VATSTAR

P2 Rating: Flight Fundamentals

(Part 1: Basics of Flight)
Lesson 8: Tying It All Together
Introduction

This Lesson will explain the interrelation between aircraft controls and movement, as well as the concept of a coordinated
turn.

(IMPORTANT NOTE: even if you're a simulator pilot with hundreds or perhaps thousands of hours
of experience -- if the vast majority of it has occurred with the autopilot, autothrottle, and yaw damper
engaged, then this is a Lesson you should pause and take some time to study. Many modern sim pilots,
especially those who learned how to fly highly automated planes from online tutorials and not via any
kind of study of traditional flight control theory, tend to get tripped up on the ideas presented below.
Take some time to ensure you understand these concepts. During your P2 Practical Exam Checkride,
you will be expected to demonstrate that you can safely and competently control an aircraft without
flight automation throughout all of the phases of the flight.)

Can I Skip This Lesson?

Q: Which of the following is a true statement about an aircraft in straight and level flight?
a. increasing airspeed requires an adjustment in pitch.
b. deflecting the rudder without touching any other control can cause a loss in altitude.
c. making a proper turn requires use of ailerons, rudder, and elevator.
d. all of the above.
e. none of the above.

If you answered "D", you can slip through to the next Lesson. Otherwise, you're not yet coordinated enough; stay
right here.

What You Need to Know

Vocabulary

• oscillation: when something is moving back and forth in an endless wave-like pattern. Oscillating fans are the ones
that turn left and right as they blow air. The swinging pendulum on a grandfather clock oscillates. Gentle swells in
the ocean cause boats to oscillate.
• G-forces: the combined forces of gravity and inertia that act on a plane and its contents, with particular regard to its
pilot and passengers. Measured in terms of multiples of the normal force of gravity; so, when gravity alone is pulling
the pilot down into his or her seat, that's referred to as "1.0 Gs" of force. When a plane is accelerating upward in
relation to the bottom of the plane, the inertial force acting on the pilot adds to the normal gravitational force,
resulting in multiple-Gs. In aerobatics and air combat, maneuvers are sometimes referred to based on the number of
Gs they inflict on the pilot; i.e. "pulling a four-G turn."
• lateral: to the side. Generally referred to in terms of forces; i.e. lateral G-forces or lateral lift components. Lateral G-
forces are what you feel in a car when turning on a flat road surface.

Concepts
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• Generally speaking, an aircraft's control surfaces do not affect aircraft movement on a single axis alone. In addition
to their primary effects, each movement of a control surface or change in engine power setting has side-effects that
must be understood, anticipated, and controlled for.
• Increasing pitch increases angle of attack, which increases lift, which causes a plane to climb -- the expected effect.
However, without a corresponding increase in thrust, the climb will result in a loss of airspeed, which will cause a
reduction in lift and cause the plane to pitch down. The opposite effect is true when pitching down without reducing
thrust. Changes in pitch and changes in power must always occur together to achieve the desired effect.
• If a pilot wishes to speed up or slow down without affecting the plane's altitude, once again, power and pitch
adjustments must occur simultaneously. In these cases, higher power needs to accompany lower pitch, and vice-
versa.
• Single-engine propellor-driven aircraft exhibit a left-turning tendency when power and/or pitch is increased, due to a
multitude of different asymmetrical forces. These forces must be counteracted with right aileron and/or right
rudder.
• Applying rudder alone will cause the plane to roll in the direction of the turn; that is, the wing on the inside of the
turn will lower, and the wing on the outside of the turn will rise, even without application of ailerons.
• Applying aileron alone will cause a plane to roll; however, a side-effect of asymetrical drag from the initial
application is that the ailerons will cause a small amount of adverse yaw before the plane begins to turn in the
desired direction. This is counteracted with a simultaneous application of rudder.
• When banked, for reasons that are complex but not critical for a simulator pilot to understand fully, a plane's
heading will turn toward the lowered wing.
• When banked, without a continued minor application of aileron, an aircraft will have a natural tendency to roll
gradually back to wings-level. So to maintain a constant bank angle, a slight bit of aileron will need to be held during
the turn.
• When banked, the force of lift is tilted and no longer fully opposes the plane's weight. A few degrees of nose-up
attitude is needed through a turn, in order to prevent losing altitude.
• Turn coordination refers to "balancing" a turn so that the forces of gravity and inertia combine to pull the plane's
occupants straight toward the bottom of the plane -- i.e. to avoid any lateral G-forces during the turn, aided by the
bottom half of the turn gauge (the slip/skid indicator). This essentially indicates that the nose of the plane is pointed
straight into the oncoming airstream thoroughout the turn. The reason this is important is because angled airflow
hitting the side of the fuselage causes immense amounts of drag, causing high risk for an asymmetrical stall which
can easily result in a spin.
• CAUTION: "auto-coordination" is a simulator option (that we mentioned in a previous Lesson) which links the rudder
and aileron controls, for sim pilots who don't have a means to control the rudder separately. This helps with adverse
yaw but does not result in a properly coordinated turn!
• When turning, especially under Air Traffic Control's direction, the goal should be a standard-rate turn also called a
two-minute turn. The heading should change at a rate of three degrees per second, meaning if you did a full circle, it
would take two minutes to complete. The top half of the turn gauge (the turn rate indicator) or a rule of thumb
based on speed can also assist with finding the optimal bank angle for a standard-rate turn.
• Tying it all together, a turn consists of the following steps: (a) determine the target heading, and the approximate
bank angle needed for a standard-rate turn; (b) smoothly roll into the turn, gently applying aileron and rudder
simultaneously to avoid adverse yaw; (c) add a bit of up-elevator to counteract any loss in altitude; (d) adjust bank
angle to maintain a three-degree-per-second turn rate; (e) use rudder to keep the aircraft from slipping or skidding;
(f) about fifteen degrees prior to the new target heading, begin rolling back to wings-level; and, (g) as the plane
returns to level flight, gradually release the rudder and elevator applied during the turn.

More Detail

Until now, we've been discussing aircraft control as though pitch was only affected by elevators, roll was only influenced by
ailerons, yaw was only adjusted via rudder, and speed was only a factor of thrust and drag. (Actually, we've vaguely touched
on how airspeed, pitch, and lift are inter-related -- but now we're going to explore that further, plus a few other areas where
changes in one input affect the others.)
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Oh, if only the above were true! Flying a plane would be so easy if pulling the stick back increased pitch, pushing it
forward decreased it, and leaving it centered held pitch at a constant angle. Same with moving the stick left or right
with regard to bank angle -- it would be great if making a turn just meant applying right aileron until banked thirty
degrees and letting go, waiting until nearing the target heading, then applying left aileron to return to wings-level. If
letting go of the stick means your aircraft maintains its present attitude perfectly and indefinitely, well, you're
apparently playing a pretty rudimentary arcade game.

In this Lesson, however, a bit of reality sinks in -- flying a realistically simulated airplane with any semblance of
real-world flight dymanics is much more complicated than that. Not to worry, though! With a review of the below
and a bit of practice, you can learn to understand, anticipate, and counteract the side-effects that each change in a
control surface or engine power setting has on the plane.

WHY PITCH AND POWER ALWAYS GO TOGETHER

In previous Lessons we've touched on how airspeed, lift, and pitch interact -- but now we're going to look at that in
more detail.

Let's say you're cruising along in your car, on a flat road, with a constant amount of throttle, and are therefore
traveling at a constant speed. You then encounter a hill. As you start to go up the hill, if you don't press down on the
accelerator, what's going to happen? The car will lose speed, won't it? The same is true in an airplane -- at first.
Starting from straight and level flight with a constant thrust setting and having settled into a constant airspeed, if
you decide to increase pitch, this will increase angle of attack. That will increase the amount of lift being produced,
and cause the plane to climb. However, just like going uphill in a car, presuming you don't add any power, that will
cause a loss in speed. Now, here's where the result begins to differ -- because a car has no choice but to climb at the
angle of the hill. In a plane, though, that loss in airspeed will result in a loss in lift, which will cause a loss in pitch --
the nose of the plane will drop as lift decreases. As a result, the climb rate and angle will decrease. After the
oscillations of pitch and speed settle out, the result is most likely going to be more-or-less straight and level flight at
a slightly more nose-high attitude and a slightly lower airspeed than what you started the maneuver with.

Same for a pitch down -- just like going down a hill in your car, that will cause an increase in speed. But unlike a
car, which has no choice but to follow the descent path of the road, the airplane speeding up will increase the lift it
produces, reducing the descent rate.

The short version of this story is this: for any change in pitch to be effective, it must always be accompanied by a
change in power. Airliners with autothrottles manage this for you. However, as the pilot, it is important that you
understand this basic fundamental rule of aircraft control. When your autopilot fails, or isn't set correctly, and you
must take manual control of the airplane, this concept is crucial for safe operation. And who knows; one day, you
may "graduate" from Airline Captain to being the pilot of single-engine prop planes with little or no flight
automation! Regardless of the aircraft type and what automation systems may be helping you -- with only very,
very rare exceptions, changes in pitch and power ALWAYS go together.

What about speeding up and slowing down? If you think a simple throttle adjustment is all you need, think again.
More power means more airspeed, which means more lift, which means the plane will pitch up. When it does, that
gained airspeed will bleed off, resulting in a slight climb at very nearly the same speed you already had. Again --
changes in pitch and power ALWAYS go together. To speed up, an increase in power needs to be accompanied by
a gradual pitch-down to maintain the same altitude (remember the demo we did in the video for the first Lesson?).
To slow a plane but maintain level flight, it needs to gradually pitch up as the airspeed comes off.

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One sort of counter-intuituve, mind-bending effect that these all have is this: by themselves, in stable flight with all
other factors being equal, pitch actually has more influence on airspeed while thrust has a more direct control over
climb or descent rate. We'll explore that further in the Lesson on approaches and landings, but, just keep it in the
back of your head for now.

The other important upshot of this discussion is that pitch is not a straight function of elevator angle. Because
airspeed and thrust come into play as well, changing your pitch from a steady 0° to a steady 5° nose-up angle will
mean modulating the elevator input for the first few seconds, to counteract all this oscillation in speed and lift. It
may take a few adjustments to get the plane to hold a steady nose-up attitude with a steady elevator application,
once the airspeed has settled into its new reading based on the new pitch and power setting. (SIDE NOTE: this is
one reason I strongly recommend beginning pilots buy a cheap joystick. Trying to make those quick but subtle
adjustments using arrow keys, while also adjusting the throttle, is a very difficult and potentially frustrating task.)

HOW POWER AFFECTS YAW

If you've ever tried flying a single-engine propellor aircraft by hand (i.e. without automatic heading control) and
wondered why it always seemed to want to veer to the left, the following will shed some light on the situation.

First, have you ever noticed how the front of a classic American muscle-car will twitch sideways when the engine is
revved? This is the effect of torque, a force applied in a twisting motion, like using a screwdriver to twist a screw
into a piece of wood. The engines in most classic American muscle-cars were mounted longitudinally, meaning that
the pistons lined up front-to-back. And, because of Newton's Third Law of Motion (the whole "equal-and-opposite"
thing we mentioned in the first Lesson), the same tremendous twisting force the engine was generating to spin the
crankshaft around clockwise (from the driver's standpoint) would also be trying to spin the crankcase itself, and
entire engine block, counter-clockwise around it. The shaft, of course, was able to spin freely; the crankcase and the
rest of the engine were bolted to the frame of the car, so it would only rotate as far as the car's suspension would
allow it. But the torque was still enough to give the car that glorious sideways twitch when you gave it some gas.
(Envision the scene in Back to the Future Part II where Biff is revving his black Ford, getting ready to chase Marty
through the River Road Tunnel, for a great example. For an even more exaggerated one, check out this video -- but
be careful about your speaker and/or headphone volume!)

In a single-engine, propellor-driven plane, with a sudden and severe increase in engine power, this same effect will
tend to roll the aircraft to the left, since the propellor spins clockwise from the vantage point of the pilot's seat.
When the aircraft changes pitch, there's also a gyroscopic effect -- the spinning propellor resists a change in
orientation so the aircraft pivots around to the left. Since the prop spins clockwise, the airflow off of it spins
clockwise as well, and as it hits the tailfin, it pushes the nose leftward -- this effect is exaggerated when the power
setting is higher. When the plane is at a high angle of attack, the downward (and slightly advancing) propellor blade
on the right side of the engine will produce more thrust than the upward (and slightly retreating) blade on the left
side (an issue referred to as p-factor).

Good news -- you don't need to remember exactly why this left-turning tendency happens; just that it happens, and
that it's a particular problem during takeoffs. Typically, takeoffs are when the engine power is increased most
dramatically, when the plane is pitched up most dramatically, when the plane is running at or near full power, and
when the angle of attack is also high (before the plane builds up to its safe climbing airspeed). That combination
makes takeoff, generally speaking, the most susceptible time for all of these issues.

In multi-engine props, the effect is not as noticable, as the asymmetry is mitigated by the fact that there is an engine
on either side of the plane. In some, as a matter of fact, the two engines spin in opposite directions, further erasing
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the asymmetrical forces. In turboprops and jets, the thrust supplied by the engines is more a result of the gas
compression and expulsion and not related as much to very heavy spinning engine parts, so the engines don't
produce as significant an amount of torque relative to the forward thrust they supply, and any left-turning tendency
is minimal if it's even noticable at all.

HOW YAW AFFECTS ROLL

Applying left rudder to an aircraft in straight-and-level flight has the effect of deflecting the tail of the aircraft to the
right, which pivots the nose of the plane to the left. However, that motion will have an effect on the roll axis as well.
The usual effect is that as the plane pivots, the wing on the outside of the turn (in this example, the right wing) will
be traveling slightly faster than the wing on the inside of the turn (in this case, the left one). Just as a jogger going
counter-clockwise around a running track takes a shorter path by taking the left (inside) lane, the left wing navigates
a shorter-radius turn than the right wing does. This causes the left wing, traveling fractionally slower than the
middle of the plane, to generate slightly less lift; the right wing, going slightly faster around the turn than the center,
creates slightly more lift. Therefore, the left wing will drop, and the right wing will fly higher, causing the plane to
roll into the turn even though the ailerons are centered.

... not that you'd ever actually turn a plane by rudder alone (and we'll talk about why in the section on Turn
Coordination) -- but, if you did, the plane would roll in the direction of the turn as well. And when that happens,
we'll talk about the complex forces at work which make the plane change heading in the next section, below.

HOW ROLL AFFECTS YAW, AND BY EXTENSION, HEADING

Roll affects yaw in two main ways. There's the desired effect -- i.e. that
the plane turns towards its new target heading -- which we'll get to in a
minute. However, at the very beginning of an application of aileron,
there's a slight bit of adverse yaw (that is, yaw in the opposite direction
as that which is intended). Once the plane is rolled to its desired bank
angle, though, the adverse effect has passed and the plane begins
yawing toward the side of the lowered wing.

Let's say for example that you are banking the plane toward the left
side. As you turn the yoke or move the stick to the left, the right aileron goes down into the under-wing airstream
and adds a ton of drag to that side of the plane, much more than the left upward aileron adds to the left. Just like
differential braking does on the ground, this asymmetrical drag slowing the right side of the plane makes the nose
want to pivot to the right. This force pulling the nose in the opposite direction that we're banking the plane is known
as adverse yaw, and the way to combat it is to apply a bit of left rudder simultaneously to the left aileron, to keep
the plane yaw-neutral during the initial banking. You should watch the nose of the plane against the horizon when
starting your bank to see how well or poorly you are coordinating the rudder and neutralizing the adverse yaw; the
slip-skid indicator (the little marble in the bottom part of the turn coordinator, which we'll discuss in more detail
below) will also slide back and forth to indicate lateral G-forces from the yaw movement if the maneuver is not
done properly.

Once the major part of the aileron application is done, though, the adverse yaw effect will have passed. The plane,
banked to the left, will now begin yawing toward the left -- i.e. toward the side with the lowered wing. The primary
reason for this is that the lift generated by the wings will no longer be pointed straight up -- it will be tilted over
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toward the left. (There are some implications to pitch involved with that; we'll get into that in the next section.)
However, the vertical tailfin resists that lateral motion as its tendency is to slice vertically through the airstream.
This gives the plane a "weathervane" effect, pointing the nose toward the direction of the airflow. This combination
of forces is what causes the heading to change. However, note that from a pilot's standpoint -- particularly a
simulator pilot -- understanding the complex forces at work isn't as critical as simply understanding that the plane
will turn toward the lowered wing.

One other key note about bank angle is that a banked aircraft typically will have a tendency to roll itself back to a
wings-level attitude, absent any input from the pilot. That's a critical feature for overall aircraft safety and stability,
but, the practical effect of this is that maintaining a constant bank angle requires holding a very slight amount of
aileron throughout the turn. (The finesse required for this is another argument in favor of piloting via joystick rather
than keyboard.)

Once within about fifteen degrees of the new target heading -- about five seconds before reaching it, if turning at a
standard rate (which we'll discuss below) -- the pilot should start gently rolling the aircraft back to wings-level, in
order to roll out directly onto the new desired heading and avoid overshooting and having to turn back in the
opposite direction.

HOW ROLL AFFECTS PITCH

We mentioned in the section above that when banked to the left, the force of lift which used to be pointed straight
up is now tilted. Part of this is what causes the plane to turn, as we just discussed. However, the other important
implication of this is that not all of the lift will be counteracting the weight while banked. Therefore, a banked plane
will have a natural tendency to lose altitude.

The way to combat this and keep the altitude constant is to add a little bit of up-elevator during the turn; that is, to
pull the stick or yoke toward you slightly in order to keep the nose slightly raised. It doesn't take much -- a couple of
degrees of nose-up attitude is all -- but the pilot must be mindful of the altitude and/or the vertical speed gauge
while turning, to ensure the plane stays level during the turning maneuver. As the plane is rolled back to wings-
level, the pilot should gradually decrease the up-elevator, returning to straight and level flight just as the case was
before starting the turn.

TURN COORDINATION

For this section, we're back to comparing the way an aircraft moves versus the way a car moves.

When you make a turn in a car (or a plane, taxiing on the ground), on a flat road and at more than
a nominal speed, the force of inertia will seem to pull the occupants of the vehicle toward the
outside of the turn. When you make a hard right, you're pulled toward the left-hand door, and
vice-versa. A properly coordinated turn in an airborne plane results in the combined forces of inertia and gravity
pulling the occupants straight down into their seats, regardless of the fact that the plane is tilted over to one side.
The occupants should not feel any lateral G-forces, and little marble in the bottom half of the turn gauge (called the
slip/skid indicator) should remain centered, corroborating that lack of side-to-side inertial forces.

Why is this important? It's much more than just passenger comfort. The lack of lateral G-forces indicates that the
aircraft is neither in a slip (lateral forces pulling toward the lowered wing; aircraft is pointed somewhat to the
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outside of the turn) nor a skid (lateral forces pulling toward the raised wing; aircraft is pointed somewhat toward the
inside of the turn). The ideal, coordinated turn keeps the nose of the plane pointed directly into the forward
airstream. A slip or skid means the airflow is coming somewhat from one side or the other, causing massive
amounts of drag against the side of the fuselage, and is the classic scenario leading to an asymmetrical stall
followed by a spin.

(NOTE: the various versions of MS Flight Simulator and its derivitaves are not fantastic at properly modeling the
flight dynamics involved in a stall-spin; X-Plane is somewhat better when it comes to realistically simulating those
physics. But as sim pilots trying to fly our planes realistically, we should want to avoid that situation regardless of
how real-world-accurate the consequences will be.)

Correcting for slip or skid in a turn is a simple matter of applying a bit of rudder, and the mnemonic that beginning
pilots use to remind themselves which way to correct is to "step on the ball" -- that is, to apply rudder toward the
side where the little marble is. If the marble is to the right, push a bit on the right pedal, and vice-versa.

ONE VERY IMPORTANT NOTE OF CAUTION: if you'll remember from a previous Lesson, auto-coordination is
a simulator option which links the rudder and aileron controls, so that applying right aileron will automatically
simultaneously apply the same amount of right rudder, and vice-versa. This is primarily used by pilots who lack
both pedals and a twist-axis joystick, and therefore have no means of controlling the rudder and ailerons separately.
It's unfortunate that the creators of these various pieces of flight simulator software seem to all have decided to refer
to this as "auto-coordination" because it really doesn't have anything to do with coordinating the turn. It does
generally do well at counteracting the adverse yaw effect we mentioned in an earlier section, but, it does nothing to
control for the slip or skid during the turn. So, particularly for the Written Exam, be careful about the terminology
of turn coordination and don't get it confused with the idea of the rudder and ailerons being linked.

(INTERESTING TIDBIT: there are cases where experienced light-plane pilots will deliberately use a certain
degree of sideslip as a means to descend quickly without gaining airspeed, often as a way to lose excess altitude if
they've come in too high on a landing approach. But that's definitely a move recommended for more experienced
pilots, once you have mastered the basics -- and again, the complex physics of it aren't always well-represented
within flight simulators.)

STANDARD TURN RATE

When flying in controlled airspace and given a turn instruction by an Air Traffic Controller, it's good to make the
turn in a predictable way -- not too wide, not too sharp -- so they have a reasonable expectation of how quickly your
heading will change and where on their scope you'll wind up at the end of it. For that reason, aviation has developed
a "standard-rate turn" known as a "two-minute turn." This doesn't mean every turn takes two minutes to arrive at the
new heading. It means that a full three-hundred-sixty-degree circle at the standard turning rate would take two
minutes to complete. That equates to thirty seconds to turn ninety degrees, or one minute to make a 180 -- in
summary, it's a rate of change of three degrees per second.

Instead of having to count out time and watch headings and do a bunch of mental math to make sure your heading
isn't changing too quickly or too slowly (since, believe me, you're going to have enough to do already!), the top half
of the turn coordinator gauge is a turn rate indicator which will have tick-marks to indicate when you're on that
standard-rate, two-minute turn. Some are represented as a pointer that points straight up most of the time but leans
to the left or right to indicate a heading change is occurring. Others are represented by a little tilting airplane
(although, as I pointed out in the companion video for Lesson Five, that can easily be confused with a bank
indicator).

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How much bank you need for a standard-rate turn depends on your airspeed: at 100 knots it's about 15 degrees; at
250 knots it's about 30 degrees. There's a complex mathematical formula involved; a shortcut to that formula (or at
least a very reasonable estimate of it) is to divide your airspeed by 10 (i.e. drop the trailing "0") and then add five
(for example; 120 becomes 12+5 equals seventeen degrees; 200 becomes 20+5 = 25 degrees). If quick mental math
isn't your strong suit, just watch the top part of your turn coordinator.

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER

So, this lesson covered quite a bit, and you're probably seeing by now that flying an airplane by hand without the
use of automation takes a little more knowledge and practice than you may have first thought. Don't despair,
though. The steps below originate with a good continuous scan of your instruments as you fly, and will start to
come naturally once you've done them a handful of times.

To fly a properly coordinated turn, starting in straight and level flight:

• determine the target heading, and the approximate bank angle needed for a standard-rate turn;
• smoothly roll into the turn, gently applying aileron and rudder simultaneously to avoid adverse yaw;
• add a bit of up-elevator to counteract any loss in altitude;
• adjust bank angle to maintain a three-degree-per-second turn rate;
• use rudder to keep the aircraft from slipping or skidding;
• about fifteen degrees prior to the new target heading, begin rolling back to wings-level; and,
• as the plane returns to level flight, gradually release the rudder and elevator applied during the turn.

Summary

When adjusting engine power and manipulating control surfaces in a light aircraft under manual control, side-effects almost
always manifest in an axis of movement other than the primarily intended one. To achieve a lasting difference in climb or
descent rate, pitch adjustments and power adjustments must nearly always go hand-in-hand. Single-engine props often
exhibit a left-turning tendency when increasing power suddenly and drastically, which must be controlled for via right aileron
or rudder. Using rudder alone to yaw the aircraft will usually cause some roll in that same direction. Application of aileron
will generate some adverse yaw at first before the aircraft begins turning in the intended direction; applying some rudder
with the aileron should neutralize this. A banked aircraft will turn toward the lowered wing; it will also have a tendency to
roll back to wings-level unless a minor amount of aileron is held into the bank. Additionally, banked aircraft will tend to lose
altitude; a slight nose-up attitude through the turn is needed to counter this. A bit of rudder might be needed to coordinate
the turn, which means to avoid lateral G-forces; this ensures the nose is pointed straight into the airstream avoiding a
scenario for an asymmetrical stall and spin. "Auto-coordination" does not achieve this on its own, though it does help with
the adverse yaw issue. The standard turn rate, particulary recommended when under Air Traffic Control, is three degrees per
second (meaning that a full 360 should take two minutes).

Additional Resources

• YouTube: "VATSTAR VATSIM Pilot Rating P2 Course Lesson 8" -- VATSTAR's companion video for this Lesson.

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Quiz

1: Which of the following is true about adjustments in pitch and power?

a. changing airspeed requires only an adjustment in power.
b. changing climb or descent rate requires only an adjustment in pitch.
c. to achieve the desired effect, changes in pitch and power almost always go together.
d. all of the above.
e. none of the above.

2: Which of the following is true about dramatic increases in engine power causing the plane to tend to
turn left?
a. it is an issue more-or-less specific to single-engine, propellor-driven aircraft.
b. it is a particular problem during takeoffs.
c. it must be counteracted by right rudder and/or aileron.
d. all of the above.
e. none of the above.

3: Which of the following is true about a banked aircraft?

a. with ailerons neutral/centered, a plane will hold its bank angle constant.
b. all of its lift is counteracting gravity.
c. it will naturally turn toward the side of the lowered wing.
d. all of the above.
e. none of the above.

4: Which of the following is true about properly coordinated turns?

a. they include some lateral G-forces.
b. the slip/skid indicator should be tilted toward the direction the plane is turning.
c. the plane should be turned with rudder only.
d. the "auto-coordination" feature of your flight simulator will handle this.
e. none of the above.

ANSWERS: 1. C ... 2. D ... 3. C ... 4. E

Back to Section Table of Contents

Rob Shearman, Jr. (cfi@vatstar.com)

Chief Flight Instructor, VATSTAR
DISCLAIMER: all information contained herein is for flight simulation purposes only.
revised March 2018

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