4. The upwind leg will take longer. Be patient and don’t turn too early. 5. Make the upwind turns shallower, so as not to get pushed toward the field. SLOW T FAS 3b. Enter a brief period of straight-and-level flight. Point the nose into the wind to make sure the airplane isn’t pushed into the field. Turns from the upwind to the crosswind will be less than 90 degrees. WI ND TECHNIQUE RECTANGULAR COURSE The forgotten ground-reference maneuver » By Ian J. Twombly ILLUSTRATION BY CHARLES FLOYD THE LOWLY RECTANGULAR course can probably be lumped with slips as the two least-practiced maneuvers in the entire flight training curriculum. And that’s a shame. Although many say the purpose of the rectangular course is to hone our skills at flying in the traffic pattern, the goal is actually broader and considerably more important—it teaches us how to judge and then react to the wind while dividing our attention both inside and outside the airplane. In this way, it is not dissimilar to turns around a point or S-turns across a road— except that it is, perhaps, easier. Flying a good rectangular course depends on three factors: picking a good field, judging the wind, and flying an equidistant rectangular pattern around the field. You will ultimately be evaluated on how well you maintained a consistent ground track around a fixed rectangle on the ground. The windier it is, the harder the maneuver is to perform. 38 / FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORGhttp://FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG