I finally got me rudders, now what?

[Maniac]

After 4+ years in online flying i finally got me an pair of rudders  

Now i need tips on how to use them hehe, when do i use them in what manuvers etc?

thx



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AH : Maniac
WB : -nr-1-


   
http://www.rsaf.org/osf/

[popeye]

Use rudders:

On the runway to stay straight.

To coordinate turns.  Watch the "ball" slip indicator, and use rudders to keep it centered in turns.  Slip burns E, so keeping the ball centered maximizes E.

To point the nose a bit for aiming a shot.

To increase the roll acceleration.  A kick of rudder at the start of a roll will get you around quicker.

To deliberately slip to burn E.  You can slow down for landing, or to force an overshoot, by using rudder to slip.

To kick the tail around in a reversal.  In a nose high reversal, you can use rudders to get the tail around.

And I think opposite rudder will pull you out of a spin, but I'm never really sure....  

popeye

[Kieren]

Hehe, Popeye gave you a great smattering.

Ever see someone pull one of those purty hammerheads on you? Now you're in the club!

Now you will be able top rake a B-17 from port to starboard for a longer time.

Now you have a means to help sustain a knife-edge fight for the critical amount of time.

Simply put, you now have control over all three axis of flight!  

[Minotaur]

Maniac;

Congrats!

Along with all the other suggestioned methods mentioned you can also try another.

This method I find if timed right will decrease your reversial turn time.  Of course not alot, but every little bit helps.  

Try this one for a High Yo-Yo left turn.  You start this one with a slight back pressure on the stick.  Initially kick the left rudder as you start your left aileron roll.  This helps increase roll rate.  Just about the time you feel like your tail is coming up pretty well, kick the right rudder.  This does two things.  It swings the tail up and around very quickly.  Then stops your turn.  

The tail just loops around and with practice you can stop your turn and be headed in the direction you want to be headed.

This manuver works best for steep turns, where the nose is pretty high when you start the turn.  

Always keep in mind that basically the rudder consumes E like crazy.  This E loss is a result of the airplane skidding.  Use it mostly for slow speed turns and nose high turns.

For landing, use the rudder to slow down.  This requires using full rudder deflection in one direction.  Rudder deflection causes a skid and also causes a roll in the same direction the rudder is applied in.  Use the ailerons to counter this roll.  I believe this is called "Crabbing".  The plane flies side ways to some extent.

Good Luck!  

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Mino
The Wrecking Crew

[CavemanJ]

Actually Mino it's sideslipping or cross controled.  Crabbing has to do with turning the nose into the wind a little to maintain your ground track (wind @ 090 at 15, fly heading 010 to maintain a ground track of 360)

Crossing the controls will burn E very fast, so be very careful using it in combat.  It can land you in a spin real quick.

Speaking of spins, when you find yourself in one, neutralize the elevator and kick the rudder opposite of the spin (spinning to the right kick left rudder).  You may also have to add a little forward pressure on the stick.

[Ghosth]

Well Maniac the guys above pretty well covered it.

All I can add is that in 2 weeks your going to be wondering why you waited so long!

To me the single biggest advantage that rudders give you is in lineing up the shot.
(or pulling your fire from off target to on target)

You should see a big change there, just takes a week or 2 to get used to them.



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Maj Ghosth
XO 332nd Flying Mongrels