Skiplane weathervaning скачать в хорошем качестве

Skiplane weathervaning

Video of from flying today. Wind was straight down the runway, but gusting 20-25 mph, and very turbulent. At the end of the video as the Luscombe rolls out (slides out?) you will see it turn in circles. Classic problem with skiplanes is no brakes to help turn the airplane out of the wind. The plane wants to weathervane and stay pointed into the wind, and it takes some finesse to maintain enough momentum to keep the airplane turning. The problem is if the turn is too fast, then the twisting loads on the skis are very high and can wrench the gear out of the fuselage or maybe snap an axle. So, sometimes the tradeoff is to do some circles until the plane gets pointed into the right direction. It helps to take advantage of the prop P-factor and plan all turns to the right. Sometimes the co-pilot has to get out of the plane to physically push it around the turn. I had to send my kid out to push on a strut as a couldn't maneuver in a straight line up to the hangar. A very physical day of flying, and my arms were tired from the wind and turbulence, shoveling snow and pushing and pulling the bird out of the hangar.