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  • Chapter 5: Aerodynamics of Flight › Wingtip Vortices › Avoiding Wake Turbulence

    touch down after the point at which the other aircraft wheels contacted the runway. [Figure 5-14] A hovering helicopter generates a down wash from its main rotor(s) similar to the vortices of an airplane. Pilots of small aircraft ... should avoid a hovering helicopter by at least three rotor disc diameters to avoid the effects of this down wash. In forward flight, this energy is transformed into a pair of strong, high-speed trailing vortices similar to wing…

  • Chapter 5: Aerodynamics of Flight › Aerodynamic Forces in Flight Maneuvers › Forces in Turns

    straight line until acted on by some other force. An aircraft, like any moving object, requires a sideward force to make it turn. In a normal turn, this force is supplied by banking the aircraft so that lift is exerted…

  • Chapter 6: Flight Controls › Flight Control Systems › V-Tail

    pushing the left pedal, the rudder moves left. This alters the airflow around the vertical stabilizer/rudder and creates a sideward lift that moves the tail to the right and yaws the nose of the airplane to the left. Rudder effectiveness…

  • Chapter 5: Aerodynamics of Flight › Aircraft Design Characteristics › Directional Stability (Yawing)

    size, the greater the aircraft’s directional stability. If an aircraft is flying in a straight line, and a sideward gust of air gives the aircraft a slight rotation about its vertical axis (i.e., the right), the motion is retarded…

  • Chapter 5: Aerodynamics of Flight › Basic Propeller Principles › Corkscrew Effect

    takeoffs and approaches to power-on stalls), this spiraling rotation is very compact and exerts a strong sideward force on the aircraft’s vertical tail surface. [Figure 5-48] When this spiraling slipstream strikes the vertical fin, it causes…

  • Appendix C: Accident Case Studies › Accident Profile 3 › Risk Identification, Assessment, and Mitigation

    takeoff zone resulted in a normal takeoff and climb that did not provide safe clearance during climb out. A hovering takeoff and climb also might have been hazardous at night in a dark environment. External pressures relate to the pilot…