basic flying 101

I'm working on story involving WWI flyers and being a non-pilot, need some technical assistance. I'm sure different aircraft are flown differently depending on a number of variables, but generally speaking, what are the basic maneuvers to pull a WWI aircraft out of a spin ...assuming engine's on and pilot somewhat alive.

[Vigilant]

I imagine a tractor aeroplane would be easier to get out of a spin than a pusher, but the control inputs are the same to all machines:

1. Put the controls in neutral

2. Then put on full opposite rudder to the direction of the spin until you stop rotating

3. Then stick forward until you get both wings flying again

4. Then add in power as necessary to recover to level flight.

I hope this is right, I think the docile microlight I fly is almost impossible to spin - but if I am wrong I would like to be corrected for safety's sake!

Vig.

[Darryl]

Vig,

You are basically correct on spin recovery. Engine to idle is also a good idea to stop a rapid accelleration once out of the stall. It also removes the torque forces etc almost completely. Never use ailerons under any circumstances.

And for your safety's sake....a guy out here (instructor, 1000 odd hours)wanted to show his girlfriend what fun you could have in a flying deckchair (arms folded, minds above belts!) He was doing a series of steep turns when he stalled an outside wing and fell over into a sort of spin. It did not end happily.

"He ain't gonna jump no mor-or-re"

regards

Darryl

Vig, thanks for the info...much appreciated.

Z

[Vigilant]

Thanks for the tip about engine to idle. I think I would do it instinctively, but I couldn't think of a good reason when writing the thread to justify it!

Vig.

[Barrett]

Not necessarily applicable to Great War kites, but basically in today's world (grumble-grumble) airplanes want to fly, while many helicopters still want to tear themselves apart. It's now fairly widely taught that to recover from an "unnatural attitude" turn loose of the controls, bring throttle to idle, and sit with one's arms folded. Do not touch the controls. With enough altitude the plane most likely will at least go nose-down; maybe even wings level.
If you don't have enough altitude, of course, the preceding does not apply.
I thank you.

[Darryl]

Barrett,

Down here it is impossible to register an aircraft unless it goes nose down in a stall. Is it the same 'over there'?

The C152 won't stay in a spin without full back pressure and apparently won't spin inverted at all (but this correspondent wouldn't try that, too rich for mine)

regards

Darryl

I wouldn't argue with the spin recovery techniques described, but recovering a modern general aviation aircaft is an entirely different animal from any fighter aircraft, especially WWI types.

General aviation aircraft have designed in positive static stability, with CG's carefully maintained within a safe range relative to the MAC. That makes them wonderfully safe, but you sure wouldn't want to fight in one.

Fighter aircraft usually have stability that's barely positive, neutral, or with the advent of modern flight control computers, "relaxed". That's a euphamism for it'll kill you in a second if the computer dies.

CG locations on some of the WWI types would scare the bejeezus out of a modern general aviation pilot (like me). The bottom line is that many, especially the rotaries where there was this huge mass spinning away up front, were not nice friendly things to recover. So, if you're going to have your character spinning, he should be fighting it, while getting smacked about the cockpit in the process.

Just to further complicate things, if your character's flying a rotary it's not "throttle back," it's "switches off" or "fuel off". The former's more likely if he's in a panic, the latter more likely if he's been through this before.

It's an Avro 504 with a Gnome, it's the first time so he's definately "rattled".

Thanks for the detail...it helps.

Z