PLC

I'm a newbie here, investigating the envelope in my IBIS (High wing, 10 hrs of fuel, Rotax 100hp, 600kg MTOW, 2 POB). I've never done any simulator time since a few hours with the MS product, but to be honest, I found it boring. I have flown Weight Shift, Gyrocopter and fixed wing - total time only 620 hours though. I saw on Google: "How much do you use the rudder pedals". This is important to me because ONLY THE PEDALS, USED ALONE will get you out of a (real) spin, and my view is that can only mean that pedals used alone obviously can't put you into a spin. Surely? So, I generally fly on rudder alone. Trim ailerons for balance (the wing tanks don't draw equally from both sides), trim elevator and throttle for straight and level, HANDS OFF THE YOKE, trim the rudder so we fly straight even with feet off. Then I'll fly hundreds of miles, through the valleys even, with the lightest touch on the pedals. Yes, I yaw into the turns - but GENTLY thus giving the outer wing time to become the faster, more lift, and we bank into the turn with the ball pretty much centred. Maybe shorter wings show this effect less, but I'm convinced it's always there - see 'secondary effects of the controls'. Yes, if we rudder quickly out of the turn the plane gets a bit unbalanced, but that's EXACTLY the sort of unbalance you need to get out of a spin! I believe the mantra "You have to fly balanced" is b*llsh*t - look at the 'stall turn' - the ball is jammed hard against the downward stop! Balanced turns are great to avoid the passengers in 1st Class spilling their Bollinger, but if you are too slow, levelling up with the ailerons can too readily stall the low wing and flick you over, but levelling up with the rudder never will. And, here's a thought - how many simulator 'fliers' when coming in to land from a circuit join, "spin out" when turning to final? It's all too common in real life. If nobody has this problem, I would have to doubt the reality of the simulation. The solution (which, once more, no instructor will recommend) is, as well as favouring the rudder, to make your glide a little steeper in the turn thus countering the additional drag and avoiding stalling the inner wing. Why not just add throttle? Because one day (hopefully never, but let's be prepared) life may force you to do a dead-stick landing with a useless throttle, and better a dead stick than a dead crew! Do I ever use the ailerons? Yes, for take-off and landing, steep climbs and dives, lazy-8, throwing the plane around in 3-dimensions, and I leave my hand on the yoke in heavy turbulence, but I LEAD with the rudder, and balance WITH THE AILERONS. I believe that provides the best spin avoidance. I agree fully with the comments on 'real flying' from jcom and Hook. Even instructors can't tell the difference in the behaviour of the plane if you lead with the rudder. All my flight is treated as a continuous power-on stall, in other words, but much further from the critical AOA, with aileron added in complex situations and when I am doing a flight test! As a matter of interest, does the simulator permit a lazy-8 (or linked wing-overs) with the wings going 90 degrees to the horizon? I am glad I don't fly a desk (oops, simulator) because I depend so much on the vibration of the airframe, the pressure of the seat, that thump right through your body when you are hit by a savage upthrust, the sight of your notebook falling upwards out of your pocket when you are hit by a downdraft, and the adrenalin kick when you suddenly find you are leaning on the door, the horizon straight up-and-down the windshield pillar, because an off-centre rotor has thrown you over and there is about 0.5 second left for you to "kick for the sky". In those conditions you fly down nearer the stall point, so that heavy gusts will stall the wings rather than tearing them off (I'm not joking) and to aileron up through 90 degrees will definitely spin you. Do try flying the simulator through foehn winds and clear air rotor in strong gusts across a mountain range, and then get some time being taken for a ride there in a real plane. Even the airlines with VERY clever simulators, are now seriously considering having their pilots do real-world 'unusual attitude' flying, but I can only guess at their reasons. Having said that, I'm sure modern simulators are fascinating and a great deal of fun - I'm not knocking them, far from it, but I suspect they have a way to go!