Expert: Mark Janus - 8/18/2007

Question
Hi,

To my understanding, yaw will cause a change in heading. So why do we bank to turn, i.e. change heading? With banking we have to add a bit of power and adjust the rudder to compensate for any adverse yaw. So why not avoid all this trouble and just use yaw? Is it because the turn produced by yaw is unacceptably slow?

thanks in advance.

Answer
The question is a bit out of my area (i.e. stability and control), but yes a turn from yaw alone is (would be) far too slow.  By banking, you rotate the lift vector (by far the greatest force acting on the plane) in the direction you want to turn.... but you have to use the rudder to compensate for the plane slipping (dropping altitude) during the turn.... makes for a much tighter turn radius...

Thanx,
mj