Flight Training - December 2013 - 40

TWO PILOTS CAREFULLY CLEAR THE area
and set power and trim appropriately for
the maneuver. The first pilot picks a visual
landmark off the nose of the airplane, a
reference on which she will begin and
end the steep turn. She rolls smoothly
into a 45-degree bank while looking at the
relationship of the cowling to the horizon.
Forty-five degrees is one-half of 90, so the
bank angle is easy to estimate.
The pilot knows she will need a slightly
higher pitch attitude and a little extra
power in the turn. So she raises the nose
slightly with reference to the horizon
while making a small power adjustment, then takes a quick peek inside the
airplane to check the altitude, vertical
speed indicator, airspeed, bank angle, and
coordination. If she notes that the altitude
is 50 feet low and airspeed is a little high,
she recognizes the need for higher pitch.
So she looks back outside the airplane
and raises the nose a little with reference
to the horizon, while confirming that her
bank angle is correct. Another peek back
inside the cockpit verifies that the altitude
is now stable and correct, as are all other
parameters. She makes attitude adjustments so small they don't register on the

additional power. Dividing his attention,
he grabs a quick look outside, and seeing
no traffic, looks back inside the cockpit.
Noting that altitude is decreasing again,
the pilot observes bank angle increasing
and corrects back to 45 degrees.
After another look outside, he returns
to his instruments and notes that altitude
is now 75 feet high. He releases some
back-pressure and reduces power to compensate. As he scans the heading indicator,
he sees that he is 30 degrees away from his
starting heading. Concentrating on leading
the rollout by a correct amount, he loses
track of the altimeter and fails to see the
rapid altitude decrease developing. He
undershoots his heading by nine degrees,
arresting his descent and finishing the turn
90 feet below his starting altitude.
Both pilots have completed their steep
turn within the tolerances of the Private
Pilot Practical Test Standards in terms of
altitude, heading, bank angle, and airspeed.
Each pilot used a different technique. The
first pilot was flying outside, checking
inside-making control inputs measured
directly by specific visual attitude references. The second pilot was flying inside,
checking outside-making control inputs

IF MY STUDENT OR I CAN PERFORM A STEEP TURN TO PTS
TOLERANCES USING THIS "INCORRECT" METHOD, HOW
INCORRECT COULD IT BE?
flight instruments, but are easily visible
when referencing the cowling on the horizon. She occasionally glances inside the
airplane to confirm that her selected pitch
attitude-combined with the updated
power setting-is keeping all the flight
parameters stable. As she nears her initial
heading she sees her reference landmark
and smoothly applies aileron and rudder
to roll out exactly on her starting heading.
The other pilot rolls into the turn with
reference to the attitude indicator. He has
started the turn on a cardinal heading of
90 degrees. After establishing his bank
angle, his attention is quickly drawn to
the altimeter, which is starting to show a
decrease. The pilot applies back-pressure
to correct for altitude loss. If a lot of force
is required to hold altitude, he may add
a little nose-up trim-and perhaps some
40 /

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reactively in response to deviations of the
altimeter, airspeed, and heading indicator. This does not work as well, because
even though his control input does arrest
the deviation, the attitude correction-not
being measured directly-is less accurate,
and is likely to be either excessive or insufficient for sustained stable flight without
further excursions.
So why is the method used by the first
pilot superior? What work are we actually
performing when we apply pressure to
those flight controls? And what is the most
accurate reference by which to measure
how much work needs to be done?
AIRCRAFT ATTITUDE REFERS TO THE orientation of the aircraft with respect to the
horizon. Changing or maintaining aircraft
attitude is how we control the airplane

in flight. We can find a good description
of attitude flying, and how to integrate
instrument references while practicing it,
in the FAA's Airplane Flying Handbook.
In the process of learning to fly, many
of us forget the fundamental concept
of aircraft control. Maybe it's the variables that enter into the aircraft control
equation when we consider the role of
power combined with attitude at various
airspeeds and drag configurations. Perhaps
we were admonished one too many times
to watch our airspeed-and bingo, from
then on we watch our airspeed when making pitch changes. Or we hear "Step on the
ball" again and again and eventually, this
is where we look during turns, climbs, and
stall practice. "Watch your altitude" eventually causes us to look at the altimeter
when attempting to maintain level flight.
If there is such a thing as a "normal
anomaly," insufficient attitude awareness during control input qualifies. As
we try to fly specific airspeeds, altitudes,
and headings it is easy to start looking at
these lagging indicators of the result of
attitude and thrust. Is this so wrong? After
all, we can identify a lot of flying that is
accomplished more or less in this manner
without disastrous results.
WHEN DRIVING A CAR, we don't turn the
wheel 1.35 turns left or right to go around a
corner. We employ a visual feedback loop;
our eyes perceive the position of the car in
the turn, and we increase or decrease the
amount of steering-wheel input accordingly. We could use other references to
accomplish the turn, such as a specific
amount of steering wheel input or the
sound of the tires singing on the grooved
shoulder. But most of us would agree
that using a specific visual cue-sighting around the corner and making micro
adjustments to the steering wheel-is not
only more accurate, but is in fact the correct way to drive.
The same is true in the airplane when
performing a steep turn. Is a secondary
reference, like catching a glimpse of the
VSI showing an 800-foot-per-minute
descent, valuable? Sure, just like a passenger shouting "look out" as we are
about to cross the double yellow line into
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Flight Training - December 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - December 2013
