STICK AND RUDDER BETTER PILOT
A Turn for the Better
Tips for making a lifesaving 180
BY ROBERT N. ROSSIER
WHEN IT COMES TO flying skills, there is hardly a simpler, more basic
maneuver to be made than the turn. That said, when we find ourselves in a tight spot, our very survival might hinge on our ability to
make the best turn possible. The key is to know what the “best” turn
is for the particular situation.
TURN BASICS
Part of every pilot’s training in aerodynamics involves gaining a fundamental understanding of turns, and the various relationships between
turns and other factors. For example, we learn that when an aircraft
assumes a bank angle, the horizontal component of lift causes the aircraft to turn. The steeper the bank angle, the larger the horizontal
component of lift, and hence the greater the rate of turn. In level flight,
steeper bank angles translate to a higher load factor to generate the
same vertical component of lift. At a 60-degree bank angle, a 2g wing
loading is needed to maintain the vertical component of lift for a constant altitude turn. Remember that as the load factor increases, so does
the stall speed. At a 60-degree bank angle in a constant altitude turn,
stall speed increases by just more than 40 percent.
Radius of turn is also affected by aircraft
speed. For a constant bank angle, the radius of
the turn increases as the aircraft speed
increases. If we want to make a tight turn, we
should slow down, and use a steeper bank
angle, keeping in mind the effect of bank on
stall speed.
Another bit of aerodynamics we learn
revolves around the classification of turns.
Turns are classified as shallow, medium, and
steep. While this obviously relates to bank
angle, it is important to understand that it
also has to do with aerodynamic stability. In a
shallow turn, the aircraft will tend to roll
back level if we release the control forces on
the ailerons. In a medium bank turn, the aircraft will tend to maintain the bank angle. In
a steep turn, the aircraft has the tendency to
overbank if we relieve the aileron control
