, GARY BOGGS wrote:

How could you fly a glider without a rudder and not be able to tell
something is very wrong????...clip...

Boggs

I agree with Gary.. How could the pilot not notice the rudder is gone?
Our club DG200 had the rudder pop out on a winch launch and it fell
back and hung from the rudder cables. The pilot felt both pedals go
forward and get stuck. He completed the launch and from the ground he
was told that his rudder came off so he made gentle turns and landed
without trouble....clip...

We don't recognize when something has gone wrong with the rudder
because
a - we normally don't practice not having a rudder
b - really don't understand, in the seat of our pants, what it feels
like not to have one
So -- all we know at first is that *something is wrong*. (Note that
Juan Carlos points out that the pilot was TOLD his rudder was off.)
What that *something* is, ain't all that obvious. This is true for
MOST airplane malfunctions, not just rudder malfunctions. And the
emotional upset ("alarm") that we feel during the event hinders
rational analysis.

I speak as an expert, having once many years ago flown a Blanik L-13
with the rudder cables reversed. All I could tell was the rudder
*wasn't working*. So I put my feet on the floor. Which worked fine
until they quietly snuck back onto the pedals during the turn from
base to final. My personal mantra, "Speed is my friend" saved the day.

(Then, after the repair, one of us five guys who'd all missed the
rudder reversal, found the safety missing from the castellated nut
underneath the elevator bell crank and saved someone's life. An
airplane flies awkwardly but safely without a good rudder, but the
pilot dies without an elevator.)

DJ



DJ, PCC's are your friend!!! A Positive Control Check where you push on
the left rudder pedal and say "Rudder-Left" should have found this
before takeoff.

Larry