Avoiding Spins.
From reading the section on Recognizing an imminent
stall you will now have a good grasp on the indicators that let you know
when you are about to get into serious trouble. By knowing your limits
and backing off when you get close to them, you can avoid stalls altogether,
but this is made hard by the fact that you are usually turning hard for
a good reason. If you are chasing a bandit and need to pull hard
on the stick for just a few moments longer to put a burst into him, then
it is extremely difficult to discipline yourself to fly within the limits
of your aircraft when you only want "just a little bit more" than the airframe
is willing to give. The bottom line is that you must know the limits
of your aircraft, and never exceed them.
If you are pulling back hard on the stick and your turn rate starts to
drop, you simply have to ease off the stick and decrease the AOA.
This may mean that you miss a chance, but is was after all only that -
a chance. By going too far that chance is likely to swing the other
way in favour of your enemy.
Having said that, there are a couple things that you can do to increase
your turning performance and avoid entering a spin when you are already
"running on yellow"
Use of Flaps.
Flaps
are essential in most turning fights, because they lower the stalling speed
of the wing. This allows you to turn for a longer peroid of time
before the AOA becomes critical for your particular airspeed. Imagine
two identical aircraft are turning at the same speed and the same AOA,
one with full flaps, the other with none. As the turn continues and
airspeed bleeds of both aircraft, the one that doesn't have it's flaps
lowered will fall out of the sky first, while the one with its flaps down
can continue turning hard at a much lower airspeed. There are a few
things to beware of while using flaps though.
Flaps may give you a benefit in reducing the stalling speed, but that comes
at a cost. The price you pay is extra drag, so make sure that you
have the flaps retracted whenever you don't need them. Also make
sure that you don't damage your flaps by leaving them out while flying
at high speeds. If your flaps are fully extended and you forget to
retract them in a serious dive, they will get stuck, and will create extra
drag which makes it extremely hard to get back up to the high initial speed
that an energy fighter needs. It is a good practice to use flaps
whenever you get into a tight turning fight, but get into the habit of
retracting them as soon as you don't need them.
Note that flaps cannot be extended above 415 kmph (258 mph), and
will become damaged or stuck if you exceed 550 kmph (341 mph).
If your aircraft is equipped with combat flaps, they can't be damaged,
but 2/3 flaps or fully extended flaps at high speeds will still create
damage.
Use of the Rudder.
When you are turning hard and are near the critical AOA, but just need
a little bit longer and don't want to ease off the stick too much, if you
press gently on the rudder on the opposite side to the wing that is about
to stall, you will give yourself some extra time in the turn. In
effect, here you are executing a spin recovery by yawing the aircraft out
of a spin situation. Once again, this doesn't come without a price.
You won't be able to turn as fast as you were before, but is still beats
the hell out of going into a spin and losing the plot altogether.
I find that I do a lot of rudder work on instinct, and with some practice,
it all comes together quite naturally. You will have to experiment
with just how much rudder is required to keep you out of a spin, as too
little doesn't do the job, and too much will seriously affect your turning
rate/radius.
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