CTLSi wrote:Which force is greater? Probably the rudder push, so applying aileron ahead of the rudder push makes a little smoother turn than just rolling over and correcting the yaw after the turn is initiated.
Of course, that's highly aircraft-dependent. In most LSAs, the aircraft is indeed more sensitive to yawing motion than it is to rolling motion. You can test that (at a safe altitude). From cruise, initiate a turn with just aileron, and see how long it takes the plane to respond. Then do the same with just rudder -- probably, you'll get a quicker response. If my objective is to initiate the turn
right now, I'll lead with rudder pressure, and then follow through with aileron. Gets me heading in the desired direction most quickly.
Now, as for the cartoon Brian posted (very clever, BTW) -- if you are an airplane pilot, and want to be
really confused, try flying a weight shift control (trike).
Everything is backward!