Rudder Direction - Basic Piloting Question

[jordanal 70]

OK, let me ask a real newbee-type question. Having never operated a real aircraft, when viewed from within the cockpit, when I push forward (away from me) the right rudder pedal, in which direction does the nose of the aircraft steer/yaw? (I don't have dedicated tiller hardware ATT).This question came up in a related thread with Pete Downson and I can't beleive I may have had the rudder-direction reversed all these years.

[SAS263 1]

Pressing down the right pedal will cause the nose to swing to the right and vice versa.Don

[jordanal 70]

Thank you for confirming. Don't I feel like a fool after all these years with FS. That's a gonna take a while to correct my natural reaction.

[downscc 1,327]

Al, why not try an introductory flight at a local flight school? Go up in a C152 and you'll discover rudder immediately. After you feel it, it becomes automatic. The rudder is usually a "corrective" control instead of a "directive." What I mean by this is that the normal application of rudder is to compensate for adverse yaw, rather than to initiate a maneuver such as aileron or elevator. I've heard of many Air Force jet jocks that learned what a rudder was really for when they went down to the base aero club and went for a ride in the C-150/152, which demands lots of foot action.I remember the flight instructor had me in a straight and level flight and told me to spot something on the horizon before starting the turn. With no rudder, the nose moves in the opposite direction of the turn on the horizon or stays at the same spot for a moment before starting to turn... then with too much rudder the nose moves ahead of the turn on the horizon. I learned coordinated turns this way. Once I could see slips and skids then I started learning how it should feel and it became second nature.This is almost impossible to appreciate in a PC simulator.

[jordanal 70]

Not a bad idea there Dan and Chrsitmas is coming up and I'm sure the wife will be nagging me for ideas soon enough. Since new hardware to burn cash on is somewhat at a standstill this season, maybe I'll ask for a gift certificate to take such a check ride.Thanks again all, I'm still awefully embarased, LOL...

[Guest ColdBear]

Dan,On light aeroplanes you realy need to work your legs! But on the A320 we hardly use it in normal operations. We use it to track the runway centerline, to decrab doing crosswind and doing engine failure without the A/P.....with the A/P the A320 will trim it self, also the rudder :)Martin

[michal 44]

Also, your right wing will slightly drop too - your aircraft will slightly roll to the right.Michael J.http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9320/apollo17vf7.jpg