Rudders, ailerons and elevators: daft question time

[Nigel Jackson]

Hello All

Time for some daft questions.....

In the cabinets in front of me there are eight 1/48 Great War aircraft and  five 1/48 World War II British fighters, together with a Roden 1/32 Sopwith Triplane threatening to be finished. They all have certain things in common: perfectly straight rudders, ailerons and elevators; not a droop in sight, not a scale inch out of line Unrealistic I know but it has just been my way of doing things.

However, to quote a song title from a Byrds album, 'Change is now'...... as I venture soon into WNW territory

So, here's the daft questions

1. If the rudder is angled slightly to port, is the left of the rudder bar in the cockpit pushed forward slightly or, is the cabling more sophisticated than that and maybe even variable from aircraft type to aircraft type?
2. If the elevators droop slightly is it likely that we would see a slight forward inclination of the control column?
3. If the ailerons droop slightly would anything be noticeable in terms of control equipment in the cockpit?

How anyone can have reached my age without knowing the answers beggars belief but ...

I have another Eduard Sopwith Camel aileron question but I'll try and find the right thread for that.


Thanks
Nigel

[IvotB]

Uhm,

Let me get this straigth:

Rudder control are the foot pedals. Right foot forward means aircraft will turn left and rudder will move to the left. Control cables will cross eachother between the cockpit and the rudder.

Elevator down means control column (stick) moves forward. Control cables will cross eachother too.

Ailerons always move in opposite directions: left wing up, then right wing down. If the control column (stick) moves to the right side the plane will bank right, the left aileron will move down and the left aileron up. I am not sure if this was applied to the ww1 planes already, but the movements of the ailerons are not equal. The downward movement should always be less than the upward movement. This is necessary, because in a curve the outward wing, with the downward aileron will move upwards and would result in too much air resistance as the outward wing moves faster as the inward. (I might be unclear in the description, but I hope you will understand my awkward english here.)

An example




Left rudder pedal forward, richt rudder pedal backward, control column forward and to the left. In the air this will result in a side slip when the rudder and the ailerons work in the opposite direction, I would also add a little up elevator then rather than down, but that is in flight.

regards,
Ivo

[Des]

Ailerons

Ailerons are mounted on the trailing edge of each wing near the wingtips and move in opposite directions. When the pilot moves the stick left, or turns the wheel counter-clockwise, the left aileron goes up and the right aileron goes down. A raised aileron reduces lift on that wing and a lowered one increases lift, so moving the stick left causes the left wing to drop and the right wing to rise. This causes the aircraft to roll to the left and begin to turn to the left. Centering the stick returns the ailerons to neutral maintaining the bank angle. The aircraft will continue to turn until opposite aileron motion returns the bank angle to zero to fly straight.

Elevators

An elevator is mounted on the trailing edge of the horizontal stabilizer on each side of the fin in the tail. They move up and down together. When the pilot pulls the stick backward, the elevators go up. Pushing the stick forward causes the elevators to go down. Raised elevators push down on the tail and cause the nose to pitch up. This makes the wings fly at a higher angle of attack, which generates more lift and more drag. Centering the stick returns the elevators to neutral and stops the change of pitch.

Rudder

The rudder is typically mounted on the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer, part of the empennage. When the pilot pushes the left pedal, the rudder deflects left. Pushing the right pedal causes the rudder to deflect right. Deflecting the rudder right pushes the tail left and causes the nose to yaw to the right. Centering the rudder pedals returns the rudder to neutral and stops the yaw.


Des.

[Nigel Jackson]

Hello All

Thanks for the info. which has made things a lot clearer

There is one further aileron question which I posted elsewhere but has yet to attract a response and it's about the Eduard Camel, so with your indulgence I'll try here too, though paraphrased.


I'm busy building the profiPACK Wonca Bonka and construction has been held up by an aileron query: something is seriously under nourished. It's a bit difficult to explain but if I put the ailerons in place with what I would have thought to be a reasonably realistic tiny gap between wing and aileron, the trailing edge of the wing extends much further back than that of the aileron. yet if I line the trailing edge of the aileron with that of the wing then there is a ridiculous gap between the two at the front end.

Can anyone pinpoint the error and the best remedial action?

Best wishes
Nigel