Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

2 Answers

Flight controls/surfaces behaviour in turbulence

Asked by: 3239 views , , ,
General Aviation

Have you ever noticed the flight surfaces, and thus the yoke, are deflected a considerable amount by turbulence, especially upwards/downwards gusts, of course assuming you not resist holding the yoke in place firmly?

I expect to be same changes in feel/pressure, but to deflect the yoke considerable? How have you experienced?

I use to fly in pretty good weather and I haven't notice the yoke to want to deflect on its own if I let it free when the wing is hitted by a gust or so. But I think it depends a lot on gust intensity, thus I don't use to fly in bad weather, I think this is the reason I haven't noticed it.

I figure out when the wing encounters a draft the ailerons might cancel each other the opposite deflection due to inertia, but what about the elevator? There's nothing to cancel it out in this case. Or even in the aileron case, is the inertia too low to notice a considerable deflection?

Thanks!		  

 

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

2 Answers



  1. Andres on Jan 24, 2013

    Thats why jets have sweep back wings. Swept back wings develop less lift at low speeds, thats why they must flaps, slats, and slots. Thus flying at a specified speed by the manufacturer (usually lower speed than cruise), called turbulent/air penetration speed, airplanes do not suffer structural damage in turbulence, and also develop less lift but with less lift comes less turbulence. Imagine passing a speed bumb with a stiff suspension at 40mph and at 150. You will certainly jump higher at 150.
    Of course severe turbulence may damage the structure. When certifying the airplanes they bend the wings until they brake, every wing of every airplane has broken at certain angle and strength except the 787 due the composite materials.

    And always the basics, keep attitude and wings leveled allowing changed in altitude and speed. Little changes though.

    Hope it helps bud!

    -1 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 1 Votes



  2. SteveJeff on Jan 27, 2013

    The idea was not if turbulence might damage the surfaces but to find out if surfaces, and implicitly the controls/yoke, tend to deflect themself in (moderate) turbulence. So, have you experienced this?

    Thanks so much!

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.