Flight tests on a Vampire Mk. 5 with a redesigned anti-snaking rudder

Abstract

A specially designed rudder has been fitted to a Vampire Mk. 5 to act as an aerodynamic yaw damper. Flight tests show that the damping of the lateral oscillation has been substantially increased in consequence a logarithmic decrement greater than unity being attained even at 40,000 ft altitude. This is a considerable improvement on the results obtained previously on the same aircraft, when the standard rudder was used as the damping surface. Air to air aiming is shown to have benefited from the effect of the damping rudder.