Turn and Bank

It has occurred to me that an accelerometer could be used to null out the lateral acceleration in a turn by aileron control The bank would always be optimal.I have not seen this used as a simple control mechanism, and it makes me suspicious that it might not be such a good idea in practice. Has anyone experimented with such a system?I am currently building a test rig to implement the concept. I plan to use it in conjunction with IR horizon sensing, at least in its first experiment.

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  • Yes, Marc knows this well being a glider pilot with those long wings.You must "step on the ball". What if you implement the lateral acc to rudder control. Then add a yaw rate gyro and use its' output to correct the roll state.If you in a coordinated state and you have a yaw rate, then the wings aren't level.

    This kept the wings level and my plane on course in my 1970 Grumman Cheeta. I'll bet at that time the whole thing was analog. When I flew it it had a LORAN C(whoaaaa high teck\!!!!!) that gave +-50 mV for left and right tracking. It worked really well.
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    Or if you look very very very closely at Marcs avatar a piece of string which is way more acurate.

    In fact next time I fly FPV I think I will add one.
  • Actually, what you're talking about emulating is a slip-skid indicator (or inclinometer), which is just a ball in a horizontal curved oil-filled tube. Keep the ball centered, and you're coordinated. However, a spiral dive can be perfectly coordinated, the airspeed would simply increase until the wings come off or the ground intervenes. So, you'd need some means of recognizing this and adjusting the elevator accordingly, such as using an airspeed sensor.

    A turn and bank, or the closely related turn indicator, has an inclinometer and a gyro which is used to sense bank/yaw through precession...
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