{"id":3484,"date":"2015-07-31T13:44:54","date_gmt":"2015-07-31T20:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=3484"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:37:55","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:37:55","slug":"135-smoothosity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/135-smoothosity\/","title":{"rendered":"#135 “Smoothosity”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"IMG_1133\"<\/a>
(Photograph by Bert Garrison, www.aerialpixel.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Smoothosity is a condition that every good pilot knows how to exercise.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t always exercise it, though.\u00a0 Think of the difference between two different drivers as they negotiate the race course at Sears Point Raceway.\u00a0 One driver is at the wheel of a high-performance open-wheel formula one car.\u00a0 He drives fast and hard, finding the right line, accelerating and braking quickly at just the right time.\u00a0 The other driver is at the wheel of a completely different vehicle.\u00a0 He\u2019s driving a pickup truck and behind him is a horse trailer with a couple of horses peering out at the upcoming course.\u00a0 That driver has to drive for the horses behind him.\u00a0 After all, they are standing on a moving platform and the last thing he wants to do is to toss them around back there.\u00a0 So he drives with their comfort and stability foremost in his mind.\u00a0 He drives with smoothosity.\u00a0 He brakes smoothly a long way before the curve.\u00a0 He accelerates very carefully out of that curve which he takes at the largest turn radius he can.<\/h3>\n

Not too many pilots have horses in the back, but all of us have occasion to fly with a passenger.\u00a0 And that is why all of us must have the ability to fly with smoothosity.<\/h3>\n

Many have heard me mention Air Show pilot Ted Anderson.\u00a0 Ted was the best man at my wedding.\u00a0 But I\u2019m not here to excoriate him for that lapse in judgment.\u00a0 No, I\u2019m here to observe that Ted could execute a point roll in his Christen Eagle with a precision that many would envy.\u00a0 When Ted slammed into a point roll, that Eagle\u2019s roll would stop as suddenly as if the wingtip had abruptly collided with a brick wall.\u00a0 But with a passenger, he wouldn\u2019t fly that way.\u00a0 Very few riders should ever be subjected to the punishing surprise and jerking \u2018G\u2019 force of a point roll.\u00a0 Aerobatically, they will appreciate a graceful barrel roll far more.<\/h3>\n

In my training exercises with both primary students and those either taking my master class or getting a tailwheel endorsement, we do some pretty wild maneuvers.\u00a0 If I had a larger airplane, I would never expect anyone to want to ride through some of those maneuvers.\u00a0 My students enjoy them, but a rider would probably be uncomfortable.\u00a0 We should all be thinking about that on the occasion when we are flying with a passenger.\u00a0 The most common situation would be a simple crosswind landing.\u00a0 Remember that any flight which is not coordinated will be uncomfortable.\u00a0 So if you are going to perform the classic crab-to-slip crosswind technique, try to perform that transition at the last possible moment and with the maximum smoothosity you can muster.<\/h3>\n
\"Glider<\/a>
A pretty shallow bank for a glider in a thermal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Similarly, \u201cG\u201d force is normally uncomfortable for the passenger.\u00a0 A steep turn will very easily transport that tasty chili burger from tummy to instrument panel.\u00a0 That was a lesson that I learned only too well in the glider ride biz.\u00a0 As most pilots realize, gliders can remain aloft only be staying in lift.\u00a0 Much of that lift is found in thermals.\u00a0 Because those thermals are simply bubbles of rising air, the glider must be turned rather tightly in order to stay in the thermal and rise with it.\u00a0 That\u2019s the kiss o\u2019 death for the glider ride operation.\u00a0 Only the tiniest minority of passengers can handle that tight thermalling turn.\u00a0 We found that we were almost always better off to have a shorter, more enjoyable ride than to have our passengers lose their lunch on final.\u00a0 By the way, that\u2019s almost always when it happens\u2026 another 60 seconds and you would have made it!<\/h3>\n

I hope all pilots will take their responsibility to their passengers very seriously.\u00a0 It\u2019s a lot more important that your passenger enjoy a smooth ride than be subjected to hardcore maneuvers which do little more than demonstrate the pilot\u2019s ability to do them.<\/h3>\n

Just as virtually all non-flyers judge their pilot\u2019s skill solely on the smoothness of his landing, they will always think the most of the pilot who gives them a ride that\u2019s smooth.<\/h3>\n

Happy Swooping<\/h3>\n

Brian<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Smoothosity is a condition that every good pilot knows how to exercise.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t always exercise it, though.\u00a0 Think of the difference between two different drivers as they negotiate the race course at Sears Point Raceway.\u00a0 One driver is at the wheel of a high-performance open-wheel formula one car.\u00a0 He drives fast and hard, finding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[35,67,174,178],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}