{"id":2158,"date":"2013-08-16T05:54:31","date_gmt":"2013-08-16T12:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=2158"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:37:57","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:37:57","slug":"76-that-damned-flat-turn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/76-that-damned-flat-turn\/","title":{"rendered":"#76 That Damned Flat Turn"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was thinking about this the other day.\u00a0 I certainly didn\u2019t intend to be someone to whom people would go to learn things that they couldn\u2019t seem to learn anywhere else.\u00a0 In fact, I don\u2019t think I am.\u00a0 I think there are other instructors all over the world who teach the type of flying that I do.\u00a0 They might not approach it the same way, but they all do what they can to encourage their students to be better than it takes to meet \u201cminimum standards\u201d.\u00a0 I guess we\u2019re outnumbered by all those instructors at all those \u201cAcme Flying Schools\u201d which use low-time, unimaginative instructors to teach by the FAA-written book and crank out bunches of pilots just like the narrator in Bach\u2019s \u201cFound at Pharisee\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Cub<\/a>
The 100 HP J-3 Cub with which I did comedy maneuvers for fourteen years<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But in my musings, I found myself going back to figure out how I ended up doing what I do.\u00a0 I guess it all started with airshow comedy flying.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t particularly good.\u00a0 I\u2019ve always told people who asked that, although I may have been the worst aerobatic pilot in the airshow industry, I think I may have been the best dog trainer.\u00a0 And my comedy act depended on a Border Collie to round up a bunch of ducks after I smacked into their big cardboard box with my 100 hp Cub.\u00a0 But any airshow comedy pilot depends on a routine which includes some goofy flying, much of it with the airplane \u201ccrossed up\u201d and flying in a very uncoordinated state.\u00a0 It was that damned flat turn that started the whole thing.<\/p>\n

A flat turn is initiated by shoving one rudder pedal to the floor and using aileron to keep the wings level.\u00a0 That starts a flat turn.\u00a0 Lots of power is usually required to maintain altitude in that configuration and sensitivity to elevator is kind of important to avoid a spin.\u00a0 Really, it\u2019s strictly a show-biz maneuver.\u00a0 There is absolutely no reason to ever do it for any other reason than to entertain.\u00a0 But once I started getting reasonably good at flying a comedy routine with that flat turn as its centerpiece, local pilots began to drift in and ask me about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you do that flat turn?\u201d they\u2019d ask, although it seemed pretty obvious to me.\u00a0 Pretty soon I was giving some dual instruction after the shows.\u00a0 It seemed that the practice of airshow comedy flying had developed certain skills that others wanted to acquire.<\/p>\n

A lot of time has passed since those early days of flight instruction, but I have to give credit to airshow comedy flying in general and that flat turn in particular for starting the current Stick and Rudder Master Class and the Tailwheel Endorsement courses that I spend so much time with now.<\/p>\n

\"Copy<\/a>
“The Border Collie died years ago. The grease paint is gone.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ironically, the skid, which is the condition that flat turn is based on, is rarely practiced in the instruction I give now.\u00a0 My current courses are based largely on safety and making sure that my students handle an airplane with the proficiency that\u2019s necessary to keep them safe and in control.\u00a0 A skidding stall is the basic condition leading to most inadvertent spins.\u00a0 I teach my students how to recognize it and I don\u2019t encourage its practice other than during dual instruction.<\/p>\n

The Border Collie died years ago.\u00a0 The grease paint is gone.\u00a0 The helmet and goggles hang on a hook in my living room.\u00a0 But I still have that flat turn in my bag o\u2019 tricks.<\/p>\n

And every once in a while, when I\u2019m by myself and turning base to final, I\u2019ll mash that rudder and level the wings.\u00a0 The plane will slide sideways onto its short final and just for a moment I\u2019ll be a comedy pilot once more.<\/p>\n

Happy Swooping<\/p>\n

Brian<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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