Do Bonanzas Have Rudder controls?

[Jeff0500]

Do V tails have rudder controls or is it co-ordinated with the alierons, like a Ercoupe?

 

[NoahWerka]

Yes, they have rudder pedals.

 

[avbug]

Some ercoupes have rudder pedals, too.

 

[urflyingme?!]

Certain models of V Tail Bonanzas have no rudder controls. In the A-36, which I flew, the Aileron and rudder controls did have some co-ordination, but you could still independantly control them to an extent. And that's that

 

[Donsa320]

Certain models of V Tail Bonanzas have no rudder controls. In the A-36, which I flew, the Aileron and rudder controls did have some co-ordination, but you could still independantly control them to an extent. And that's that

Hmmm. I think you may be confusing the fold away rudder pedals for the right seat on some Bonanzas as no pedals at all. They folded out of the way for passenger comfort as I recall.

Anybody else?

DC

 

[katanabob]

V-tail Bonanzas do, in fact, have both rudder and aileron control. The two controls are actuated as they would be in any other airplane, however, there is a spring arrangement that interconnects the two to a certain extent. Putting in an aileron or rudder deflection applies spring tension to the corresponding other control surface. (i.e. right rudder deflection applies right aileron pressure, and vice-versa)

The spring's tension is adjustable. (3 or 5 settings, if I recall correctly) I used to set them as loose as possible, but some people liked them pretty strong. I didn't like that when you pushed an airplane into the hangar with a tug, the ailerons would end up following the nosewheel. (excellent way to hit something that you thought would easily pass under the wing.

 

[~~~^~~~]

Forgive me if I do a lousy job of explaining this.

First, some Bonanzas, like mine have conventional tails.

In a V-Tail aircraft, the 2 control surfaces of the V-Tail work together to give elevator and rudder responses. For elevator control both surfaces move up and down together. For rudder both surfaces move opposite (right rudder moves the left surface of the V-Tail up and the right surface down) . For both elevator and rudder to be used at the same time, both these movements need to be 'mixed' together to get a proper response out of the aircraft. Beechcraft does this by using a cam, a spring and lever arrangement.

Beechcraft also uses a spring, or bungee, interconnect with the airlerons that helps the pilot coordinate a turn. Most airplanes do this to some extent as the upwing aileron in a turn creates additional drag that has to be offset with the rudder to keep the airplane from skidding sideways in uncoordinated flight. In a C172, this effect is minimized by the location of the aileron hinges, but the pilot still has to put in a little rudder to coordinate a turn. The Bonanza has much nicer ailerons with a pivot point near the exact aerodynamic chord. It requires a little more rudder than the C172, but Beech put a spring in there to do the work for you. So you can fly feet flat on the floor and let the spring do the work. On even bigger airplanes this same task is handled by spoilerons which add drag on the downward wing in a turn.

In my opinion (flame suit on) my Bonanza is a little less controllable in a crosswind because the spring tries to coordinate flight, while the pilot has to input opposite control forces to crab and align the airplane with the runway. Fortunately, the Bonanza has a great gear system that puts up with more abuse than other designs that were not originally designed for off airport, rough field operations. Back in 1946 many of Beech's customers did not fly off paved runways.

The V-Tail was thought to be more aerodynamically efficient. It really wasn't and the numbers for my straight tail are the exact same as the V Tail of the same year and power. The straight tail also has a less restrictive C.G. range since the elevators are more effective.

They are great flying airplanes and even tough I have demo'd a Cirrus, I'll either buy a nicer Bonanza, or keep mine forever.

~~~^~~~