Airplane Level Turns

Objective: To teach the student to detect small deviations from straight-and-level flight as soon as they occur, necessitating only small corrections.
Content: Before Flight:

  • Review general aircraft operation and speeds
  • Review aerodynamics for level turns
    • Aileron actions
    • Adverse yaw
    • Use of rudder
      • Once established in medium turn, rudder is no longer needed (no adverse yaw because ailerons are neutral)
  • Terms:
    • Shallow turns – lateral stability attempts to return wings level ( < 20?(
      • Extra lift developed by outside wing moving faster is not enough to overcome inherent lateral stability
    • Medium turns – airplane remains at constant bank (20? – 45?)
      • Increased lift developed by outside wing moving faster balances aircraft’s inherent lateral stability
    • Steep turns – airplane tends to overbank (> 45?)
      • Increased lift developed by outside wing overpowers inherent lateral stability and causes tendency to increase bank angle
      • As a result of increase lift, increased induced drag causes wing to lag slightly, inducing a slight slip in steep turns
    • Parallax error in turns in aircraft with side-by-side seats
      • Left turns make nose appear to rise
      • Right turns make nose appear to descend
  • Roll out of turns ½ bank angle before desired heading

During Flight:

  • Instructor begins lesson with medium turns to reduce interfering factors such as lateral stability and overbanking tendency
  • Instructor ensures student has a light grip on controls and makes small corrections
  • Instructor ensures student maintains coordination in turns
  • Students should focus outside, but crosscheck situation with instruments occasionally
  • Check, correct, recheck
  • Instructor ensures student retains an upright posture during turns
  • During steep turns, instructor ensures student corrects altitude loss by first lessening bank angle’

See AFH C. 3-7

Completion Standards: The lesson is complete when, to the satisfaction of the instructor, the student can select a specific angle of bank and apply control pressures to maintain the desired bank angle once it is established.
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