Page 24 - Dec 23

“ ... more right rudder input is needed during higher-power, slower speed, takeoff and climb operation than is required during high-speed cruise and descent operation ... ”
The yaw damper does not try to center the ball, to create coordinated flight. It just reduces yaw. Someday, when you’re on a deadhead leg at altitude, with the autopilot engaged, crank the rudder trim two, three or four units to one side and watch what happens. Since the yaw damper is resisting nose movement, it may take nearly a minute or more to observe the final outcome. Eventually you’ll see that the airplane is in a grossly uncoordinated condition, yet the yaw damper is still working just fine.
In my experience, some yaw dampers operate much better than others and when we fly an airplane with
Yaw dampers that are strongly accurate provide improved ride comfort.
a really strong and accurate yaw damper, it certainly makes for tremendously improved ride comfort. Now it feels like the rudder pedals are immersed in heavy mud, nearly concrete. Yes, they can be moved with foot force, but it takes quite a push!
I think that the feeling of the pedals being nearly unresponsive plays the major role in why too many pilots forfeit rudder control totally to the yaw damp system. Guess what? I agree, and rarely do I push the pedals hard enough to overcome the yaw damp system’s pedal force! But I sure use a lot of rudder trim! Let me explain further.
Entire chapters in aeronautical texts have been devoted to the myriad of forces acting on an airplane in flight and most of my King Air readers have been exposed to these writings. I will not reconstruct the reasons that these texts provide, but I will emphasize the fact that more right rudder input is needed during higher-power, slower- speed, takeoff and climb operation than is required during high-speed cruise and descent operation (at least for aircraft, like all King Airs that have clockwise-rotating propellers). If appropriate rudder changes are not made, then the result is some level of uncoordinated flight. By “uncoordinated flight” I mean that the bank angle is not proper for the rate of turn being achieved, leading to the ball (the slip/skid indicator white rectangle, or bar, for you EFIS-watchers) not being centered.
(A side note: I flew my first few years with an uneducated butt...buttocks. Yes, I included the ball in my scan and felt that I did a decent job of flying in a comfortable and coordinated manner. It was not until taking some
22 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
DECEMBER 2023