Lesson 4: Steep Turns and Emergency Procedures

After an hour lunch break and reviewing emergency procedures with my flight instructor it was time to do a quick preflight of the Sky Arrow and get back up to trim for level flight. Once I was back at cruising altitude, I was introduced to the steep turn. This is where I referenced the positive G's in an early post. The maneuvering procedures for a steep turn require a couple of things to happen. First, a steep turn in a light sport aircraft (LSA) is defined as a bank of 45 degrees. This maneuver requires a 360 degree turn so the most important thing to do before entering into a steep turn is to choose a landmark for entry heading and to remember it for the roll out of the steep turn. This step should never be overlooked. Next, begin to roll to a 45 degree bank but don't forget to add a little extra power (roughly 100rpms) at 30 degrees and then continue to 45 degrees. Now I went over these procedures on the ground as well as in the air with my flight instructor. I even had the opportunity to see a demonstration.....of course my first steep turn was terrible. I did everything correct up until I started to lose altitude. This could lead to a downward spiral and I was told to correct a loss of altitude to simply lessen the bank. My first instinct to loss of altitude was to pull back on the stick. NOPE! Not a good idea. This makes things a bit worse by making the steep downward spiral a tighter turn. After successfully failing to comply with my flight instructor requests to stop yanking back on the stick I was given a demonstration I will never forget. My instructor took the controls and recovered the plane. We then set up for another steep turn and this time....we began to lose altitude. My flight instructor began to pull back on the stick just as I did but with a little bit more back pressure. We did some TIGHT turns and I felt my stomach down in my seat. It was a sinking sensation that was quite unpleasant. The plane was recovered and leveled off. Haha....whew I was glad that was over. I got the point that pulling back on the stick was not the solution to gain altitude. Just less bank angle. And if I gained altitude a little more bank angle. In the end the steep turns I did looked good but more practice will only make them perfect. The emergency procedures were difficult at first. What do you do if your engine fails and goes out? What if your engine catches fire? What if you lose radio communications? Answer: KEEP FLYING THE AIRPLANE! Then follow your emergency procedures. I enjoyed choosing an emergency landing site. Of course when my flight instructor asked where I would like to land I chose a field probably 2 nautical miles away even though the entire practice area consists of farmland. In fact when my simulated engine failure occurred I was flying directly over some beautiful fields perfect to land a plane on. In time I will learn...for now practice practice practice. Back to Bay Bridge airport and debrief from another day of flying. I always leave my flight training feeling good about my lessons and confident to come back continue flying.