Flying The Hurricane

[Friar]

I am currently reading "The Hardest Day" by Alfred Price and finding it a very good read.

For those not aware of this book (and I would recommend it if you are not, this is from someone who is not widely read) it recounts the events of August 18th 1940 when the Luftwaffe attempted to hit the RAF hard.

The book learns heavily on eye witness accounts and amazingly even has an account from someone living in my road at the time.

These stories are meaning that much more to me as Kenley,  Biggin Hill and Croydon are all within a very short distance of where I live.

 

The reason for my post is a comment made by an injured Hurricane pilot who had taken damage to his foot and whilst explaining his predicament states ".....it did not matter too much as you tend not to use the rudder much in a Hurricane..."

 

This got me thinking.....Am I using the rudder too much in this plane and what would be the reason for his comments, to stop bleeding speed?

 

To anyone who knows about such things, I would be interested to read your thoughts....

 

Salute

 

Friar

[FoolTrottel]

Me thinks it depends on how you are flying it... when attacking bombers, not so much, if you fly it correctly, and line up your attack in a proper way...

 

Hurricane was known to be a 'stable gun platform', hence it must have been stable in flight... hence little need to use the rudder.

 

Once in a dogfight with a 109 on yer tail... different story...

 

Does make me think of a bomber attack sortie I did in CloD, remembering how I kept the throttle and pitch in a constant position, and just line up with a bomber, fire at it, pull out/up, make some turns while above it... setting up for another run .... now I can't remember using the rudder much, but as I never touched throttle nor pitch, I must've let it fly itself.... zooming?

(Not sure if I can explain that 'feeling' correctly here)

[Jabo]

Excessive use of the rudder does lead to loss of energy especially as that leads not only to a yawing moment (energy loss) but also a rolling moment which the natural tendency is to correct with aileron input (further energy loss).

 

If an attack is timed correctly, little or no use of the rudder (to correct the deflection angle) should be necessary.

As to whether or not you're using too much rudder, well, there's really no way of knowing - although the fact that you're asking the question may be the answer in itself!

Jabo

 

P.S. Even if I am correct about the above, this does not mean I am any good at putting this into practice!