Stick and Rudder

[NeedSpace]

I am a new pilot with about 90 hours of flight time (the last 5 hours being over the last 10 years). I am returning to it and bring my proficiency back up to speed. My original instructor was great but fairly young. My new instructor is a grumpy older instructor. While his affect is rather blunt and unfriendly, I am learning a lot; both things I have forgotten and things I hadn't learned yet. He is very old school.

I thought I had fairly good control of the rudder; still knowing I needed to learn more finesse. Now however, I am starting to understand what I was missing. For the first time I am becoming aware of what an uncoordinated flight "feels" like in the seat of my pants rather than simply relying on the ball (turn coordinator).

That said, I am curious if some pilots could weigh in regarding mastering the rudder. What was the experience like for you? Did it come naturally immediately? Was there an "ah-ha" moment? What did you (or your instructor) do to help you understand the proper use of a rudder? Are there and tricks or techniques you would recommend to help further this along? Now with all your experience, do you ever look at the ball or do you just feel it?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Comes with experience. Fly light planes - as light as you can find (C150 or Decathlon are both really good) to really develop the feel. It's less of an issue in bigger, heavier aircraft and less obvious sometimes when things are not perfectly coordinated.

[widgeon13]

Take some instruction in a tail wheel aircraft, money well spent.

[NeedSpace]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Comes with experience. Fly light planes - as light as you can find (C150 or Decathlon are both really good) to really develop the feel. It's less of an issue in bigger, heavier aircraft and less obvious sometimes when things are not perfectly coordinated.

I think I am well setup then. I am using a Cessna 162 SkyCatcher. Plane is a lot of fun...and light! 1320lbs! My old c152 was 1670! 350 lbs difference.

[Mrmerlin]

if you want to play around you can fly the plane with power and rudder,

trim for a certain airspeed say 80 KTS ,
then use the rudders to turn and power to climb and descend.

NOTE use only enough rudder to establish a bank of 10 degrees or less,
your turns will be wider but the plane will turn,
use the rudder to steepen or decrease the bank.
Use the power to establish climbs or descents

NOTE hold the ailerons neutral

[p911dad]

Back in my flight instructor days it was common for the instructor to advise the primary student to "step on the ball', in other words, in a turn add a little rudder on the side the ball is favoring. Ball off to the left side, add some left rudder and so on.

An uncoordinated turn is either a slip or a skid. In a right turn, if the ball rolls to the left, you are skidding (kind of like oversteer in a car, with the tail hanging out) and to bring the plane back into coordinated flight some left rudder is needed. An unintentional slip in a right turn will have the plane crabbed with the tail right of the centerline of the turn radius. Adding some right rudder will correct this condition.

Eventually the proper use of the rudder will become second nature and your inner ear will notify you of uncoordinated flight by making you have the "seat of the pants" sensation of discomfort. So keep at it and in awhile it will no longer be an issue with your flying.

[john70t]

(from the comments)

Flying the Skycatcher: My Review of the Cessna 162
"It is very affected by wind and the pilot must use his/her hands and feet on the controls and the throttle. I disagree with Todd in that the aileron travel is the limiting factor in a crosswind. The aileron response is very good I have found that you can run out of rudder travel. I love the plane but there have been several days that I taxied out to the runway accessed the wind and taxied it back to the tiedown."

[Chas White]

Glider time. Good luck to you.

[recycled sixtie]

Way back in the 1970's I used to fly a Canso PBY5A. The ailerons were so big that if you made a left turn then the aircraft would turn to the right if you did not use left rudder. This is called aileron drag. To make a left turn you had to add left rudder to compensate for the aileron drag as well as inputting left aileron.

The amount of rudder you use depends a lot on the aircraft type and the circumstances you are in. The other extreme is a jet aircraft. To takeoff and land a jet you need to use some rudder in combination with the ailerons. Once the jet is in the air and cleaned up, you don't touch the rudder as it becomes way too sensitive.

[Nate2046]

How about some chandelles? They're part of the commercial curriculum but they're a good test of flying coordinated and getting comfortable with rudder use. For example with a chandelle to the left you're going to start out with left rudder and transition to right rudder by the completion of the turn in slow flight. I don't remember any of my students having a particular 'aha' moment with using the rudder, just a more gradual mastery with experience. Best of luck and don't tell your instructor you went to the internet for advice

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandelle