Flight Training - August 2022 - 34

drops. Strong trade winds meant each circle had to account
for wind drift, so the airplane's bank angle and ground speed
varied throughout each maneuver-just as they do when you're
in the practice area.
Also, when you think about it, every traffic pattern you'll
ever fly is essentially a ground reference maneuver. You're
turning the airplane to line up with the runway while using
airspeed and bank angle to account for wind drift.
OK, but what about those frustratingly pointless lazy eights
and chandelles?
The lazy eight is one of the first maneuvers I perform in any
new-to-me airplane because it quickly reveals the airplane's
control harmony (or lack of it) through constantly changing
combinations of pitch attitudes, bank angles, and airspeeds. It's
incredibly helpful for that purpose, even when I don't get the
headings and altitudes just right.
And truthfully, the lazy eights I use to familiarize myself
with a new airplane typically contain bank angles that are far
steeper than the 30 degrees the FAA uses for checkrides.
A chandelle shows how much rudder is required to counteract
yaw as an airplane slows and its wing angle of attack
increases at high engine power, and the differences in rudder
and aileron pressure when making a climbing left turn
compared to a climbing right turn. A chandelle also can be a
potentially lifesaving turnaround maneuver for pilots who mistakenly
fly into canyons or regions of rising terrain and make a
tight, 180-degree turn. (I had to do something like this once for
real, but that's another story.)
The power-off spot landing is the most failed maneuver on
the commercial pilot practical test, yet it's also the most useful.
Nailing it shows the pilot knows how to use varying amounts
of pitch, bank angle, flaps, and rudder to precisely control
descent-a critical skill in guiding an airplane with a failed
engine to a successful off-field landing.
There are many more examples, but the greatest benefit from
mastering these and other maneuvers is that doing so allows
pilots to unlock the full potential of our aircraft when needed.
If you must land during a strong crosswind, bring your
airplane to a stop on a short and/or wet runway, or glide to
a clearing after an engine failure, you have the tools for a
successful outcome-and that opens the doors to a lifetime of
flying adventures.
On an epic flying journey to Greenland with Adrian Eichhorn,
a Bonanza pilot who later flew his airplane around the
world and over the north pole, he made a comment that stuck
with me ever since.
" Could you even imagine when you were first learning
short-field and soft-field landings that those skills would someday
lead to places like this? " he asked.
I've got to admit that, during flight training, I never really
thought any farther than the next checkride. I had no idea what
the future held, and not a great deal of imagination, either.
But looking back with the perspective that decades of flying
provides, those fundamental stick-and-rudder skills developed
learning time-honored maneuvers were the keys to the kingdom.
Even if you see no benefit to learning them now, go ahead
and throw yourself into it. The potential payoff is greater than
you know. FT
dave.hirschman@aopa.org
34
FLIGHT TRAINING AUGUST 2022
Could you even imagine when
you were first learning shortfield
and soft-field landings that
those skills would someday lead
to places like this?
Flight Training - August 2022

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