The AFU and Urban Legend Archive Science plane torque Select a topic - - - - - - - - Home Searches AFU FAQ - - - - - - - - AFU Animals Books Celebrities Classic Collegiate Death Disney Drugs Food GIF Language Legal Medical Misc Movies Politics Products Religion Science Sex Songs TV - - - - - - - - Other sites

Date: Tue, 27 Aug 1996 14:40:55 -0400
From: Paul Tomblin <ptomblin@xcski.com>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: One for the FAQ documentation project

I was researching the FAQ entry:
T. F51D plane can flip due to engine torque.(A. Frisbie posted pilot's

manual!)

I didn't get a copy of the Dash-1, although I think I know where to buy one. That's the government issue equivalent of the "Pilot's Operating Handbook" that we have for civillian planes, and it's the ultimate reference for the characteristics for a particular airplane. I did, however, get the August 1996 issue of AOPA Pilot. I should mention first of all that the "F51" is a post war designation for the airplane that became famous in WWII as the P-51 Mustang. The US Air Force decided (around about the time they stopped being the US Army Air Force) that they wouldn't call that category of aircraft "Pursuit" and instead would call them "Fighters". But just about everybody in the world calls this aircraft the P-51 to this day.

In this issue of AOPA Pilot, there is an article about the Stallion 51 Corporation, which has a dual P-51 trainer which they sell rides in. I'd just like to mention here that I'm solicting donations for a ride in the name of research - they only charge $1750 an hour. But here is an appropriate part of the article:

"For years, we've all heard how "torque" kills pilots in this airplane when power is mashed to the stop on a go-around[1]. To learn about this behavior, we climbed to altitude, extended the gear and added full flaps, then pushed the power to 51 inches[2], as if in a go-around. Next, Lauderback had me take my hands off the stick and pull the flaps up. The nose pitched up dramatically. I then retraced the gear, and the nose pitched up even more, nearly to vertical. Had I tried that down close to the ground, I would have had a handful of untrimmed[3] rearing horse to contend with. ...
Configuration changes and hefty trim requiresments are the killers here - not torque - a reminder that high performance airplanes like the Mustang are flown by procedure, not by gosh and by golly."

[1] A go-around is what you do if on final approach to landing you realize that there is something wrong, and you want to abort the landing. In a simple aircraft like one I fly, it consists of giving it full throttle, and then retracting the flaps.

[2] Power in a aircrat with a controllable pitch propellor is measured in "inches of manifold pressure".

[3] "trim" is any of several means the pilot has of reducing the pressure that he/she has to exert on the controls. A properly trimmed aircraft should fly nearly hands off. In a high performance aircraft, being a lot out of trim means you have an uncontrollable situation in your hands, because the stick forces are too high for you to counteract. The proper procedure for a go-around in a Mustang involves retrimming at several points.