Engines and the direction they spin

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pilotdreams
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Engines and the direction they spin

Post by pilotdreams »

Let's say you fly a pitts and want to upgrade your ride to a yak. Is it a big deal that the foot work is opposite or does your brain get it after a few flights?
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HS-748 2A
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Re: Engines and the direction they spin

Post by HS-748 2A »

pilotdreams wrote:Let's say you fly a pitts and want to upgrade your ride to a yak. Is it a big deal that the foot work is opposite or does your brain get it after a few flights?
Hedley is your man to answer that question. Or, a guy like STL who has time on helicopters that turn the wrong way.

My own experience with different tail draggers, (all of which were American-engined and turned CW as viewed from the seat), is that it never mattered.

Whatever wind and runway conditions prevail - you just make the airplane do what you want it to do.

Sometimes that means full rudder in either direction.

Never really thought about it at all, at the time.

'48
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Hedley
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Re: Engines and the direction they spin

Post by Hedley »

Best answer I can think of ... do you ride a motorcycle?

Most bike gearshifts these days are 1 down, then up to
neutral, then up to 2, 3, etc.

However, the ultra-cool "motogp" mod is to reverse it,
so that 1 is up, then neutral, 2, 3, etc are down. Funny
thing about this is that years ago, all bikes use to be the
uber-cool "motogp" shift pattern :wink:

Anyways, I find it to be the same kind of thing - don't
think too much about it, just do it. Some people adapt
faster to it, but I've never met anyone that didn't get
comfortable with it over time.

It's not a big deal. Just look outside, and your hands
and feet will figure out what to do, to make the airplane
do what you want. That's how I fly, anyways.
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AEROBAT
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Re: Engines and the direction they spin

Post by AEROBAT »

I will routinely switch from a CW rotation plane, my Mustang, to a CCW rotation plane, my son's Avid with no problem. The way the nose starts to swing tells you which rudder to apply pressure to. You never conciously think about it.
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hamish
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Re: Engines and the direction they spin

Post by hamish »

Agreed. Generally speaking US and European props and helicopter rotors turn in opposite directions.
No problem going from one to the other.
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albertdesalvo
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Re: Engines and the direction they spin

Post by albertdesalvo »

Hedley wrote:Best answer I can think of ... do you ride a motorcycle?
Better yet, can you ride a Norton motorcycle? They're backwards in two dimensions! :rolleyes:
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Grantmac
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Re: Engines and the direction they spin

Post by Grantmac »

albertdesalvo wrote:
Hedley wrote:Best answer I can think of ... do you ride a motorcycle?
Better yet, can you ride a Norton motorcycle? They're backwards in two dimensions! :rolleyes:
Your giving me little hope. The few times I rode a Norton I had to be very conscious to avoid upshifting when coming to a stop and downshifting while looking for the next gear. Too about 5 rides to get it ironed out.

-Grant
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albertdesalvo
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Re: Engines and the direction they spin

Post by albertdesalvo »

Ha! Picture this...... I'm 18 years old and my daily ride is a 650 Yam twin. Now a friend of mine has decided to buy a brand new 850 Commando. There's just one problem.... he's never ridden a bike in his life. He wants me to come to the dealer with him to pick up the bike, then teach him how to ride it. So I'm riding a brand new bike with assbackwards controls and the owner sitting behind me. There was a bit of pucker factor there! Surprisingly, I had no trouble with it, I was able to master it right away. Things are easy when you're 18, I guess. I took it to an empty parking lot and saddled up the new owner, and he became quite a good rider. I loved that Norton, it went like a rocket and cornered on rails. Those were the days.
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