Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

1 Answers

level flight

Asked by: 2454 views Light Sport Aircraft, Student Pilot

how is altitude maintained after reducing power in level flight

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

1 Answers



  1. KDS on Oct 13, 2017

    I’m not sure where your question is focused, so let me give you two different answers. The first is from the aerodynamics view and the second from the pilot’s view. In both answers, I’m assuming you are going from level flight, making a power reduction, and desire to remain in level flight.

    In general terms, lift is a function of airspeed and angle of attack. If power is decreased, the speed will decrease. So, to maintain the same amount of lift, the angle of attack must be increased. Assuming smooth air, as long as the lift equals the weight, the aircraft will remain at the same altitude.

    As a pilot, you know that when you make a power reduction, the speed will decrease and the nose will go down. The airplane will seek to remain at the same speed and will go down unless you apply ever increasing back pressure on the controls (stick or yoke). To take the back pressure off of your hand, you will add some nose up trim. Exactly how and when you trim is a matter of technique.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.