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Realize that the yaw axis of the autopilot does not provide turning or steering of the airplane. It just reduces yaw, period. What turns the airplane is the horizontal component of lift, and we create that by banking the wings.
Play a “Let’s Pretend” game with me. Let’s pretend that you’re in the fixed-wing plane you used for your initial pilot training and the instructor tells you to put your feet on the floor and use only the ailerons to keep the nose pointed at some spot on the horizon. “Easy game!” you’re thinking. Now let’s pretend that the instructor slowly applies some left rudder. What you observe is the nose starting to move a little left of your aiming point, so you use the ailerons to bank right until the nose is back where it belongs. So now you are holding the correct, steady heading, but you’re in a slight right bank ... which was caused by too much left rudder! As soon as the instructor lets up on that rudder
pedal – bingo! – you’ll need to level the wings to keep the nose from slewing right of the aiming target.
The autopilot uses the ailerons to steer, just like you did in this pretend game. It can hold a constant heading with wings level only when the rudder is correctly positioned.
The second closing comment I wish to make – and it’s somewhat obvious based on what I’ve written thus far in this article – is how “naked” I feel when an airplane does not have rudder trim. I love Bonanzas, but the fact that Walter Beech didn’t make rudder trim standard or even available on many of them is a gross oversight, in my opinion. I get tired of (A) having to always climb with a lot of right rudder pedal force, or (B) flying with the ball out of center and a wing slightly down. Yuck!
Third and last, some airplanes more than others have significant stickiness or friction (“stiction?”) in their controls, including the rudder
axis. If you make a few small rudder trim wheel adjustments but you see no results – the ball is not centering, the low wing is not rising – push the low side’s rudder pedal smoothly and firmly with your foot to overcome the stiction that is preventing the rudder from moving. There, that did it!
And you thought flying a King Air was easy?! Well, it is! Flying with perfect coordination, however, is one factor distinguishing true aviators from mere pilots. KA
King Air expert Tom Clements has been flying and instructing in King Airs for over 50 years and is the author of “The King Air Book” and “The King Air Book II.” He is a Gold Seal CFI and has over 23,000 total hours with more than 15,000 in King Airs. For information on ordering his books, contact Tom direct at twcaz@msn.com. Tom is actively mentoring the instructors at King Air Academy in Phoenix.
If you have a question you’d like Tom to answer, please send it to Editor Kim Blonigen at editor@blonigen.net.
DECEMBER 2023
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 25