July 2012
The early days of flying were the toughest. In the early 20th century, people began taking to the skies at a time when humanity was still in the learning process about the pure physics of lift, weight, drag and thrust. By trial and error, you might have learned things like adding a little top rudder to make sure you don’t overbank, or adding some elevator in the turn so as not to lose altitude.
With this rudimentary knowledge, it’s not surprising that airplanes crashed at alarming rates. Talk to the really old-timers and you’ll find folks who can tell you about the 17 times they’ve had an engine quit or made a precautionary landing when things were looking tough. Stick and rudder skills were the core of every flight lesson.
In the mid-1940s, when World War II ended, thousands of men came home with wings on their uniforms. With the exception of bomber pilots, these Army Air Corpsmen flew airplanes with sticks as opposed to yokes, and the airplane companies who were courting this abundance of pilots puts sticks in the cockpit. In addition, the fabled book “Stick and Rudder: An Explanation of the Art of Flying” by Wolfgang Langewiesche was published in 1944.
In those good old days, for example, just about zero airplanes were instrument-capable. If pilots couldn’t see, they didn’t fly. The now-infamous “VFR flight into IMC” accident was rare. Pilots often made precautionary landings when encountering conditions that made the progress of the flight unsafe. They might set down in farmer’s field, on a stretch of highway, or just about any other place they imagined their airplane could safely fit.
I once talked to an octogenarian pilot who told me about the day the weather closed in and he had to make a precautionary landing, but there was no suitable landing spot. He finally committed to landing in a field with rows of stone fences spaced every few hundred feet—not enough room to get his airplane down and stopped. So he intentionally bounced his landing, nudging his airplane back into the air, and over each fence, until he could come to a full stop.
Could you do that today? Probably not… because today’s pilots are not becoming experts at stick and rudder skills as much as they are learning to operate a flight system.
If you are getting checked to fly a modern, Technically Advanced Aircraft (TAA), you will quite likely be told to switch on the autopilot shortly after rotation. The supersmart avionics suite takes over and flies a preselected heading or intercepts the first waypoint of your programmed flight plan, pausing briefly to show you altitudes of the surrounding terrain as well as other airplanes sharing your airspace. Your GPS and your autopilot take over running the show, and the pilot’s job is to oversee the work they’re doing.
Well, gee, this airplane flies like any other, you’re told, and that the real trick to flying this TAA is learning to operate the glass panel and the plethora of gizmos and gadgets on board. Truer words have n’er been spoken. But what about the “flies like any other airplane” comment? Yes, inasmuch as any airplane requires some modicum of stick and rudder skills.
Can you put the nosewheel directly on the centerline while landing in a stiff crosswind? Takes good stick and rudder skills.
Did you know that an uncoordinated turn puts you at a greater risk for a stall/spin accident?
Ever want to try some aerobatics? Sloppy stick and rudder skills can mean the difference between a good flight and playing lawn darts with your airplane.
Wanna fly into the backcountry? Trying to land on a one-way dirt strip that has no go-around is probably not something you want your autopilot to do.
For you folks who occasionally fly the heavy iron, you don’t get to scoff at stick and rudder skills just because you’ve got so much power at your fingertips. You cannot power your way through being turned inverted by crossing into wake turbulence. It takes piloting skills that likely require a combination of inputs from your hands and your feet.
I remember reading a story once about an airliner that had fuel flow problems and was going to crash. The pilot aimed the airplane right between two big trees. The impact knocked the wings off, but the brunt of the crash was absorbed by the trees. And all the passengers survived. Can your flight management system (FMS) do that? Of course not. That pilot had great stick and rudder skills.
Some of us have enough hours logged that we might try and fool ourselves regarding the currency of our skills. Ever told anyone that flying is like riding a bicycle? Once you learn, that’s it; you’re good.
Well, the truth is, flying isn’t like riding a bicycle. It’s more like playing golf. Long periods without practice will really spoil your handicap.
To keep yourself current in terms of flying the airplane, there are number of things you can blend in your next hundred-dollar hamburger flight:
1. Steep turns
Do a 60-degree bank without losing or gaining altitude. You might be surprised how much rudder work is required to keep the airplane coordinated.
2. Stalls
While it may seem like child’s play to the experienced pilot, try stalling the airplane and holding it there (without letting it spin). As the aircraft burbles, work on direction control with the rudders, not the ailerons.
3. Crosswind takeoffs and landings
Go out and intentionally practice. Nothing requires more coordination of aileron and rudder than crosswind situations.
4. Slow flight
Getting recent experience in slow flight will likely improve your landings skills almost immediately.
5. Dutch rolls
Pin the nose on the horizon as you roll the airplane back and forth using both rudder and aileron.
If you have access to an airplane capable of aerobatics, grab yourself a good aerobatic instructor and head to the box. Here’s a list of great stick and rudder skill builders:
1. Aileron rolls/Hesitation rolls
This is a great rudder/aileron coordination drill for every pilot.
2. Loops
The ultimate trainer, requiring sensitivity to all controls—even the throttle.
In addition to aerobatics, getting advanced training is a perfect way to make your stick and rudder practice fun. Learn to fly on skis if you can. Those new skills will emphasize setting the airplane down in a well-coordinated configuration. Another great teacher is a floatplane rating. Both of these activities will put you through the drills of flying your aircraft correctly, especially in the landing phase (where you’re the closest to the ground).
The national average on the number of hours pilots take to earn a private pilot certificate has not changed over the last decade, but the aircraft have. If we all agree that pilots have to spend more time learning a more complex, technologically advanced instrument panel and related flight systems, that can only mean we’re spending less time training pilots on the very basic skills required for safe operation. Get thee some practice, lest Langewiesche be rolling over in his grave.
Screenwriter, philanthropist and good guy Lyn Freeman has been writing aviation articles since before John Glenn joined the Marines. He is the former editor of Plane & Pilot magazine, founder and current chairperson of the Build-a-Plane organization, a master scuba diver, a championship table tennis player and an all-around Renaissance man. Send questions or comments to editor@piperflyer.org.
