Yesterday, I wrote about the extremes \u2013 flying high or low, fast or slow.\u00a0 I like the extremes and feel as if the heart of the envelope could be, well, somewhat boring from the standpoint of flying.\u00a0 The main thing you are doing there is just going somewhere.\u00a0 This is why you have to substitute the fun of flying for the excitement of navigation.\u00a0 More on that in a later blog.<\/p>\n
So, teaching speed.\u00a0 If you are a young flight instructor, how do you help your students \u201cget it?\u201d\u00a0 What are the important points they should know about aircraft velocity?\u00a0 How does it relate to flying and aircraft loads and safety?<\/p>\n
First, we have to use a little correlation.\u00a0 Everyone who knows how to drive knows how to make a car go fast \u2013 you just mash on the gas pedal.\u00a0 In the airplane, you do the same thing; the pilot simply opens the throttle all the way by pushing the power lever all the way forward.\u00a0 On the highway, the car is going to go as fast as possible.\u00a0 In Florida, or on the dry lakebeds out west, the car will reach a maximum speed.\u00a0 On the level surface, you can only convert so much horsepower into speed.<\/p>\n
In the airplane, the same thing happens.\u00a0 When the pilot opens the throttle all the way, the airplane can only go so fast in level flight.\u00a0 However, here is where the airplane pilot has the advantage over the automobile driver. \u00a0If the airplane pilot has altitude, he or she can put the nose down and go faster. \u00a0In other words, they can dive the airplane to gain more speed if needed.<\/p>\n
The driver cannot pull that off in Florida or out on the lakebeds. \u00a0There are no hills, much less mountains.\u00a0 In the mountains, though, the driver can go downhill and travel faster than the car is capable in level travel.<\/p>\n
The opposite of this, of course, is going uphill.\u00a0 This is not possible for the driver in Florida or on the lakebeds; again, there are no hills or mountains.\u00a0 In the mountains, however, there is the condition of driving up climbing roads.\u00a0 The driver will soon discover the car is not able to travel uphill as fast as it can on level ground.\u00a0 The steeper the uphill slope, the more horsepower is required to climb, leaving less horsepower to convert to speed. \u00a0The exact same circumstance happens in the airplane.\u00a0 Only it is a little \u201cdifferent\u201d in the airplane than in the car.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the motorist trying to make it up a steep hill, the car will eventually run out of speed and stop.\u00a0 It will sit there on the side of the mountain and the motorist will set the brake, maybe turn off the engine, and then look around to enjoy the scenery.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the corollary scene in the airplane is a bit different.<\/p>\n
When the airplane pilot gets the nose going up too steeply, the airplane, like the car, will stop traveling uphill.\u00a0 Unlike the car, the airplane does not have a nice mountain road on which to sit on when it stops flying.\u00a0 It falls out of the sky.\u00a0 We airplane pilots call this a stall.\u00a0 (For those reading who are not airplane pilots, stalls in aviation refer to the wing ceasing to fly, rather than the engine ceasing to run.)<\/p>\n
Is a stall a big deal?\u00a0 No, not really, as long as there is plenty of space between the airplane and the ground for the pilot to start the airplane flying once more.\u00a0 To do this, it is simply a matter of lowering the nose and the airplane is flying again \u2013 right away!<\/p>\n
Now, as a young flight instructor, here is the truly important part of your job.\u00a0 You must first explain, and then show your students, stalls are not a big deal.\u00a0 Many student pilots and younger inexperienced pilots fear stalls.\u00a0 I was one of those.\u00a0 I did not like stalls at all.\u00a0 I had this fear of losing control of the airplane.<\/p>\n
In truth, you never really lose control of the airplane.\u00a0 Sitting in the cockpit with the stick or yoke held full aft, you regain aerodynamic control the moment<\/em> you move the stick or yoke forward.\u00a0 You are again in total control of the aircraft \u2013 you can choose when to fly and when to stall.\u00a0 When to fly fast, when to fly slow.<\/p>\n As I said, total control.<\/p>\n Tomorrow\u2019s blog will go more in depth into the technicalities.\u00a0 See you then.<\/p>\n -30-<\/p>\n \u00a9 2010 J. Clark<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday, I wrote about the extremes \u2013 flying high or low, fast or slow.\u00a0 I like the extremes and feel as if the heart of the envelope could be, well, somewhat boring from the standpoint of flying.\u00a0 The main thing … Continue reading