- Aug 24, 2000
- 4,153
- 4
- 81
Adverse yaw. Why?
Consider the example of a left handed bank:
Right aileron goes down and left goes up effectively increasing lift on the outer wing and creating more drag which would make the plane want to yaw right when trying to turn left... I get that. But wouldn't the left aileron going up also increase drag across the left wing by disrupting laminar flow over the top surface of the wing and thereby neutralize the adverse yawing effect or am I missing something?
Or, and maybe I'm answering my own question here... Consider the example of straight ahead flight where an increased angle of attack increases drag...
Does the adverse yaw have to to with how the down right aileron is effectively increasing the right wing angle of attack while the up left aileron is decreasing the left wing angle of attack?
I'm trying to wrap my head around it and hit the "I believe" button, it's just that OK, I'm sticking my left aileron up into the airstream. It's going to make drag, just maybe not enough to cancel out the drag on the other side of the aircraft when combined with the increased angle of attack?
I mean, I know it works this way or we wouldn't need rudders (unless it's a Grumman Tiger - that thing doesn't need hardly any rudder input)! I'm just trying to understand it all better.
Thanks,
-JR
Consider the example of a left handed bank:
Right aileron goes down and left goes up effectively increasing lift on the outer wing and creating more drag which would make the plane want to yaw right when trying to turn left... I get that. But wouldn't the left aileron going up also increase drag across the left wing by disrupting laminar flow over the top surface of the wing and thereby neutralize the adverse yawing effect or am I missing something?
Or, and maybe I'm answering my own question here... Consider the example of straight ahead flight where an increased angle of attack increases drag...
Does the adverse yaw have to to with how the down right aileron is effectively increasing the right wing angle of attack while the up left aileron is decreasing the left wing angle of attack?
I'm trying to wrap my head around it and hit the "I believe" button, it's just that OK, I'm sticking my left aileron up into the airstream. It's going to make drag, just maybe not enough to cancel out the drag on the other side of the aircraft when combined with the increased angle of attack?
I mean, I know it works this way or we wouldn't need rudders (unless it's a Grumman Tiger - that thing doesn't need hardly any rudder input)! I'm just trying to understand it all better.
Thanks,
-JR
