Warbird Aerobatics

[ZRX61]

Where/when was that A26 crash in the vid link? The one that grenades the right engine on take off etc.

[Dave Hadfield]

Restriction of the stick movement due to foreign objects can be heart-stopping.

I nearly lost a Tiger Moth 2 years ago. The passenger was a large gent with a big gut. He also brought a long-lens camera on a long strap. (You can already see where this is leading.) The control check before takeoff was fine -- I could feel his stomach on the stick, but only at the most extreme aft movement.

But what I didn't realize is that the camera was in his hands at that point. Later, as I came into the flare, he had dropped his camera, which now hung by a strap. Low. Very low. Too low! And thus as I brought the stick back to arrest my rate of descent, it ran into his camera and was blocked from further movement, the camera being perched on his gut. Achhh! I had to punch the stick left-back-right to wiggle it around the camera, whereupon it gained another 4 inches of aft movement and I was able to flare.

Looked horrible from the ground. (Felt worse from the rear seat.)

I now do my control checks a bit differently. I bring the stick full back, and THEN move it laterally for aileron movement. This forces the passenger to physically move his/her legs apart, and makes it forcefully clear what range of movement may be required. (Often I hear a squawk. Too bad.)



As for kneeboards, I checked out in a P-40 this summer and decided not to use one. With the big hydraulic hand-pump lever on the right side, and the gear and flap levers requiring full hand access to the left side, there just isn't room.

I laminated a checklist into a flip-booklet, bound at the top with tie-wraps, and stuff it under my leg, or in the map case.

Dave

[flyride]

I agree, any binding on the stick can be heart-stopping. Of course, it only happens in the situation where you need it the most.

In a tight cockpit, there can be other problems, even without a kneeboard or spurious items floating around in the cockpit. I sometimes fly a particular experimental type; at full left aileron deflection, full forward stick to full aft stick ---just--- interferes with the mixture control. I have yet to encounter the necessity for that particular control input in flight, but I do keep it in mind when maneuvering.

The same aircraft's cockpit is tight enough that at full opposite rudder deflection, there isn't quite enough room for your leg at full aileron. Most people, (formerly including yours truly) do not combine rudder and aileron during a controls check. Of course the first time I tried to land it in a high crosswind, it got exciting, to say the least.