High Alpha

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Colonel
Posts: 3450
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:31 am

[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]

Note that the pilots always attempt to stop the
left yaw with aileron, with predictable results.

What I don't like about the above is the excessive
nose-high pitch attitude.  If you hold the column
all the way back (and trim full nose up) you can
actually end up in a level flight attitude, deeply
stalled.

Pitch attitude is not a proxy for AOA.  You can
have very high alpha without the nose up.  Or,
you can have the nose vertically up with zero
alpha.

Bonus video I am fond of:



Eric Janson
Posts: 412
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:31 am

Sad to see that people don't use the rudder anymore (or don't know how to use it correctly)...

Here's a High Alpha demonstration of various airbus fly-by-wire aircraft. Granted these are empty aircraft but still pretty impressive.

Colonel
Posts: 3450
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:31 am

[quote]High Alpha demonstration of various airbus[/quote]

I guessed wrong on your Paris airshow youtube clip - I
thought you were going to post the Air France lawnmower:

[youtube][/youtube]

21,000+ TT in the front two seats.

[quote]Official reports concluded that the pilots failed to see the forest[/quote]

How metaphorical.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/can-t- ... -the-trees
David MacRay
Posts: 1259
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2015 3:00 pm

Nasty, were there people in there? I'm guessing there were. It actually looked like some amazing slow flight, the computer should have done a HASEL check first.

Back to the top videos.. I think of how I finally noticed the strong desire to pick up the wing when it dropped, which of course just fully stalls it if you actually try.

After that flight, I was thinking about how I was treating the yoke too much like a steering wheel, instead of an aileron actuator. The poor wing isn't able to tell me. "I can't make lift with the air flowing this direction. No no no, that's worse! Try the foot rests."

I even liked the rudder before that, I like it even more now. I just don't fly enough, I notice my seat is pretty fair at detecting adverse yaw. It could use more practice.

I also notice the need to be more conscious about what the wing is doing and what direction the air is flowing past it. It's tough to consider, it is not just always coming straight at you the whole time, when you're still learning and thinking about other things. Because I fly in clear invisible air I can't see the change in angle of attack, I need to imagine/visualize it a little more.
Colonel
Posts: 3450
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:31 am

People that struggle with their landings generally
benefit from time spent at high alpha in the practice
area.

Precise control of the aircraft at slow speeds can
come in handy when you are close to the ground
at slow speed, about to come in contact with the
runway.
Eric Janson
Posts: 412
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:31 am

[quote author=David MacRay link=topic=4952.msg12720#msg12720 date=1480020805]
Nasty, were there people in there? I'm guessing there were. It actually looked like some amazing slow flight, the computer should have done a HASEL check first.[/quote]

Here's some more info:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_296

One thing airbus have done is increase the flight idle N1 setting on approach to allow a faster engine spin up.

My experience is that a lot of Pilots are afraid of the airbus fly-by-wire aircraft. That's one of the reasons I chose to start flying it - I wanted to see what all the commotion was about.

Colonel
Posts: 3450
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:31 am

I would be happy if pilots mastered the basics:

[youtube][/youtube]

I have been told for decades that such knowledge
and skill is archaic now that pilots are "systems
managers", but I'm not so sure.

It's funny how the "smart guys" are so often wrong.

The TC Inspectors that told me the above, have
today as much credibility as 90% of the media,
whom campaigned on behalf of the Clinton Machine.
cgzro

My motto: "Most People are Mostly Wrong about Most things Most of the Time".



Colonel
Posts: 3450
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:31 am

Thinking back, almost everything I was ever taught
was wrong.

Butter is bad for you.
Eggs are bad for you.
Aluminum pans are bad.
Ice bridging.
Flicker vertigo.
Impossible turn.
NDB approaches are good.
GPS is bad - don't use it for IFR.
Pilots don't need basic stick & rudder skills
Pilots don't need to know about systems, just checklists
Hiliary Clinton is going to be the next President
Donald Trump is going to cost the GOP the House and Senate

All bullshit.
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