Steep turns
Forty-five to sixty degrees of bank: the load factor it costs, the overbanking tendency that fights you, and the division of attention the maneuver actually trains.
14 min read · Flight maneuvers
After this lesson you can
- Conduct a steep turn from clearing turns to rollout, and say what each step is for.
- State the load factor at 45 and 60 degrees of bank, and what it does to stalling speed.
- Explain overbanking tendency and the control input that answers it.
- Predict how bank angle and airspeed change the rate and radius of a turn.
- Name the risks the ACS attaches to this task, and how each one is managed.
A steep turn is one or more 360 or 720 degree turns, in either or both directions, at a bank angle between 45 and 60 degrees. The Airplane Flying Handbook states its objective in one sentence, and it is not about turning: to develop skill in flight control smoothness and coordination, awareness of the airplane's orientation to outside references, division of attention between flight control applications, and the constant need to scan for hazards and other traffic.
In other words the turn is the vehicle. What is being trained is the ability to fly precisely while looking outside and thinking about something else - which is the skill that the rest of the certificate rests on.
The rest of this lesson
- 1.Five things that are different at 45 degrees
- 2.Overbanking, and the aileron you have to keep holding
- 3.Rate and radius: what actually changes
- 4.Flying it
- 5.The risks the ACS attaches to the steep turn
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.