PPL Skills - Performance Maneuvers

Introduction

Performance Maneuvers aim to increase pilot proficiency in mastering the control inputs needed to achieve his desired outcome. Similar to ground-reference maneuvers, they develop spatial awareness, a feel for the aircraft and the way it responds to control inputs, as well as the ability to multitask. They should not be practiced until sufficient proficiency in the fundamentals is demonstrated.

Steep Turns

• Perform this maneuver somewhere between 45° and 60°
• Perform two turns (ie 720°) and roll out on the same heading you entered the steep turn
• Pick an outside reference to help you know when to rollout of the turn
• Rule of thumb: if your bank angle is x°, begin rolling out of the turn (X/2)° before desired heading
• Correct for over-banking tendencies (see chapter 3)
• Should consult POH during preflight planning to figure out what the stall speeds are at different bank angles
• Remember that stall speed increases quite significantly with bank angle
• Maintain altitude and airspeed
• Adjust pitch and power as necessary
• Use trim if necessary to help you relieve back pressure
• Use rudder to maintain coordinated flight
• When turning to the left, the left-turning tendencies of the aircraft tend to overcome the adverse yaw, and less rudder may be needed
• Conversely, when turning to the right, more rudder may be needed
• Load factor is 1.4 at 45° bank, 2.0 at a 60° bank (ie you will feel twice your weight acting on you at a 60° bank)
• Most GA aircraft are designed to handle up to 3.8G
• Should not be done past airplanes Maneuvering speed Va
• Remember to look outside the cockpit at how the horizon outside should look like relative to the aircraft
• Do not just look at the nose but scan between the horizon, the wings, and the nose
• Get used to the pitch-up attitude required to maintain altitude when performing steep turns - more pitch-up required than normal turns
• ERAU video