I digress.......
I can see the cogs of a thousand minds cranking 'round. - and I'm scared to
take part.....
First of all, definition: I learned early that the angle between the
wing centreline and the stabilizer centreline was called the Rigger's Angle
of Incidence. In aircraft of the day, this was fixed by the designer. Thus,
the trim tab had its effect to reposition the elevator and thus change the
shape of the horizontal tail. This in turn revised the up- or down-tendency
of the horizontal tail section. What happened to the R'sA of I,? Nothing..
Now, put in the F86 'flying tail' which we have - and its
confusions, and I doubt we are all talking about the same thing.
Modern machines divine the proper trim position every second and little
motors are forever humming away to keep the aircraft in permanent but
adjustable trim - thus simplifying. the task for monkeys. Push on the stick
and the whole argument goes out the door. I leave it to others.
One question on a qualification exam (to get promoted) said:
"You are flying the Chief of the Air Staff who is in the back seat of your
Harvard (T-6, SNJ). He does not answer you. You look around and the seat is
empty. What is the first thing you do?"
The 'official' answer was "trim for change in C of G". I lost, like
the majority, most of whom were making MayDay calls. But the correct reply
was "I did that instantly when he left because my machine was always in
trim". I appealed, won my case and graduated to Flying Officer. They never
did find the CAS.
Cheers, Ferg
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