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Aerodynamics Task Phase Report - Left Turning Tendencies

This document discusses the four main left-turning tendencies of aircraft: torque, P-factor, spiraling slipstream, and gyroscopic precession. Torque causes the aircraft to yaw left on the ground and roll left in the air due to opposing forces from the clockwise rotating propeller. P-factor increases left yaw at high angles of attack from higher thrust on the right-moving blade. Spiraling slipstream induces left yaw and right roll from the spinning propeller's air currents. Gyroscopic precession causes left yaw during takeoff from forces on the spinning propeller.

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297 views4 pages

Aerodynamics Task Phase Report - Left Turning Tendencies

This document discusses the four main left-turning tendencies of aircraft: torque, P-factor, spiraling slipstream, and gyroscopic precession. Torque causes the aircraft to yaw left on the ground and roll left in the air due to opposing forces from the clockwise rotating propeller. P-factor increases left yaw at high angles of attack from higher thrust on the right-moving blade. Spiraling slipstream induces left yaw and right roll from the spinning propeller's air currents. Gyroscopic precession causes left yaw during takeoff from forces on the spinning propeller.

Uploaded by

sid25harth
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Sidharth Sharma (210933144)

AERODYNAMICS TASK PHASE REPORT – 6

➢ LEFT TURNING TENDENCIES:

• Torque
• P-factor
• Spiralling Slipstream
• Gyroscopic Precession

These are the four left-turning tendencies, because they cause either the nose of the
aircraft or the wings to rotate left.

1. Torque –

Torque is the force that causes an opposite rotation. As the propeller spins
clockwise (as viewed from rear), the airplane experiences a rotating force in the
opposite direction (Newton’s Third Law). This means that the airplane wants to
roll left, an effect that is damped by the wings.
Torque increases with an increase in power.

During takeoff as you throttle up your engine, the right-turning direction of your
engine and propeller forces the left side of your airplane down toward the
runway. Since the plane is on the ground it cannot roll very well and thus applies
more pressure on left wheel and causing more drag on left side. This results the
plane to yaw in left direction.
Therefore, torque effect is yawing when on ground and roll when in the air.

The effect of torque increases in direct proportion to engine power & angle of
attack and inversely to airspeed. Thus, at low airspeeds, high angles of attack,
and high-power settings. Torque is the greatest.

2. P-Factor –

The propeller is an airfoil, it creates lift. When the airplane is flying level, both
blades of the propeller have the same angle of attack.

Thus, Asymmetric propeller loading (P-


factor) occurs when the airplane is flown
at a high angle of attack. The downward-
moving blade on the right side of the
propeller (as seen from the rear) has a
higher angle of attack, which creates
higher thrust than the upward-moving
blade on the left. Thus, the airplane yaws
around the vertical axis to the left.

P-factor is especially noticeable at high


power settings with a high nose attitude.
3. Spiraling Slipstream –

The propeller creates a spiral of air that spins about the airplane, eventually
contacting the left side of the rudder. As power is
increased and the propeller spins faster, the force on the
rudder is stronger, causing more of a yawing motion to
the left.

The air also hits the wing and the horizontal stabilizer
and inducing a right rolling motion. But this effect is
neglected since the left turning tendencies are much stronger than these.

4. Gyroscopic Precession –

When a single-engine aeroplane turns to the left, the nose tends to dip and when
the turn is to the right, the gyroscopic effect tends to raise the nose.

This happens because A spinning propeller is essentially a gyroscope, which is


a spinning disc. And Precession means that a force applied to a gyroscope is
manifested 90 degrees ahead in the direction of rotation.

Thus, when a tailwheel aircraft lifts its tail off the runway during takeoff. As the
tail comes up, a force is applied to the top of the propeller. And since the
propeller is spinning clockwise, that force is felt 90 degrees to the right. That
forward-moving force, on the right side of the propeller, creates a yawing
motion to the left.
➢ REFERENCES:

https://www.boldmethod.com/
https://www.aopa.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/
https://aviation.stackexchange.com/

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