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Gyroscopic precession

Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 2:46 am
by vanNostrum
Right rudder....right rudder.. :shock:


Re: Gyroscopic precession

Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 3:52 pm
by Colonel
That's really complicated. If you ride a motorcycle, or fly an airplane, all you need to know
is that there is a 90 degree lag in the force applied to a spinning disc, in the direction of
rotation.


I'm sitting in a metal-blade prop taildragger, about to take off. The prop is turning clockwise
viewed from the rear, where I am. When I raise the tail, that's the same as pushing on the TOP
of the prop disc.

With the 90 degree lag, the prop disc going to act as if I was pushing on the right side of the
prop disc. That makes the nose go left, so I'm going to need right rudder on takeoff.

As a pilot, I don't really need to know WHY or even HOW. I just need to know WHAT something
is going to do, in response to input. It can be very useful to view something as a "black box"
with respect to outputs that result from inputs.

Engineers worry about HOW. They want to see inside the black box. That's your video's audience,
I think.

Philosophers and theologians worry about WHY. You don't need to worry about WHY. You
will sleep better at night if you don't.

Re: Gyroscopic precession

Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 7:39 pm
by vanNostrum
What a handful must have been to fly some of the WW1 fighters
like the Camel, with a 350 lb rotary engine in the nose of a 900 lb airframe

Re: Gyroscopic precession

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2020 8:08 pm
by Colonel
My grandfather said that World War One biplanes were pieces of shit.

I have no reason to doubt him.