Found this on youtube

[texaxile]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihAEyZ25qfU

B52 minus a tail (well, minus 81% of a tail)

I was under the (mistaken) impression that no rudder = certain doom.

Did I hear correctly that they used engine power to stabilise the aircraft, they went on and flew for 5 hours?. Bloody hell.

[Eric Mc]

We have a whole thread for aviation youtube vids.

[texaxile]

Thanks Eric, most constructive.

[Simpo Two]

You can still turn without a rudder, they're aileron turns and the little bit of string goes sideways

[Eric Mc]

texaxile said:

Thanks Eric, most constructive.

Well, you may not have noticed.

PH does not like multiple threads linking to videos - that's why they set up specific youtube threads. And the video you have linked to was referred to only a few days ago.

[trickywoo]

Worth watching for the 'stache alone.

[Fugazi]

Simpo Two said:

You can still turn without a rudder, they're aileron turns and the little bit of string goes sideways

"Aerospace engineer hat on"

It's to do with the fact the yaw and roll axes are coupled, use the rudder and the aircraft will both yaw and bank. Likewise, bank the aircraft and you get some degree of roll too. This is why some small model aircraft can fly with no ailerons but they do increase the dihedral to increase the lateral stability as you no longer have any direct control on the roll axis.

There's even more coupling in rotorcraft as any cyclic input, changes the torque required from the engine to maintain rotor RPM, which in turn means you need a change in tail rotor torque.... It gets messy.

Without digging into any reports on that accident, the chances of losing that much of the fin surface and managing to land the aircraft is probably due to local weather conditions (no crosswind and so little rudder input needed) and possibly that the pilots could alter the engines independently to provide some degree of yaw control? But I'm just guessing, good to see that aircraft despite their appearing fragile can survive some impressive damage, reminds me of the F15 that lost most of a wing and managed to land.

Edit: Having just watched the video he does talk about using asymmetric thrust to control yawing. Also the shifting fuel to push the CG forward (increase the stability of the aircraft) and lowering the undercarriage to create further drag aft of the CG position. Good thinking!

Edited by Fugazi on Wednesday 6th December 15:43

[Sylvaforever]

bank the aircraft and you get some degree of roll too.

Don't you mean... yaw?

[Fugazi]

Ooops, yep, I did.