Author Topic: Flying without vertical stabilizer  (Read 358 times)

Offline MachFly

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Flying without vertical stabilizer
« on: March 13, 2010, 11:50:22 PM »
Today I was flying offline on the Fokker Dr.1 and got hit by the ack. Lost my left middle wing, left horizontal stabilizer/elevator, and the vertical stabilizer/rudder. Not only I was able to continue flying after that but was also able to turn and maneuver.

Have the video if needed.
"Now, if I had to make the choice of one fighter aircraft above all the others...it would be, without any doubt, the world's greatest propeller driven flying machine - the magnificent and immortal Spitfire."
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flew Spitfires, Hurricanes, P-51s, P-47s, and F-4s

Offline Enker

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Re: Flying without vertical stabilizer
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2010, 12:49:51 AM »
I would think that it isn't that impossible to fly without a vertical stabilizer, as these engines aren't nearly as strong as the WWII engines, combined with that gyroscopic effect and the fact that the fuselage adds stability in the yaw axis. I did the same thing in a F.2B and had horrible yawing with each pitch correction, like in the Camel, but worse.
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Offline MachFly

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Re: Flying without vertical stabilizer
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2010, 12:16:49 PM »
I would think that it isn't that impossible to fly without a vertical stabilizer, as these engines aren't nearly as strong as the WWII engines, combined with that gyroscopic effect and the fact that the fuselage adds stability in the yaw axis. I did the same thing in a F.2B and had horrible yawing with each pitch correction, like in the Camel, but worse.

WWI planes are light, and have a heavy engine with a lot of torque. That's impossible.
"Now, if I had to make the choice of one fighter aircraft above all the others...it would be, without any doubt, the world's greatest propeller driven flying machine - the magnificent and immortal Spitfire."
Lt. Col. William R. Dunn
flew Spitfires, Hurricanes, P-51s, P-47s, and F-4s