Normal and crosswind takeoff and climb

The three phases of every takeoff, the before-takeoff check that precedes them, Vx and Vy, the crosswind technique, and the nine risks the ACS attaches to the first minute of flight.

18 min read · Flight maneuvers

After this lesson you can

  • Run a before-takeoff check that detects a malfunction instead of merely reciting items, and say what each item protects.
  • Explain how wind, density altitude and runway surface change takeoff and climb performance, and choose a runway from that.
  • State what Vx and Vy are and why a five-knot error matters.
  • Fly the takeoff roll, lift-off and initial climb in a crosswind, with the control positions that keep the airplane straight.
  • Decide when to reject a takeoff, and what to do when the engine fails after lift-off.

About twenty percent of all yearly general aviation accidents occur during takeoff and departure climbs, and more than half of those accidents are the result of some sort of failure of the pilot. The Airplane Flying Handbook opens its takeoff chapter with that number, and adds that the phase is short but the workload is intense.

This lesson follows the maneuver in the order it happens: the check that precedes it, the roll, the lift-off, the climb, and then the risks the ACS attaches to each of them. The technique for short and soft fields is in the operations module; this lesson is the normal and crosswind case that everything else is built on.

The rest of this lesson

  1. 1.The before-takeoff check: why each item is on the list
  2. 2.Dividing attention during the check, and the runway that changes
  3. 3.What the air and the runway do to the takeoff
  4. 4.Vx, Vy, and the ground effect that flatters you
  5. 5.Takeoff roll, lift-off, initial climb
  6. 6.The crosswind takeoff
  7. 7.Windshear, wake turbulence, and the takeoff into them
  8. 8.Rejecting the takeoff, and the engine that quits after it
  9. 9.The runway and the sky: incursion and collision on departure

These 9 sections, their figures, the checks along the way and the end-of-lesson quiz come with the PPL track. Paid once, yours for good.

See what the PPL track costsEvery module 1 is free to read, no account, no card.

Key terms

Try to recall each definition before turning the card.