Yaw vs crab angle and coordination

[-]

EliteEthos@reddit

Why do you need to prevent yaw?

Why do you need to be aligned straight ahead?

It’s why we have different terms to explain the different things…

https://airplaneacademy.com/heading-track-bearing-and-course-explained/

[-]

CaregiverGrouchy7026@reddit (OP)

I know that, but when the wind is calm if my nose is not aligned with the track I know its yaw, but if there is wind, how would I know if that is due to yaw or the wind?

[-]

vanhawk28@reddit

I feel like you are overthinking this a ton. Why does it even matter. Stay coordinated and let the nose do whatever the hell it needs to do to maintain your track

[-]

ltcterry@reddit

Is the ball centered? Crab angle. Has the ball moved away from the nose? Yaw.

[-]

It's not like the ball is 45 minutes late or something. If you're unsure, look at the ball. There's no situation where you would be out of coordination but look at the ball and find it sitting nicely in the middle.

[-]

sniper4273@reddit

The ball is not really that laggy. It's fairly instant in practice. Way more so than an VSI.

Quite simply, if the ball is centered, you're coordinated. You can also feel it in the seat of your pants eventually.

If you're coordinated, then any offset angle you see is crab angle.

How much rudder in a turn? Enough to keep the ball centered.

[-]

Independent-Reveal86@reddit

You can feel it in your body, that your weight is not quite directly down. As for coordination, you start by correcting the moving nose and then with time you learn how much you need and you can anticipate and apply it as it's needed rather than lagging slightly.

The basic flying skills you're talking about are something you feel, the aircraft isn't a computer where you can mechanically apply identical inputs and get identical results.

This is, by the way, why home flight sims are terrible for teaching you seat of the pants flying skills, and also why it can be so dangerous going IMC if you're not trained for it. In the first case you're not getting any physical feedback about what's happening, and in the second case over reliance on physical feedback leads you astray.

[-]

rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

How can I differentiate between yaw and crab angle by looking only at the sight picture? I know when I am banking I can see the adverse yaw but what if I am flying straight and level? I know the ball in the inclinometer is a lagging indicator, I want to prevent yaw, not correct yaw AFTER it has occurred. Could you guys let me know how? Because if I am not aligned straight ahead, it could either be yaw or it could be a coordinated flight with a crab angle, I am confused.

Also to coordinate aileron and rudder, how do you know exactly how much rudder to use for a given aileron input to keep it coordinated? Because if you allow the nose to move and then correct for it, you are already behind the airplane and it messes up the entire sight picture confusing everything.

Please downvote this comment until it collapses.

Questions about this comment? Please see this wiki post before contacting the mods.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. If you have any questions, please contact the mods of this subreddit.