Paul:

  Will cocking the engine a few degrees to port or starboard counter
act some of the torque on a pusher? Torque is not the right word, just
having a senior moment. I am sure you know what I mean.


Tom/norpro

As I understand it the so called torque reactions are caused by the spiral prop wash striking the vertical tail from one side. That of course does not happen in a Rutan pusher. The other reaction is truly a torque reaction from the 600 or so foot pounds from the prop. That is easy to overcome by holding the airplane on the ground until a speed is reached where the ailerons become effective. IMHO the R985 powered Gee Bee short wing span version had a real problem as the pilots would pull them off the ground before the ailerons were capable of preventing the resulting roll forces. Due to the high power to weight ratio the airplane wanted to fly long before it was prudent to do so.

Paul Lamar