Can ailerons control a broken cable on 1/3 flaps?

[JimC]

Originally Posted by macaman

In theory, the wing with the flap down would have the root stall before the root on the unaffected side.

The wing with the flap UP would stall first, right? What am I missing here?

I honestly think the questions about higher speed, rudder for yaw, etc are academic. Based on Robert Rice's description of his incident, and other reports I've read, it seems you have two options with asymmetrical flaps in any Cessna:

1) get the unbroken flap up as quickly as possible and continue to a higher-speed, no flaps landing

2) crash.

The thought that you'd be able to maintain effective control for more than a few seconds, even with only 1/3 flap down, contradicts the evidence.

Let's say the ailerons could counteract the rolling moment of one flap at 1/3 (I think they can) - but now imagine the situation you're in. You've used all of your aileron authority and a lot of your rudder authority. You're struggling to keep it upright, let alone fly a straight line. You're an instant test pilot in an unfamiliar aircraft only a few seconds away from the ground. Your life expectancy is low, to say the least.

And the thought that they'll break at 1/3 deployment is also misleading - the pressure on the flaps (and therefore tension on the cable) is vastly increased at full deployment. They're just not going to break at 1/3 if you've had them at full any time in the last few flights.

I suggest two things if this problem makes you lose sleep:

1) Leave your hand on the flap switch for a bit any time you go to full flaps. The cables will break when stress is added. Real-world incidents in 336/337s (and other Cessnas*) show this problem is survivable if you get the flaps up IMMEDIATELY.

2) If you still can't sleep, REPLACE YOUR FLAP CABLES.


*
http://www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-260242.html
http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/safety/a...7_04_Alert.pdf
http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?d...9-48d422ca215a