Ground reference maneuvers
Flying a track over the ground instead of a heading through the air: what the maneuvers are for, how bank and groundspeed interact, and why the rectangular course is the traffic pattern in disguise.
15 min read · Flight maneuvers
After this lesson you can
- State the purpose of ground reference maneuvers and the skill they build.
- Choose a suitable reference, altitude and practice area, and say why each choice matters.
- Explain how bank angle and groundspeed together set the rate and radius of a turn over the ground.
- Relate the rectangular course to the airport traffic pattern.
- Manage the risks of low altitude maneuvering.
Every maneuver so far has been flown relative to the air. Ground reference maneuvers are flown relative to the ground, and the difference is the wind. An airplane holding a constant heading in a crosswind travels a diagonal over the earth, and the ACS is asking whether the pilot can make the airplane go where they intend rather than where the air takes it.
The Airplane Flying Handbook is clear that the point is broader than tracking. Ground reference maneuvers develop a pilot's division of attention: the pilot needs to control the airplane's attitude while tracking a specific path over the ground, and at the same time scan for hazards such as other aircraft, prepare for an emergency landing should the need arise, and scan the flight and engine instruments at regular intervals so that something like a decreasing oil pressure does not become an incident.
The rest of this lesson
- 1.Choosing the reference, and reading it correctly
- 2.Altitude, and the airspace under you
- 3.Bank angle, groundspeed, and the shape of the turn
- 4.The rectangular course is the traffic pattern
- 5.The risks the ACS attaches to ground reference maneuvers
These 5 sections, their figures, the checks along the way and the end-of-lesson quiz come with the PPL track. Paid once, yours for good.
Key terms
Try to recall each definition before turning the card.