Pill_Hacker said:
I came across some aviation terminology and saw the definition for 'departure'. It stated that some aircraft cannot be recovered from certain departures. I think it was the F4 that was mentioned. Can someone briefly explain the particular circumstances in which this would happen?
PropAddict is on track. There are other issues too, like masking of the flight controls. Even if the flight control is big enough, if wind can't get to it, it ain't going to help.
Control rigging and CG are two others that can causes issues. The T-tail Arrow has a problem w/ CG because the tail isn't in the prop wash and if the CG is too far aft, there's not enough control authority (kind of goes along w/ what Propaddict said).
Rigging is the big issue in the T-34. The airframe is very forgiving when it comes to departures, especially w/ the installation of the ventral fins (helps w/ that airflow thing), but when the rigging isn't right, coupled w/ a bent airframe (and sometimes CG issues), it either will not enter some regimes or sometimes won't come out. I know of several guys who were doing spins or progressive spins in the MOA and the planes wouldn't stop spinning. One guy added power (per NATOPS) and it popped out, which happens from time to time and isn't the end of the world, but another guy went from 17K' down to about 7K' before it finally decided to pop out. He did three attempts, added power, everything according to NATOPS, but the way the plane was rigged, a normal recovery procedure wasn't enough. Finally he just jammed the stick WAY far forward and it popped, but as he was doing this, he and his IUT were getting ready to jump. I think they finally were recovered around 5K', but needless to say they came straight home.
Turns out when a T-34 isn't rigged properly, it was common practice for the maintenance pilots to do what this guy did, just unload the plane. However, it was never written anywhere, so all everyone knows to do is just add power. Not sure if it made it into the last NATOPS change (w/ the fuel/gear EP stuff), but it was supposed to go into the OCF FTI.