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Stay On Your Feet

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Proper rudder control is crucial for safe and efficient flight across all phases, despite often being underemphasized outside of climbs in training.
  • Incorrect rudder application, especially in critical low-speed situations like climbs or base-to-final turns, significantly increases the risk of dangerous stall/spin accidents.
  • Maintaining coordinated flight through active rudder input (monitored via the inclinometer) prevents efficiency loss, avoids damaging side-loaded landings, and enhances overall flight safety.
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We’ve all heard it. “More right rudder!” is such a common command during flight training that some avionics company would probably make a lot of money producing a small device that could transmit the instruction at the push of a button. But just because the most common place for an instructor to address rudder input is during the climb doesn’t mean the pedals should be ignored during the rest of the flight.

Unfortunately, the training airplanes of today are so forgiving that they fly just fine without the proper use of rudder, at least as long as the flight attitude is somewhat stable. And with the exception of the climb phase, it seems that many instructors don’t put enough emphasis on rudder control.

Pia Bergqvist

Pia Bergqvist joined FLYING in December 2010. A passionate aviator, Pia started flying in 1999 and quickly obtained her single- and multi-engine commercial, instrument and instructor ratings. After a decade of working in general aviation, Pia has accumulated almost 3,000 hours of flight time in nearly 40 different types of aircraft.

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